HAMBURG/FRANKFURT, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) on Monday announced its intention to float sports car brand Porsche, triggering what could become one of the world’s largest listings even as record inflation and a Russia-Europe energy standoff has sent European stocks tumbling.

The carmaker published a so-called intention to float for an initial public offering in late September or early October to be completed by the end of the year, but added the listing and timing was “subject to further capital market developments.” Continue reading “Volkswagen triggers landmark Porsche IPO plan, defying market doubts”

LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Aston Martin (AML.L) is raising 575.8 million pounds ($660 million) in a rights issue as major investors including Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund keep faith with the struggling luxury British carmaker.

The 109 year-old company said on Monday it would issue four new shares at 103 pence apiece for every existing share. At 0750 GMT, the stock was down 10% at 432.9 pence. Continue reading “Aston Martin raising $660 million in rights issue”

Sept 2 (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N) said Friday it will offer all of its estimated 2,000 U.S. Buick franchise dealers buyouts as it moves to make the brand all-electric by 2030 in the United States.

The Wall Street Journal reported the news earlier, quoting Global Buick chief Duncan Aldred who is set to discuss the plans with dealers Friday in a virtual meeting. He noted shifting to EVs will require significant investments by Buick dealers. Continue reading “GM to offer U.S. Buick dealers buyouts”

SHANGHAI, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Berkshire Hathaway Inc, the investment firm owned by Warren Buffett, has sold 1.72 million Hong Kong-listed shares of electric vehicle maker BYD for HK$450.83 million ($57 million), according to a filing on Friday.

The sale lowered Berkshire’s holdings in BYD’s total issued H shares to 18.87% as of Thursday, the filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange showed. Continue reading “Berkshire trims stake in China’s BYD with 1.72 mln H share sale -filing”

WASHINGTON, Sept 2 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden said on Friday he plans to attend the Detroit auto show later this month as his administration touts a rising number of investments in electric vehicles and battery manufacturing.

“I’ll be there. I’m a car guy – as you kind of noticed,” Biden said at an event. The Commerce Department on Friday awarded $52.2 million to a Detroit regional program called the “Global Epicenter of Mobility” to help Michigan’s automotive sector transition to EVs and autonomous vehicles. Continue reading “Biden plans to attend Detroit auto show”

Sept 2 (Reuters) – Aurora Innovation Inc (AUR.O) Chief Executive Chris Urmson recently outlined several options for the self-driving tech firm to combat challenging market conditions, including a possible sale to Apple Inc (AAPL.O) or Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

Many electric-vehicle and self-driving startups that had raised cash easily through IPOs and mergers with blank-check firms during the market boom are now scrambling to launch vehicles and burning cash rapidly amid a bleak economy and supply-chain snarls. Continue reading “Self-driving tech firm Aurora mulls sale to Apple or Microsoft – Bloomberg News”

Sept 2 (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N) said Friday it will offer all of its estimated 2,000 U.S. Buick franchise dealers buyouts as it moves to make the brand all-electric by 2030 in the United States.

The Wall Street Journal reported the news earlier, quoting Global Buick chief Duncan Aldred who is set to discuss the plans with dealers Friday in a virtual meeting. He noted shifting to EVs will require significant investments by Buick dealers. Continue reading “GM to offer U.S. Buick dealers buyouts”

SHANGHAI, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Berkshire Hathaway Inc, the investment firm owned by Warren Buffett, has sold 1.72 million Hong Kong-listed shares of electric vehicle maker BYD for HK$450.83 million ($57 million), according to a filing on Friday.

The sale lowered Berkshire’s holdings in BYD’s total issued H shares to 18.87% as of Thursday, the filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange showed. Continue reading “Berkshire trims stake in China’s BYD with 1.72 mln H share sale -filing”

WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (Reuters) – General Motors startup Cruise LLC (GM.N) said Thursday it had recalled and updated software in 80 self-driving vehicles after a June crash in San Francisco that left two people injured.

Federal regulators said the recalled software could “incorrectly predict” an oncoming vehicle’s path. Cruise said it had determined this unusual scenario would not recur after the update. Continue reading “GM startup Cruise recalls and revises self-driving software after crash”

WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co (F.N) is recalling 198,000 SUVs in the United States to replace the blower motor assembly after reports of 25 fires, it said on Thursday.

The recall covers 2015-2017 model year Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator vehicles. Ford said it had three reports of fires linked to property damage to structures and one involving minor injury. Ford will notify owners starting Sept. 12. Continue reading “Ford recalls 198,000 U.S. SUVs due to risk of fire”

BERLIN, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) will accelerate its transition towards electric vehicles, but needs to find the right “rhythm” as it makes the shift, new Chief Executive Oliver Blume said at an internal conference on Thursday, the first day of his tenure.

At a gathering of global top managers in Lisbon, Blume said he had developed a ten-point plan focusing on topics including financial robustness, sustainability, the capital market, and development in China and North America. Continue reading “Volkswagen to speed up electric vehicle transition, new CEO says”

SEOUL/DETROIT, Sept 1 (Reuters) – After grabbing the No. 2 spot in the U.S. electric vehicle market with stylish, long-range models, Hyundai Motor and Kia are the automakers with the most to lose from new rules that halt subsidies for EVs made outside North America.

These two companies, which make the popular Ioniq 5 and EV6 models, sold more than 39,000 EVs in the United States between January and July – doubling last year’s sales and blowing past Ford Motor Co (F.N), Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) and General Motors Co (GM.N). Continue reading “Analysis: New U.S. rules on EV subsidies slam Hyundai, Kia’s dreams”

WASHINGTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) – A General Motors (GM.N) and LG Energy Solution (373220.KS)$2.3 billion joint venture battery production plant in Ohio has begun production.

The 2.8-million square foot Ultium Cells LLC plant is the first of at least four plants planned in the U.S. by the joint venture to supply GM electric vehicles. Continue reading “GM, LG Energy joint venture Ohio battery plant begins production”

Aug 31 (Reuters) – Bosch Group said on Wednesday it will invest more than $200 million to produce fuel cell stacks in its South Carolina facility, as the German auto supplier accelerates its transition to electrification.

The technology firm will expand its existing Anderson facility to support fuel cell production, which is planned to start in 2026 creating at least 350 new jobs. Continue reading “Bosch to invest $200 mln to make fuel cell stacks in South Carolina”

Aug 31 (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) will boost its planned investment in a new U.S. battery plant from $1.29 billion to $3.8 billion, partly in response to rising consumer demand for electric vehicles, the company said on Wednesday.

Battery maker Panasonic (6752.T) will be a partner in the Liberty, North Carolina, plant through its Prime Planet Energy & Solutions (PPES) joint venture with Toyota, according to Norm Bafunno, senior vice president of powertrain manufacturing and engineering at Toyota Motor North America. Continue reading “Toyota triples planned investment to $3.8 billion in U.S. battery plant”

HAMBURG, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) supervisory board agreed on Tuesday evening to remove two seats from the carmaker’s 12-person management board, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, adding that a decision was not yet finalised.

The news comes a day ahead of a planned leadership change at Europe’s largest carmaker that will see Porsche AG Chief Executive Oliver Blume also taking over as Volkswagen CEO from Herbert Diess. Continue reading “Volkswagen to trim executive board to nine members in bid to sharpen focus – sources”

Aug 31 (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) will invest up to 730 billion yen ($5.27 billion) in Japan and the United States towards supplying automotive batteries for battery electric vehicles, the Japanese automaker said on Wednesday.

The firm aims to begin battery production between 2024 and 2026 with an investment intended to augment battery production capacity in both the countries by up to 40 GWh. Continue reading “Toyota Motor to invest $5.3 bln in Japan and U.S. for EV battery supply”

PARIS, Aug 31 (Reuters) – China’s Geely Automobile Holdings (0175.HK) and an oil group are in talks about taking stakes in the fossil-fuel engine unit Renault (RENA.PA) plans to separate from its electric vehicle (EV) business, two sources close to the French carmaker said.

But Renault’s alliance partner, Japanese carmaker Nissan (7201.T), does not plan to take a stake in the combustion engine unit, the sources told Reuters. Continue reading “EXCLUSIVE Geely, oil group could take stakes in Renault engine company -sources”

Aug 30 (Reuters) – Nikola Corp (NKLA.O) said on Tuesday it may sell shares to raise up to $400 million, as the electric truck maker looks to ramp up production amid rising costs.

The company, which is grappling with higher labor and raw material costs due to decades-high inflation and the Russia-Ukraine war, said it has no obligation to sell any shares and may stop sales at any time. Continue reading “Nikola to raise up to $400 mln in stock sale”

DETROIT, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk has set his young company on an aggressive expansion path like no other auto executive has dreamed – but one riddled with potholes and road blocks that could stall or sidetrack the journey.

Musk’s audacious goal of selling 20 million electric vehicles in 2030 is at the center of the company’s growth promise for shareholders and its pledge to drive the adoption of sustainable energy. If achieved, it would make Tesla twice the size of any automaker in history, accounting for roughly 20% of the global vehicle market. Continue reading “Analysis: Musk’s bold goal of selling 20 million EVs could cost Tesla billions”

OSLO, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Equinor (EQNR.OL) and Wintershall Dea will jointly develop carbon capture and storage projects, the oil firms said on Tuesday, with ideas to build a pipeline from Germany to Norway to transport and store carbon dioxide (CO2) under the North Sea.

The firms would work together to establish technical and commercial solutions for the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) across borders in Europe, they said. Continue reading “Equinor, Wintershall Dea eye pipeline to capture CO2 under North Sea”

DETROIT, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Many of the automatic braking systems automakers are using to prevent vehicles from hitting pedestrians do not work well in the dark, according to test results released Tuesday by the U.S. non-profitgroup Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The group, backed by the insurance industry, said 12 of the 23 sedans, midsize SUVs and small trucks it evaluated earned a “basic” rating or no credit at all, because they failed to detect or slow adequately for a dummy pedestrian in nighttime tests. About three-quarters of pedestrian deaths happen at night, the IIHS said. Continue reading “Vehicle pedestrian safety systems struggle to see in the dark”

Aug 29 (Reuters) – Lucid Group Inc (LCID.O) on Monday filed for a new offering of up to $8 billion as the luxury electric-vehicle maker looks to beef up working capital at a time when supply snarls have crimped its production.

The company, which has a market capitalization of about $27 billion, halved its production forecast for electric vehicles earlier this month, blaming supply chain and logistics challenges.  Continue reading “EV maker Lucid files for new offering to raise $8 bln in stages”

SEOUL, Aug 29 (Reuters) – South Korean officials will meet U.S. counterparts this week to express “concerns” about the Inflation Reduction Act, which restricts who can receive U.S. subsidies for the production of electric vehicles and where firms can source battery materials.

President Joe Biden signed into law this month a $430 billion bill, seen as the biggest climate package in U.S. history. Continue reading “S.Korea to raise concerns about EV credits, battery sourcing in U.S. visit”

TOKYO/WASHINGTON, Aug 29 (Reuters) – Japan’s Honda Motor Co (7267.T) will build a new $4.4 billion lithium-ion battery plant for electric vehicles in the United States with Korean battery supplier LG Energy Solution Ltd (373220.KS), the two companies said on Monday.

Battery makers are looking to increase production in the U.S. where a shift toward electric vehicles (EV) could increase as the country implements stricter regulation and tightens tax credit eligibility. Continue reading “Honda Motor, LG Energy to build $4.4 bln U.S. EV battery plant”

GANDHINAGAR, India, Aug 28 (Reuters) – Suzuki Motor Corp (7269.T) will set up a global research and development company in India, its president said on Sunday, pushing deeper into a market that is set to become an electric vehicle (EV) hub for the Japanese carmaker.

The new company, a wholly owned unit of Suzuki Japan, will strengthen the carmaker’s R&D competitiveness and capabilities in India and other global markets, Toshihiro Suzuki told an event in Gandhinagar, the capital of western Gujarat state. Continue reading “Japan’s Suzuki drives deeper into India with global R&D unit”

Aug 26 (Reuters) – Panasonic Holdings Corp (6752.T), a supplier to electric-car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), is in talks to build an additional electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in the United States at a cost of around $4 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Panasonic is looking at Oklahoma as the location for its new plant, the newspaper said. (https://on.wsj.com/3pJJs1F) Continue reading “Tesla supplier Panasonic plans additional $4 bln U.S. EV battery plant – WSJ”

HONG KONG/WASHINGTON, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Beijing and Washington took a major step on Friday towards ending a dispute that threatened to boot Chinese companies, including Alibaba, from U.S. stock exchanges, signing a pact to allow U.S. regulators to vet accounting firms in China and Hong Kong.

U.S. regulators have for more than a decade demanded access to audit papers of U.S.-listed Chinese companies, but Beijing has been reluctant to let overseas regulators inspect its accounting firms, citing national security concerns. Continue reading “U.S. and China reach landmark audit deal in boon for Chinese tech companies”

Aug 26 (Reuters) – Smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp (1810.HK) is eyeing an electric vehicle (EV) production tie-up with Beijing Automotive Group Co (BAIC) (1958.HK), as it faces delays in acquiring a licence to make cars on its own, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

Such partnership among EV startups and traditional carmakers has become increasingly common in China, as state planners have been limiting the issuance of manufacturing licences to new EV makers in a bid to contain excessive investment. Continue reading “Xiaomi in talks with BAIC to produce electric cars -Bloomberg News”

Aug 25 (Reuters) – The California Air Resources Board voted Thursday to adopt sweeping regulations to require all new cars sold in the most populous U.S. state to be electric or plug-in hybrid by 2035, a move that will likely speed the end of gas-powered vehicles.

The rules, which have been adopted by more than a dozen U.S. states, must still be approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Continue reading “California board votes to phase out gasoline-only cars in state by 2035”

DETROIT, Aug 25 (Reuters) – U.S. consumers are responding to surging prices for new cars and trucks by going deeper into debt, pushing the average new vehicle loan to a record-high $40,290 during the second quarter, credit monitoring company Experian said Thursday.

The average monthly payment for a new vehicle loan rose to $667 in the second quarter, up nearly 15% from a year earlier, Experian said in its latest report on the automotive finance market. The average amount borrowed rose 13.2%, Experian said. Continue reading “U.S. consumers borrow at record levels as car prices surge – Experian”

PARIS, Aug 25 (Reuters) – The French transport minister called on Thursday for an investigation into whether French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) was involved in supplying jet fuel to the Russian military through a local joint venture.

Le Monde newspaper reported on Wednesday that TotalEnergies was involved in supplying gas condensate to make jet fuel that may have been used by Russian warplanes in Ukraine, via the French firm’s stake in a venture with Russia’s Novatek (NVTK.MM). Continue reading “French minister seeks probe into TotalEnergies’ possible fuel links to Russian army”

IZHEVSK, Russia, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Russia’s record employment signals a surprisingly smooth decoupling from the West. Its rapid replacement of McDonald’s and Starbucks says business as usual. Yet pressures are building inside its economic machine.

Six months into the Ukraine conflict, the strategies and struggles of Russia’s biggest automaker offers an insight into the contrasting fortunes of a country striving to withstand what Vladimir Putin calls an economic “blitzkrieg” by the West.
Continue reading “In isolated Russia, a tale of two economies”