TOKYO, (Reuters) – Toyota Motor’s (7203.T) Daihatsu unit will halt shipments of all of its vehicles, Japan’s biggest automaker said on Wednesday, after a safety scandal investigation found issues involving 64 models, including almost two dozen sold under Toyota’s brand.

An independent panel has been investigating Daihatsu after it said in April it had rigged side-collision safety tests carried out for 88,000 small cars, most of those sold as Toyotas. Continue reading “Toyota’s Daihatsu to halt all vehicle shipments, in widening safety scandal”

Shreyansh Jain was ecstatic in March when he picked up his first electric vehicle, a brand-new 2023 Tesla Model Y. He used a sizable chunk of family savings to buy it with cash.

“We were over the moon!” said Jain, an electronics engineer in Cambridge, England.

His exuberance came to a “grinding halt” one day later, with 115 miles on the odometer, Jain told Reuters. As he drove with his wife and three-year-old daughter, he suddenly lost steering control as he made a slow turn into their neighborhood. The vehicle’s front-right suspension had collapsed, and parts of the car loudly scraped the road as it came to a stop. Continue reading “Tesla blamed drivers for failures of parts it long knew were defective”

PTI

Updated On Dec 20, 2023 at 08:03 AM IST

White Iris Investment on Tuesday pared 4.5 % stake in tyre manufacturing company Apollo Tyres for INR 1,281 crore through open market transactions. White Iris Investment, a public shareholder in Apollo Tyres, offloaded more than 2.85 crore shares of the company in 22 tranches.

Edelweiss Mutual Fund (MF), UTI MF, ICICI Prudential MF, Nippon India MF, Invesco MF, Societe Generale, Goldman Sachs Investments (Mauritius) I Ltd, Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore, and Plutus Wealth Management LLP, among others were the buyers of the shares.

Continue reading “White Iris Investment divests 4.5% stake in Apollo Tyres worth INR 1,281 cr”

Reuters

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA, Dec 19 (Reuters) – Canada on Tuesday released final regulations mandating that all passenger cars, SUVs, crossovers and light trucks sold by 2035 must be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), part of the government’s overall plan to combat climate change.

ZEVs must make up at least 20% of all cars sold by 2026 and at least 60% by 2030. Industry officials say electric vehicles (EVs) represented 12.1% of new vehicle sales in the third quarter of 2023.

Continue reading “Canada says all cars and trucks must be zero emission by 2035, industry unhappy”

Source : PTI | The Ministry of Heavy Industries has given a subsidy amounting to INR 5,294 crore to electric vehicle manufacturers on the sale of 1.1 million electric vehicles under phase-II of ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India’, Minister of State for Heavy Industries Krishan Pal Gurjar said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Further, the minister said his ministry sanctioned 6,862 electric buses to various cities, its transport corporations, and other government entities for intracity operations. Out of 6862 e-buses, 3487 e-buses have been supplied to state transport corporations.

Continue reading “INR 5,294 cr subsidy provided to EV makers under phase-II of FAME scheme: Centre”

Source : PTI | The second Varanasi-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express, which was flagged off on Monday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here, is equipped with the anti-train collision system ‘Kavach’, the Northern Railway said. However, railway officials said installation of only loco component of Kavach is not effective to protect a train from collision unless the full system is in place on the entire route of the train.

“It (Varanasi-New Delhi Vande Bharat) has superior designs, interiors and speed, providing passengers a comfortable and convenient travel experience. The trainset is also equipped with the most advanced safety features including the Kavach technology,” the Northern Railway said in a statement on Monday.

Continue reading “‘Kavach fitted in Varanasi-New Delhi Vande Bharat has no safety benefit at present’”

Source : PTI | New Delhi: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said the country needs 1,000 vehicle scrapping centres and 400 automated fitness test centres. Launching ‘DigiELV’, Gadkari said the road ministry has so far approved 85 vehicle scrapping facilities across the country.

“We need 1,000 vehicle scrapping centres in the country and at least 400 automated fitness test centres,” he said. Continue reading “India needs 1,000 scrapping centres, 400 fitness test points: Nitin Gadkari”

(Reuters) – French car parts maker Forvia (FRVIA.PA) wants to cut its Research and development (R&D) costs by half by 2028 thanks mainly to generative artificial intelligence (AI) to keep up with electrification challenges and Asian competition in the automotive industry.

The world’s 7th largest car equipment supplier, born from the French group Faurecia’s takeover of Germany’s Hella (HLE.DE), currently employs 157,000 people worldwide, including more than 15,000 engineers in 76 R&D centres. Continue reading “Forvia aims to halve its R&D costs by 2028 thanks to AI-CEO”

(Reuters) – Electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) has informed workers at its battery factory in Sparks, Nevada, that some of the set-rate hourly workers will see pay increases of around 10% starting early January, CNBC reported on Monday.

The EV maker will bump the pay for hourly workers from $20 to $22 an hour on the low end, and up to $34.50 an hour from $30.65 on the high end, according to the report, citing internal materials, adding that the raise can add anywhere from $2 to $8.30 an hour to their pay. Continue reading “Tesla to raise pay for hourly Nevada Gigafactory workers in Jan – CNBC”

BERLIN, Dec 19 (Reuters) – Buyers of Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) ID. all-electric vehicles will have their subsidy paid for by the automaker after the government ended a state scheme prematurely, the company said on Tuesday.

The offer will apply to private customers in Germany who ordered an eligible vehicle from the all-electric ID. range before Dec 15, it said.

Vehicles delivered and registered this year will receive the full subsidy of up to 6,750 euros ($7,386). Continue reading “Volkswagen to pay subsidies for ID. EV buyers in Germany”

SEOUL, Dec 19 (Reuters) – South Korea’s Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) plans to sell its plant in Russia for a nominal 7,000 roubles ($77.67), a company official said on Tuesday, making it the latest global automaker to sell Russian assets since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

Hyundai Motor, in a regulatory filing, said it would take a 287 billion won ($219.19 million) loss on selling the plant, in which operations have been suspended since March 2022. Continue reading “Hyundai Motor to take $219 mln hit on sale of Russian plant”

Source : PTI | Among a cluster of new homes on the northern outskirts of Melbourne, there is one house that stands apart. Not that you’d know it by looking from the outside. HyHome, unveiled this year by the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group, is Australia’s first hydrogen-powered home.

The demonstration house in Wollert is equipped with hydrogen-powered hot water systems, heating, cooktop and barbecue; some of the first 100 per cent hydrogen compatible appliances to be developed for the domestic market. Continue reading “Hydrogen makes itself at home”

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee wants Congress to vote on reversing the Treasury Department’s electric vehicle tax credit guidance, saying it will increase U.S. reliance on China.

Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, said the Treasury’s guidance will make it easier for Chinese companies to take advantage of the EV tax credit “while hurting American taxpayers and increasing America’s reliance on foreign nations for battery and vehicle component supply chains, including China.” Continue reading “Manchin seeks to reverse Treasury exemption allowing some Chinese minerals in EVs”

(Reuters) – French car parts maker Forvia (FRVIA.PA) wants to cut its Research and development (R&D) costs by half by 2028 thanks mainly to generative artificial intelligence (AI) to keep up with electrification challenges and Asian competition in the automotive industry.

The world’s 7th largest car equipment supplier, born from the French group Faurecia’s takeover of Germany’s Hella (HLE.DE), currently employs 157,000 people worldwide, including more than 15,000 engineers in 76 R&D centres. Continue reading “Forvia aims to halve its R&D costs by 2028 thanks to AI-CEO”

HANOI,(Reuters) – Vietnamese electric vehicles (EV) maker VinFast said on Monday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Japan’s Marubeni Corp (8002.T) to recycle used EV batteries.

VinFast will supply the used batteries and Marubeni will repurpose into what it said would be affordable Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) that were easy to manufacture, the Vietnamese firm said in a statement. Continue reading “Vietnam’s VinFast agrees deal with Marubeni to recycle used EV batteries”

BEIJING, (Reuters) – Nissan Motor (7201.T) said on Sunday it would sell China-developed electric vehicles (EVs) globally as it struck a deal with the country’s top university to leverage local resources to accelerate research and development on electrification.

The Japanese automaker is considering exporting the line-up of existing internal combustion engine vehicles and upcoming pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars manufactured and developed in China to overseas markets, Masashi Matsuyama, vice president of Nissan Motor and president of Nissan China, told reporters in Beijing. Continue reading “Nissan to export China-developed EVs to global markets”

SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – Electric vehicle maker Nio (9866.HK) has signed a pact for an investment of $2.2 billion from CYVN Holdings, an investment vehicle based in Abu Dhabi, the Chinese company said on Monday.

The investment comes as Nio, with its EV sales and profitability under pressure in a price war started by Tesla (TSLA.O), has sought to boost efficiency by cutting a tenth of the workforce and deferring non-core projects. Continue reading “China’s Nio to get $2.2 bln investment from Abu Dhabi’s CYVN”

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Trevor Milton, the convicted founder of electric- and hydrogen-powered truck maker Nikola (NKLA.O), was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday after a jury last year found him guilty of lying to investors about the company’s technology.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Milton misled investors by stating that Nikola had built a pickup from the “ground up,” that it had developed its own batteries even though he knew it was buying them, and that it had early success creating a “Nikola One” semi-truck that he knew did not work. Continue reading “Nikola founder Trevor Milton sentenced to four years for fraud conviction”

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The acting head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Friday she is stepping down from her post after overseeing the agency’s investigation into Tesla (TSLA.O) Autopilot and efforts to strengthen fuel efficiency regulations.

Acting NHTSA Administrator Ann Carlson, who has run the agency since September 2022, told employees in an email she will leave her post on Dec. 26 because of a law limiting how long officials can remain in a temporary role. Continue reading “Top US auto safety official will leave agency”

Source : PTI | South Korean automaker Kia is looking to expand production, sales network and its product range in India next year as part of an “aggressive business” plan to counter enhanced competition in the market, a top company official said on Thursday. The automaker, which on Thursday globally premiered the latest version of its compact SUV Sonet, also plans to curtail exports from the country in order to effectively cater to the demand in the domestic market.

“We have an aggressive business plan for next year. We are looking to add 100 more sales outlets and enhance installed production capacity by 1 lakh units,” Kia India Managing Director and CEO Tae-Jin Park told PTI in an interaction.

Continue reading “Kia India draws up aggressive biz plan; to jack up production, widen sales network next year”

Source : PTI | New Delhi : Vedanta Group firm Hindustan Zinc on Thursday said it has started the deployment of EV trucks at one of its mines. The company officially launched the first fleet of electric vehicles in partnership with Inland EV Green Services.

“Crafted for Indian conditions, these trucks boast a remarkable 55-tonne capacity each, coupled with an impressive charging capacity, going from 20 to 100 per cent in just 90 minutes. Continue reading “Hindustan Zinc begins EV trucks deployment at mines”

Source : PTI | Two leading private bus owners associations in West Bengal have asked the state Transport department to extend the 15-year deadline for stage carriages by two years. The Joint Council of Bus Syndicate, one of the two associations, in a letter to senior officials of the transport department called for extending the deadline for two more years arguing that buses and minibuses could not run for about three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic and consequent lockdown.

Transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty told PTI on Thursday that the government is aware of the situation and is mulling steps which will be acceptable to bus operators, common people, lakhs of people whose livelihoods revolve in the transport sector and take care of environmental issues.

Continue reading “Bus owners’ association urge govt to extend 15-year old vehicle phaseout deadline by 2 yrs”

Source : PTI | New Delhi: Mahindra & Mahindra’s sports utility vehicle Scorpio-N has received zero safety rating from ANCAP, prompting the company to state it will incorporate upgrades in the product mid-cycle update to meet the new safety regulations. The vehicle earlier had scored five stars for adult occupancy and three stars for child occupant protection in the Global NCAP crash tests.

The highest score on a vehicle crash test is five stars, while the lowest score is zero stars. Continue reading “Scorpio-N gets zero star safety ANCAP rating; M&M working to meet unique regulations”

BERLIN, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio (9866.HK) will launch its cheaper Firefly brand in Europe in 2025, its president said on Friday.

Both the Firefly and Alps brands will produce cars for families, with Firefly offering smaller models, Lihong Qin said in a news conference online.

He did not give details of pricing for the two brands. Continue reading “Nio to launch cheaper Firefly brand in Europe in 2025”

Dec 15 (Reuters) – A U.S. auto safety regulator said on Friday it will open an investigation into about 454,840 Nissan vehicles over reports alleging engine failure that can lead to a loss of motive power with no ability to re-start.

The U.S. Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has opened a preliminary evaluation into Nissan Rogue, Altima and Infiniti Qx50 vehicles, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said, adding a total of six complaints were received regarding the issue. Continue reading “US opens probe into over 450,000 Nissan vehicles on engine failure concerns”

DETROIT, Dec 14 (Reuters) – General Motors (GM.N) CEO Mary Barra has made many bold moves during a decade on the job to lift the automaker’s share price: jettisoning money-losing operations in Europe, promising to outsell Tesla (TSLA.O) in the electric-vehicle market and betting billions on developing a profitable robotaxi business.

Investors are unmoved. GM shares are trading close to the $33 a share at which they went public in 2010 following the company’s government-financed bankruptcy. Since hitting $63 a share in November 2021, GM shares have fallen 47%. Continue reading “GM’s Barra reboots her 10-year effort to lift stagnant shares”

PTI

Updated On Dec 13, 2023 at 06:27 PM IST

The government on Wednesday said it is not considering any proposal to provide duty concessions and exemption from local value addition for import of electric vehicles into the country. Responding to a question whether there is any proposal to exempt Tesla and other multinational car companies from local value addition of cost in heavy batteries, semiconductors and magnetic parts; and subsidy on the import duty on the import of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in India, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said a production-linked incentive scheme for automobile and auto component industry with a budgetary outlay of INR 25,938 crore was announced by the government.

Continue reading “No proposal to provide duty concession on import of EVs: Govt”

PTI

Updated On Dec 13, 2023 at 11:50 AM IST

Industry body India H2 Alliance on Tuesday said it has expanded its membership with seven new industry members. The India H2 Alliance is an industry coalition of global and Indian companies committed to the creation of a hydrogen value-chain and economy in India.

The India H2 Alliance has expanded its membership with seven new industry members Torrent Power, Synergen Projects, Godawari Power and Ispat, Technip Energies, HSBC Bank, Bureau Veritas and Newtrace joining the IH2A industry coalition, according to a statement.

Continue reading “India Hydrogen Alliance gets seven new industry members”

PTI

Updated On Dec 14, 2023 at 08:35 AM IST

Diversified conglomerate Mahindra Group donated INR 1 crore to the Tamil Nadu government as their contribution towards relief and rehabilitation works following the havoc caused by Cyclone Michaung in the northern parts of the state, the company said on Wednesday.

Mahindra and Mahindra Automotive Technology and Product Development president R Velusamy presented the cheque to Chief Miniter M K Stalin.

Continue reading “Mahindra Group, MRF Ltd contribute to TN cyclone relief”

By David Shepardson

Reuters

By Nick Carey and Paul Lienert

By David Shepardson

By Greg Bensinger and David Shepardson

Dec 13 (Reuters) – General Motors’ Cruise robotaxi unit dismissed nine key people amid an ongoing safety investigation, according to a memo seen by Reuters on Wednesday, which the company confirmed included Chief Operating Officer Gil West.

The investigation relates to an Oct. 2 incident in which a woman was struck and dragged by a Cruise vehicle in San Francisco.

Continue reading “Exclusive: GM’s Cruise robotaxi unit dismisses nine execs after safety probe”

Source : PTI | The Maharashtra government will find out if ethanol can be produced from mahua flowers in Gadchiroli district and subsidy would be given if the plan works out, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday. Fadnavis said efforts were on to see if wine could be produced from mahua flowers so that income of tribals can be raised, but at the same time one also needs to see if such a programme was needed in the district.

Speaking on the issue in the Legislative Council, MLC Satyajit Tambe had raised objection saying Gadchiroli is a liquor-free district but a company had carried out ‘bhoomipujan’ to start manufacturing wine from mahua flowers.

Continue reading “Govt will see if ethanol can be produced from mahua flowers in Gadchiroli: Fadnavis”