- CHINA: Nissan targets 20% of China’s EV market – Just-auto: Nissan says it is targeting 20% of China’s emerging market for electric vehicles.
- INDIA: GM to start Chevrolet Beat/Spark exports to Latin America – report – Just-auto: General Motors is reportedly considering reinforcing its Indian manufacturing operations as a global source for small cars with exports to start to markets in Latin America.
- Besturn to launch two new SUV’s by 2018 – CarNewsChina.com: Besturn, a Chinese car brand under First Auto Works (FAW), will launch two new SUV’s on the China auto market by 2018, bringing the brand’s total SUV count to three. The new SUV’s will be positioned below and above the current Besturn X80 SUV
- Audi CEO Stadler gets contract extension – Automotive News: Volkswagen has extended the contracts of Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, VW sales and marketing boss Christian Klingler and VW China chief Jochem Heizmann.
- Fiat Chrysler will be OK if it misses lofty targets, Marchionne says – Automotive News: Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said the company will be much stronger than it is today at the end of his plan to sell 7 million cars by 2018, even if it misses the targets he set last week.
- Volkswagen’s “low-cost” line coming to China in 2017. Branded how? – CarNewsChina.com: Volkswagen’s supervisory board approved plans for a range oflow cost models, and they will be launched in 2017 onto the Chinese market, The Nikkei reports from Volkswagen’s shareholder meeting in Hanover, Germany. CEO MartinWinterkorn said the car will be targeted at first-time car buyers.
- Report – GM India to start exporting Beat to Latin America this year – Indian Autos Blog: Following the consolidation of international operations in November 2013, American car maker General Motors’s Indian subsidiary is being considered as a future global sourcing base for compact vehicles.
- Report – Ford EcoSport facelift coming in 2016 – Indian Autos Blog: As per a report on Economic Times, Ford will introduce the EcoSport facelift not later than the first half of 2016.
- Spy Shots: Renault Captur testing in China – CarNewsChina.com: Spy Shots of the Renault Captur testing in China. The Renault Capture will be launched on the Chinese car market in the second half of this year. The Captur will initially be imported into China until local production starts in late 2015.
- Bits Blog: A Trip in a Self-Driving Car Now Seems Routine – NY Times: A test ride of the latest version of Google’s self-driving car could be best characterized as underwhelming. And that is not a bad thing.
- Clock ticking on Google’s driverless cars – FT: Search company yet to forge commercial partnerships for the ambitious multimillion-dollar project that is due to launch in 2017
- Jaguar to build six new Lightweight E-types – Autocar: ‘Missing’ six Lightweight E-types from the original production run to be completed and sold to customers.
- Porsche tells N.A. dealers to cease using live Tigers for Macan marketing – Automotive News: Porsche Cars North America is asking its dealers not to use live tigers in promotions of the new Macan mid-sized crossover after animal rights activists objected to the plans.
- Buick joins list of brands making backup cameras standard before U.S. deadline – Automotive News: General Motors’ Buick brand, following others in getting ahead of a new federal safety requirement, said today it will make backup cameras standard on all 2015 models.
- Next Senate hearing on GM seen after company probe complete – Reuters: The next round of hearings in the Senate to probe General Motors’ delayed recalls of vehicles plagued by ignition-switch defects will come after the company completes its own internal probe, a Senate aide said on Tuesday.
- Marchionne: Chrysler to embrace hybrids to meet mpg rules – Automotive News: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne said today that Chrysler Group increasingly will have to turn to electrification of its vehicles to meet the government’s rules requiring cars and light trucks to average 54.
- Life vs. Traffic: A Safety Plan With Swedish Logic and City Smarts – NY Times: New York can learn a lot from Sweden, which has tamped down on traffic fatalities by focusing on design and technological solutions rather than by placing the onus on the driver.
- VW Likely to Delay Ambitious U.S. Sales Targets – thedetroitbureau.com: Volkswagen’s ambitious growth plans for the U.S. market are likely to be delayed – but are still within long-term reach, according to the maker’s top U.S. executive. The German maker had set itself a goal of selling 800,000 vehicles a year in the U.S. under the flagship VW brand by 2018.
- RUSSIA: April shows sharp sales drop – Just-auto: Figures from the Association of European Businesses (AEB) show in the January-April period,new car and LCV sales declined by 4% or 32,567 in comparison to the same period of the previous year.
- Mahindra USA Lands in Metro Detroit – thedetroitbureau.com: Indian manufacturing conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra has landed in the U.S., specifically just outside of Detroit. The Mumbai-based company is opening an engineering center and a manufacturing plant at locations near Detroit. The plant will build a new electric scooter.
- GERMANY: Volkswagen Group delivers nearly 2m vehicles to April for first time – Just-auto: Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand says it delivered almost 2m vehicles for the first time in the first four months of a year.
- GERMANY: BMW Group has best ever April deliveries – Just-auto: BMW Group says a total of 162,093 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand vehicles were delivered to customers in April, a rise of 4.3% compared with the same month last year, making it the best April ever.
- Tesla to Stop Supplying Batteries for Toyota EV – Wards: The RAV4 EV debuted in 2012 in California, and the automaker expected to sell 2,600 units to fleet and retail customers.
- Porsche sued over ‘Fast and Furious’ actor Paul Walker’s fatal crash – Automotive News: Kristine Rodas, the widow of Roger Rodas — who in November 2013 was killed along with ‘Fast and Furious’ actor Paul Walker in a Porsche Carrera GT crash — filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Los Angeles against the automaker.
- AUSTRALIA: GM Holden posts huge loss – Just-auto: Holden has posted a loss of more than AUD620m (US$579m) for 2013. The GM division blames costs related to closing domestic manufacturing by the end of 2017.
- What the Future Holds: When Driverless Cars Break the Law – NY Times: Although legal issues connected to driverless cars have raised many questions, emotion may prove a greater obstacle to their acceptance.
- GERMANY: Munich Professor hits back at Honeywell claim of “biased” coolant report – Just-auto: Munich University’s Professor of Inorganic Chemistry has hit back strongly at Honeywell claims his report into the r1234yf refrigerant is “clearly biased” and that there is an “ulterior motive.”
- Automakers New Era of “Connected” Cars – thedetroitbureau.com: We live in a world dominated by Internet-connected devices. However, there is one place where that still seems to be a largely WiFi-free zone: your vehicle. At least, it was until now. GM is kicking off its in-car 4G LTE service in the Chevy Malibu. More vehicles and companies are going to following suit, according to a story at TheDetroitBureau.com.