Top News:
- U.S. hi-tech energy agency chief aims to outperform Tesla – Reuters: A wing of the U.S. Department of Energy focused on breakthrough technologies may soon give billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s most recent foray into energy storage a run for its money, the unit’s director said.
- Toyota shakes up corporate structure to focus on product lines – Reuters: Toyota Motor Corp announced an overhaul of its corporate structure on Wednesday as the world’s biggest-selling carmaker seeks to streamline decision-making and improve the way it manages its production as output hits record highs.
- Carmakers say tighter EU border controls could hit production – Reuters: The auto industry’s lean manufacturing system is vulnerable to any tightening of Europe’s border controls in the wake of the region’s refugee crisis, the chief executives of Opel, Ford Europe and Daimler said at the Geneva car show.
- NZ new vehicle sales continue to rise – Just-auto: An expected slowdown in new vehicle registrations did not materialise in New Zealand which saw a record 10,313 February new vehicle registrations last month, up 4.4% year on year.
- Aston Martin DB11 video analysis: full tech details, prices and exclusive pics – Autocar: Aston’s DB9 replacement sits on a new structure, packs a new 600bhp twin-turbo V12, covers 0-62mph in 3.9sec, hits 200mph and costs £154,900
- Radical unleashes its fastest road car yet at Geneva show – Autocar: The British manufacturer has revealed the 700bhp RXC Turbo 500R ahead of a new Nürburgring lap record tilt in the summer
- All-paw Subaru count passes 15m – Just-auto: Total production of Subaru All-Wheel Drive (AWD) vehicles at Fuji Heavy Industries has reached 15m units nearly44years after theLeone 4WD Estate Van was introduced in September 1972.
- The Ultimate Driving Machine Prepares for a Driverless World – Fortune: This year BMW turns 100, and it’s still roaring like one of its deep-throated V-8 engines. In 2015 it outsold rivals Mercedes-Benz and Audi for the 11th…
- INTERVIEW – Opel chief Neumann sees strong start for breakeven year – Just-auto: General Motors Europe boss has told just-auto that the company is off to a strong sales start as it looks to hit breakeven in 2016.
- Rolls-Royce gives board seat to largest shareholder ValueAct – Reuters: * Profits set to halve in 2016, after tough trading in oil and gas
- ANALYSIS – Infiniti QX70, the first crossover coupe? – Just-auto: Can what we now call the QX70, the car that started life as the FX, really be almost eight years old? It’s still selling strongly too, deliveries in its largest market rising by 25% in February.
- GENEVA – Opel plans to increase diesel mix in Europe – Just-auto: Opel/Vauxhall CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann has told just-auto that the brands are planning to increase diesel mix in Europe, in spite of the uncertainties caused for diesel’s outlook due to the ramifications of VW’s so-called ‘dieselgate’ scandal and its wider fallout.
- Budget impact: Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai increase car prices across the range – Ibtimes: Tata Motors announced a hike in car prices across the range Tuesday, March 1, and Mercedes-Benz India and Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL)…
- India’s new tax for bigger cars applicable to all fuel types-trade group – Reuters: The new tax has come as a “rude surprise” for the auto industry, said … According to the budget document, three-wheelers, electric and hybrid cars…
- Production resumes at Renault’s Turkey plant -company official – Reuters: Output resumed at the Oyak Renault plant in Turkey’s northwestern city of … Oyak Renault is a joint venture between Renault and the Turkish army…
- Future McLaren P1 could be all-electric – updated – Autocar: Autocar’s impression of how a future all-electric McLaren supercar might look
- Fiat Tipo targets ‘value for money’ segment, Marchionne says – Automotive News: Fiat is targeting the lower end of the compact car segment with its new Tipo hatchback and wagon, the company’s top executives said at…
- Rolls-Royce Names Activist Shareholder ValueAct to Board – WSJ: Rolls-Royce named the representative of activist shareholder ValueAct to its board, though the British engine-maker vowed to stick to its current strategy.
- Volkswagen flaunts supercars at Geneva auto show – Reuters: Bugatti unveiled the world’s fastest road car at the Geneva auto show this week: the 2.4 million euro ($2.6 million) Chiron with a 1,500 horsepower engine that can hit 420 kilometres per hour
- Google Thinks Self-Driving Cars Will Be Great for Stranded Seniors – Bloomberg: Florence Swanson has lived through every American car from the Ford Model T to the Tesla Model S. Now, at 94, she has stepped into what Google…
- Big bucks and cheap petrol fuel February US light vehicle sales – Just-auto: Relatively milder temperatures may have brought people outdoors but it was most likely incentives averaging 11% higher than last February and petrol prices averaging 27% less that brought them to dealer lots last month.
- 2016 Renault Scenic makes world debut at Geneva motor show – Autocar: Fourth-generation MPV edges towards the crossover segment with a striking new design; due to go on sale with a price tag of around £21k
- Fiat Chrysler UK pulled back from 2012 brink – Just-auto: Fiat Chrysler came within a few weeks of pulling out of the UK in 2012 as sales plunged and dealers bailed out – then Steve Zanlunghi pitched a plan at his boss Sergio Marchionne.
- 2016 Geneva motor show report and gallery – Autocar: VW T-Cross Breeze
- Fiat Chrysler to recall voluntarily 2,496 cars in Russia – Reuters: Fiat Chrysler will recall voluntarily in Russia 2,496 Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Commander cars, Russia’s technical safety watchdog Rosstandart said on Wednesday.
- TABLE-Belgian Feb new car registrations up 11.7 pct – Reuters: Figures also showed that brands distributed by D’Ieteren , Belgium’s largest auto retailer, had a market share of 17.71 percent for February compared…
- Toyota Promotes Non-Japanese to Help Oversee Structural Overhaul – Bloomberg: Toyota Motor Corp. is handing non-Japanese executives major promotions in the third overhaul of its complex business structure in six years,…
- The Ferrari GTC4 Lusso Is More Than Just a Fresh FF – Bloomberg: “The GTC 4 Lusso is a completely new car,” said Enrico Galliera, Ferrari’s senior vice president of commercial and marketing. He spoke during a…
- Volkswagen T-Cross Breeze unveiled at Geneva Motor Show 2016 [PHOTOS] – Ibtimes: Volkswagen has pulled the wraps off its highly-anticipated compact SUV concept – T-Cross Breeze at the ongoing 86th Geneva Motor Show.
- BRIEF-Toyota says Feb China vehicle sales up 6.3 pct y/y – Reuters: … +32.1 pct in January. * January-February China sales +22.0 pct y/y to 190,500 vehicles, versus +13.6 pct year ago (Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu).
- Renault Samsung sales down 1.7 pct in Feb. – Yonhap: Renault Samsung Motors Co., the local unit of French auto firm Renault S.A., said Wednesday that its February car sales…
- BUZZ-Indian auto makers gain after robust Feb sales – Reuters: Shares of auto makers rally on higher monthly sales … 25 pct ($1 = 67.6900 Indian rupees) (RM: [email protected]).
- Hyundai Motor’s Feb. sales shrink 6.6 pct – Yonhap: Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s leading carmaker, said Wednesday that its sales in February shrank 6.6 percent from…
- Hyundai set to launch Ioniq hybrid, EV in Europe in Q3 – Yonhap: Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s leading carmaker, plans to launch two major models of the Ioniq in Europe in the…
- Ford adds Edge, Kuga SUVs to Vignale upscale family – Automotive News: Ford expects to benefit further from the growing popularity of high-riding vehicles by selling higher margin Vignale versions of the Edge large SUV and…