- SGL Group acquires BMW Group’s minority interest in the joint venture SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers (SGL ACF) – Bmw: SGL Carbon SE will acquire the 49% stake in stages, becoming the sole owner of SGL ACF +++ Purchase is in line with the strategy of supplying every step of the carbon fiber value chain from a single source +++ Cooperation with BMW Group on the supply…
- Tamara Ecclestone: ‘A lot of people think of my dad as emotionless, but he’s not like that’ – Guardian: It’s not like I was getting dropped to school in a Lamborghini. They drove a fairly average family car – an Audi, I think – and the house I grew up in is nowhere near as big as the one I live in now. My dad is very low key. The value of money was the…
- SGL to buy BMW’s stake in carbon fiber JV? – Reuters: Germany’s SGL Group (SGCG.DE) agreed to gradually buy BMW’s (BMWG.DE) 49 percent stake in a joint venture for the production of carbon fiber, SGL said on Friday. As part of the deal, SGL will buy the stake in SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers (ACF) in…
- VW Labor Leaders May Back IPO For Heavy Truck Unit – Bloomberg: After the Wolfsburg, Germany-based carmaker announced an asset review in June last year to identify non-core operations, efforts to sell the Ducati motorbike unit fizzled amid opposition from labor unions and the family that owns a majority voting…
- Union Boss Dumps Das Kapital and Tries Some Adam Smith: Gadfly – Washington Post: Workers blocked the sale of motorcycle maker Ducati, a trophy brand that contributes a tiny fraction of sales. For their part, investors think VW’s costs are too high. It has more than 600,000 employees and spends almost 14 billion euros ($16.6…
- Jaguar F-Type 2.0 – Autocar: Downsizing reaches Jag”s svelte F-Type coupe – but it”s more appetising than it sounds Since its arrival in 2013, two attributes have come to define the F-Type: its sublime aluminium bodywork and the way it sounds.Its appearance can”t be said to be in…
- Japan”s Mitsubishi Materials reports faked quality data – Detroitnews: Mitsubishi Materials Corp. apologized Friday for faked quality data by some of its…
- BMW to spend $237 million on battery cell center – Reuters: BMW will bundle its battery cell expertise in a new competence center, the German luxury carmaker said on Friday, adding it would invest 200 million euros ($237 million) … A BMW logo is seen on a car at the International Auto Show in Mexico City,…
- The new Infiniti QX50 is as big on economy as it is on luxury – Yahoo: Ahead of its in-the-flesh reveal at the La Auto Show, Infiniti has taken the wraps off its new mid-size luxury SUV and the ground-breaking engine technology behind it. The QX50 is a vehicle that very much has storied European brands, as well as…
- Tesla’s Newest Promises Break the Laws of Batteries – Bloomberg: Even by his own standards, the promises made last week while introducing two new Tesla vehicles-the heavy-duty Semi Truck and the speedy Roadster-are monuments of envelope pushing. To deliver, according to close observers of battery technology, …
- Daimler in search of “100 Million Idea” – Daimler: In company-wide competitions, Daimler AG is always on the lookout for new business ideas with big potential.
- GRAPHIC-Nickel rally stalls, electric car boost some years away – Reuters: A recognition that electric vehicles (EVs) are unlikely to move the nickel demand dial for some years, slowing demand from China’s stainless steel mills and rising supplies have halted a frenzied price rally and are likely to keep weighing on prices….
- Why Uber expects big gains from strong move into robotaxi market – Automotive News: Uber will further adapt those cars to turn them into a fleet self-driving vehicles. Miller explained why Uber expects big gains from the bold move during an interview with Automotive News Europe Managing Editor Douglas A. Bolduc. What message do you…
- Uber Japan Chief Masami Takahashi Is Said to Leave for WeWork – Bloomberg: The San Francisco-based company has clashed with taxi companies and regulators around the world, but in the Japanese capital it has played by the rules, limiting operations to black-car hire services and UberEATS food delivery. WeWork Japan, a joint…
- Tesla shows why VW, Daimler should keep their heavy trucks businesses – Automotive News: Volkswagen Group and Daimler are looking to simplify their businesses amid rapid changes in the industry and the obvious candidates to be auctioned off have always been their commercial vehicles operations. In the past, this would have made perfect…
- Uber to partner with Mahindra to pilot electric vehicles in India – Reuters: Ride-hailing firm Uber will partner with automaker Mahindra and Mahindra to pilot electric vehicles on its platform in India, the two … India is working on a new policy for electric vehicles but the auto industry is skeptical about its success due to…
- Aston Martin Is Making Its Supercars On a Shoestring – Bloomberg: Then there are non-car projects. You can can buy Aston Martin-branded products from Miami condos to $4 million submarines or powerboats. Yet the carmaker isn’t footing the bill. In 2009, it sold the rights to license the brand for non-automotive…
- Rio Tinto Isn’t Tesla; It Should Hold Fire On a Lithium Bet – Wall Street Journal – WSJ: Mining is an industry of big upfront investments and long periods of pain or gain, depending on whether the digger bets right or wrong. It’s understandable, therefore, that Rio Tinto’s reported interest in acquiring a big stake in Chilean lithium-miner …
- BMW expands car-sharing program to China – Automotive News: BMW will launch its first permanent car-sharing program in China next month using a fleet of electric i3 models, the company said. The program in Chengdu, southwest China, expands the automaker’s ReachNow brand outside of the U.S. where it launched in…
- How Bosch is preparing for autonomous cars – Automotive News: Bosch and Daimler are partnering to develop systems for self-driving taxis. … How is the move to autonomous driving changing things at Bosch?
- Porsche will meet EU emissions targets with electrified lineup – Automotive News: Porsche expects it won’t have any trouble meeting the EU’s next round of CO2 emissions reduction targets because more than half of its sales by 2025 …
- Auto sector surges in Q3 – Automotive News: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group significantly outperformed their automaker peers in a period when everyone achieved some growth. FCA’s 64.9 percent improvement coincided with its announcement in early August that it had signed a memorandum of…
- New Honda Jazz fun, economical – Yahoo: Honda’s clever little Jazz hatchback shook the small-car world to its foundations when it arrived on the scene just after the turn of the millennium – with …
- Comment: Autocar’s links to the 1932 RAC Rally – Autocar: Reader Niall has these from the 1932 RAC Rally A blast from the past – the 1932 RAC Rally, to be exact – and Porsche production numbers top our tester’s notes for the week
- South Korea says could boost metal stockpiles amid drive to electric cars – Reuters: The South Korean agency that manages state stockpiles of commodities says it could ramp up its inventories of non-ferrous metals …
- Budweiser is blasting barley into space to brew Mars beer – Yahoo: Settlers could arrive on Mars as soon as 2024, if SpaceX gets its way. And, those newcomers to the red planet are going to need supplies, like…beer. While Elon Musk and co. are aspiring to send (useful) cargo to Mars two years ahead of the first…
- Hyundai Mobis touts its new air bag for sunroofs – Nikkei: With Hyundai group carmakers struggling to grow in the two leading markets of the U.S. and China, Mobis is seeking to expand its business with car …
- Hyundai Ioniq Our First EV Category Winner – Autocar:
- New Infiniti QX50 revealed with world’s first production variable compression ratio engine – Autocar: New large SUV’s groundbreaking petrol powertrain promises diesel-like fuel efficiency; public debut will come at the LA motor show
- Your Future Commute Could Be by Taxi Drone – Bloomberg: A Chinese startup has developed a flying car that it plans to roll out as soon as next year. EHang Inc.’s E-184 drone can carry one passenger in its …
- Volvo claims the AMI Insurance safety award, again – Autocar:
- Aston Martin fires shots at VW – Autocar:
- Peugeot-owner to use Opel site to assemble engines-Les Echos – Reuters: A spokesman for PSA declined to comment on whether the engines would be assembled at an Opel site, although he said that eventually all brands within the Peugeot group would be built on common platforms. He added that the Slovakia gasoline engine…
- Peugeot-owner to use Opel site to assemble engines – Reuters: Peugeot-owner PSA (PEUP.PA) will use an existing Opel site in eastern Europe to assemble 200,000 petrol engines instead of building new capacity on its own site in Slovakia as initially planned, Les Echos newspapers said on Thursday. FILE PHOTO: The…
- Tesla builds world’s largest battery — in just 100 days – CBS News: Tesla had promised to provide a Powerpack battery with the capacity of 100 MW/129 megawatt-hours in 100 days. The company said the battery, based in Jamestown, South Australia, will be charged using energy from the nearby Hornsdale wind farm and will …
- Volvo may save McDonald’s museum from demolition – Detroitnews: There may be hope for the doomed replica of a historic McDonald’s hamburger restaurant after all. Upon hearing that McDonald’s plans to demolish its museum in the Chicago suburb of Des Plaines next month, the Volo Auto Museum in Lake County is…
- Fiat Chrysler to recall 1200 SUVs in India for airbag replacement – Reuters: Italian-American carmaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV will recall 1,200 Jeep Compass sports utility vehicles (SUVs) sold in India, … India’s position is based on a Supreme Court ruling last year in favour of the tax office, which sought higher taxes…
- Fiat Chrysler to recall 1,200 SUVs in India for airbag replacement – Reuters: Italian-American carmaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV will recall 1,200 Jeep Compass sports utility vehicles (SUVs) …
- Elon Musk’s New Battery Just Won Him a $50 Million Bet – Fortune: Back in March, the Tesla founder made a bet on Twitter with Mike Cannon-Brookes, the co-founder of Atlassian, an Australian enterprise software company, that he would be able to install the world’s largest lithium-ion battery in Australia within 100…
- Robots Are Not Our Friends Says Hillary Clinton – Yahoo: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has suggested that the rise of artificial intelligence could lead to World War III. “I have exposure to the very, most cutting-edge A.I., and I think people should be really concerned about it,” he warned at the 2017…
- BMW recalls all i3 EVs in US on neck injury risk – Automotive News: BMW is recalling all i3 electric vehicles in the U.S. due to a risk of neck injuries to smaller people in the driver’s seat who aren’t wearing seat belts, according to recall documents the automaker released this month. Europe and BMW’s other global…
- Lamborghini Urus picture leaks onto internet – Autocar: This leaked image of the Lamborghini Urus shows it without camouflage for the first time Upcoming Urus is claimed to be the fastest and sharpest SUV yet; anti-roll system reduces body roll by applying torque to the suspension
- Aston Martin DB11 demand ensures brand’s first pre-tax profit since 2010 – Autocar: The new DB11 is already a strong seller New grand tourer and weak pound have seen exports rise; pre-tax profits have reached £22m so far
- BMW recalls all i3 EVs in US – Automotive News: BMW is recalling all i3 electric vehicles in the U.S. due to a risk of neck injuries to smaller people in the driver’s seat who aren’t wearing seat belts, according to recall documents the automaker released this month. A crash test conducted by the…
- Buncrana inquest hears how vehicles had slipped off pier before – Guardian: John O’Raw, a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) volunteer said that in his 17 years in the role he could recall three other incidents in which vehicles lost control on Buncrana pier. O’Raw said he reached the sinking Audi about 40 minutes…
- Philip Hammond pledges driverless cars by 2021 and warns people to retrain – Guardian: However, the budget did little to underpin his words, bar a commitment to legislate for autonomous driving without a human at the wheel – a reform already progressing through parliament in the automated and electric vehicles bill – fuelling some…
- Tesla completes installation of world’s largest lithium ion battery, beats 100-day deadline – CNBC: The world’s largest lithium ion battery has been installed ahead of a 100-day deadline set by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Authorities in South Australia said Thursday that Tesla Powerpacks had been fully put in place and were connected to the Hornsdale Wind …
- Baidu launches public road tests of autonomous cars in China – FT: Testing on Chinese public roads would help keep Chinese companies competitive in the data-intensive technology of autonomous driving, where logging miles on roads is essential to perfecting the technology. Google’s autonomous car division, Waymo, for…
- 2019 Porsche 911: range-topping Turbo S to get 630bhp – Autocar: Next 911 will be first available with hybrid powertrain, but the Turbo will retain a pure combustion powertrain
- Tesla Delivers the World’s Biggest Battery-and Wins a Bet – Wall Street Journal – WSJ: JAMESTOWN, Australia-Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk may have overpromised on production of the company’s latest electric car, but he is delivering on his audacious Australian battery bet. An enormous Tesla-built battery system-storing …
- Volkswagen reveals plans for mild hybrid powertrains – Autocar: Volkswagen has revealed future powertrain plans which include 48v mild hybrids and advanced petrol engines. Bio and synthetic fuels are also on the way and are expected to “revolutionise the environmental balance sheet for internal combustion engines,”…
- Britain to hike levy on diesel cars – Reuters: Britain will increase the tax paid by those driving new diesel cars that do not meet the latest emissions standards from next year, in the latest blow to the hard-pressed sector. Sales of diesel cars have fallen 15 percent so far this year in Europe’s…
- Indonesia’s top car seller fights competitors with bigger SUVs – Nikkei: Astra, which controls more than 50% of the Indonesian car sales market, is under fresh pressure from Japan’s Mitsubishi Motor and China’s Wuling Motors, which are ramping up production of new compact minivan models after building new factories in the…
- Key VW shareholder Lower Saxony will keep stake in automaker – Automotive News: Key VW shareholder Lower Saxony will keep stake in automaker … the auto industry to succeed VW CEO Matthias Mueller and wanted to cede one of …
- Nikkei Asia300 Index drops as Chinese stocks retreat – Nikkei: The Nikkei Asia300 Index fell 0.4% to 1,413.63 on Thursday, after rising 0.4% earlier in the session. Chinese consumer electronics maker TCL led losses on the gauge, tumbling 8.7%. Shanghai-listed Spring Airlines lost 6.5%, while BOE Technology Group,…
- VW Hunts for Critical Element Needed in Electric Cars – Bloomberg: Volkswagen AG is stepping up its hunt for long-term supplies of battery metals it will need to help power electric cars across its entire range. The top … The electric car boom could see cobalt demand jump as much as 47-fold by 2030, according to…