Europe

MILAN — Ferrari has unveiled the Roma Spider, the first of four new models to be launched this year. The 2+2 car is Ferrari‘s first softtop front-engine roadster since the 1969 365 GTS4. It is powered by a 3.9-liter turbocharged V-8 engine with 612-hp (620 cv) derived from the Roma coupe. Top speed is more

Jaguar Land Rover has appointed the company’s head of UK operations, Rawdon Glover, to oversee the revamped Jaguar brand. Glover’s title will be “Brand Managing Director, Jaguar,” JLR said in a statement. His promotion comes as Jaguar prepares to become an all-electric brand in 2025 and position itself higher in the market with a new

The U.K. is poised to unveil plans to boost green manufacturing, as it seeks to lure investment in a new battery plant from Jaguar Land Rover parent Tata Group. The government’s “Advanced Manufacturing Plan” will form part of the U.K. response to U.S. President Joe Biden’s $369 billion package of green subsidies and tax credits,

BEIJING –  Volkswagen is offering 3.7 billion yuan ($537 million) in cash subsidies for car purchases in China, joining more than 40 brands in slashing prices ahead of a change in emissions rules in the world’s largest auto market. The joint venture between China’s SAIC Motor and VW is offering 15,000 yuan to 50,000 yuan

PRAGUE — Skoda expects to build and deliver more cars in 2023 than in 2022 when its global sales fell 17 percent to 731,300 vehicles. This should be helped in part by Skoda’s upcoming entry into the Vietnamese market, where it will start selling imported Kodiaq and Karoq cars in the second quarter before assembling

Audi will launch an “entry level” full-electric car below the Q4 E-Tron compact SUV, as the brand prepares to launch 20 new models by 2025 to match EV product pushes by rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz. CEO Markus Duesmann announced the EV at Audi’s annual news conference on Thursday. Duesmann declined to provide details of the

Volkswagen Group is “intensifying” its EV partnership with Ford, VW Group CEO Oliver Blume said. Ford will unveil its first full-electric car based on VW’s MEB platform on March 21. Ford has said it is scaling back its reliance on the MEB in the longer term and will build its next-generation EVs for Europe on

After doubling full-electric sales in 2022, BMW Group is planning a major EV product offensive in the next five years, including the launch of six new models on the coming Neue Klasse (New Class) platform. BMW says that it expects to sell 400,000 all-electric models in 2023, or about 15 percent of total sales, up from

Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan criticized Germany, Italy and other European countries that are seeking to weaken the EU’s plan to ban the sale of new vehicles powered by fossil fuels. The European Parliament “confirmed this agreement on 14 February. Member States were supposed to do the same in early March,” Rowan posted Tuesday on

HONG KONG — CATL’s plan to raise at least $5 billion in Swiss global depository receipts (GDR) has been delayed as Beijing regulators raise concerns over the large scale of the offering, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The world’s largest battery maker, formally known as Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL), had

BERLIN — Germany has formed an alliance with Italy and some Eastern European countries opposing the planned phase-out of internal combustion engines from 2035 unless cars running on e-fuels are exempted from the ban. Transport ministers from Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia met on Monday to discuss changes to the

LONDON — Britain risks falling behind in the race to build electric vehicles if it does not respond urgently to large-scale U.S. and European Union initiatives to support industry, the UK’s auto industry body, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), said in a statement. “Britain’s ability to compete as an EV production leader

Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume summoned top managers to a hip Berlin hangout in late January to strategize on how Lamborghini, Bentley, Skoda and Seat would pitch an initial public offering to investors. The exercises were ordered by Blume after Porsche’s successful listing last year. The meeting had advisers from McKinsey & Co. and Wall

The European Union is offering Germany a declaration that would explain a possible role for so-called e-fuels after a combustion-engine ban takes effect after 2035, setting the stage to end a dispute that stalled the regulation earlier this month. The commission, the EU’s executive arm, so far has not specified a deadline for when it

WASHINGTON — The downgrade of Nissan’s credit rating from investment grade to junk by S&P Global marks the start of a cycle that could see as much as $55 billion of so-called “fallen angels” this year, said fund managers. Global supply-chain disruptions, higher labor costs and persistently high inflation in a slowing economy is expected

MILAN — Automotive Cells Company, a joint venture of Stellantis, Mercedes and TotalEnergies said its planned Italian battery making plant was expected to start operations in 2026. The plan will involve an overall investment worth over 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in Italy, including public funds, Automotive Cells Company (ACC) said after meeting unions in

BMW’s Mini brand will launch a full-electric version of the Countryman compact SUV this year as it prepares to expand its EV range to three models in the next two years. The new Countryman will offer more space than the outgoing car, BMW said in a statement. It will use the same front-wheel-drive FAAR (from

MADRID — Ford is slashing its workforce in Spain where the automaker is winding down production of once-popular models. The company plans to cut 1,100 jobs at its plant in Valencia in eastern Spain, a Ford spokesperson said on Friday. The layoffs are part of the company’s changes to its car production lineup in Europe,