Europe

Mercedes-Benz could preview a new range of compact models later this year based on its new MMA architecture, CEO Ola Kallenius said. The automaker will continue to sell compact cars even as its emphasizes sales of its highest-margin models, including the luxury Maybach brand, the high-performance AMG division and off-road G-Class. The average selling price

HANOI — Vietnam’s VinFast said North Carolina regulators had given the automaker one of the environmental permits it needs to begin construction on a planned $4 billion EV assembly plant in the U.S. state. The company, a subsidiary of conglomerate Vingroup, has been moving to expand in the U.S., where it hopes to compete with

MOSCOW — Spending on new cars in Russia more than halved last year as the auto industry felt the full force of Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, with production plunging, prices soaring and buyers switching to cheaper used models. While analysts continue to debate the overall effectiveness of economic curbs on Russia, there

PARIS — A new 48-volt mild hybrid system from Stellantis will debut on the Peugeot 3008 and 5008 SUVs in the second quarter, with CO2 emission reductions of up to 15 percent. The mild-hybrid system is based on a 1.2 liter three-cylinder gasoline engine with 136 hp that is mated to a new dual-clutch six-speed

STUTTGART — Investment and other tools to accelerate the industrial transition to a decarbonized future are welcome, but trade barriers are not, Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius said, referring to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. “Trade barriers, please no,” he said during a news conference on the automaker’s full-year results. With $369 billion of subsidies largely

Northvolt, the Swedish lithium-ion battery producer that counts BMW and Volkswagen among its investors, is close to hiring banks for an initial public offering that could value the company at more than $20 billion, four sources close to the matter told Reuters. The company, which last raised funding from investors at a valuation of $12

Volkswagen brand is raising the prices for models with combustion engines by an average of 4.4 percent, the automaker’s dealers in Germany have been told. VW said “significant cost increases in the procurement of raw materials, energy and equipment” was the reason for the price hikes in a letter to dealers obtained by Automotive News

PARIS — Renault expects to boost returns this year on the back of a record order book and new models as the Europe-focused automaker navigates a region in the grip of record inflation and lingering supply-chain problems. The company forecast a group operating margin at or above 6 percent in 2023, compared with 5.6 percent

Stellantis is expanding its software development and engineering network to eight hubs by establishing a new facility in Poland. The new hub will be in the southwestern city of Gliwice, near the automaker’s Tychy factory, and will employ up to 300 people. The facility will add “software development resources to existing Stellantis technical operations in

General Motors has hired a specialist in European Union public affairs, Ludovic Basset, as the U.S. automaker pushes to re-establish itself after leaving the region in 2017. Basset joins GM as its Brussel-based head of EU Affairs. The 46-year-old French national, has spent the last 15 years working inside the EU’s political environment. He joins GM

Years of warnings about job losses from the transition to all-electric cars from internal-combustion powertrains are starting to become reality, as Ford this week announced it would cut nearly half of its European engineering staff of 6,200. Martin Sander, Ford’s EV boss in Europe, said the reason was, simply, that electric cars are much simpler.

PARIS — Renault and Nissan will invest $600 million to boost their operations in India, including the planned launch of six new joint models. The companies described the investment as a starting point that will create 2,000 additional jobs in Chennai, where the alliance has a factory that builds cars for both automakers and an

One turns 20 this year, the other shipped its first car shortly after World War II. The former wants to bring sustainable transportation to the masses, while the latter sells speed and extravagance to the world’s wealthiest. One’s cars quietly whir, and the other’s roar. Tesla and Ferrari have little in common, and won’t for

TOKYO — Toyota’s next CEO, Koji Sato, has named key members of a new leadership team to reinvent the automaker as a mobility company for a challenging new era. The new roster, unveiled at a Feb. 13 news conference, keeps some current executives in place and elevates younger ones as the 85-year-old automaker taps fresh

Volvo will not follow Tesla and Ford in lowering prices for its electric vehicles anytime soon. The automaker is seeing robust demand for its full-electric models, Chief Financial Officer Johan Ekdahl said in an interview Thursday. “We feel comfortable in our pricing strategy and will not engage in price wars,” Ekdahl said. Ford last month

BERLIN — Volkswagen Group will speed up its shift to electric cars and revamp its software strategy in a five-year investment plan presented by management to the supervisory board on Friday, the automaker said in a statement. VW’s supervisory board discussed how to rejig the automaker’s production network to accelerate the move to cleaner driving,

Ford is radically changing its business model in Europe in a bid to become sustainably profitable in the region. The automaker is dropping the Focus compact car and Fiesta small hatchback as it shifts to a smaller, all-electric passenger car lineup. It’s also axing thousands of jobs — many of them product development staff —

TOKYO — The rebalancing of the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi alliance opens a new chapter for the long-uneasy Franco-Japanese partnership in the wake of the arrest of its former chairman. But one man still fighting its past, former Nissan executive Greg Kelly, says the carmakers missed a golden opportunity to better strengthen their position as a