Europe

COVENTRY, England — China’s Geely is planning a big investment to turn the maker of London’s iconic black taxis into a high-volume, all-electric brand with a range of commercial and passenger vehicles, executives at the unit told Reuters. London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) also aims to expand its suite of services, which include cars arranging

Group Lotus has appointed former Volvo global marketing chief Mike Johnstone to lead the performance brand’s commercial operations, the company said. Johnstone has already taken up the London-based post, reporting to Group Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng. Johnstone joined Volvo in 2017 as head of the brand’s UK marketing operations before moving to oversee its global

Volkswagen brand is replacing its design chief, Jozef Kaban, with Bentley’s design boss, Andreas Mindt, according to company sources. Mindt will take up the post at VW brand on Feb. 1, the sources told Automotive News Europe sister publication Automobilwoche. Mindt’s successor at Bentley will be Tobias Suehlmann, who currently heads exterior design at the

MILAN — Stellantis will halt production at its Sevel van making plant In Italy next week due to a parts shortage, unions said. The stoppage will affect most of the plant’s workers, FIM, UILM and Fismic unions said in a statement. Nicola Manzi, the local head of UILM metal mechanic union, told Reuters the shortage

BMW has expanded a deal with U.S. startup Solid State to add an R&D license that will enable the automaker to begin prototype solid-state cell production at its Cell Manufacturing Competence Center in Parsdorf near Munich, the automaker said in a statement. The automaker will begin producing cells in the first half of this year,

Ford will cut more than 1,000 jobs in Germany as it switches its business in the region to selling only electric cars. The automaker plans to reduce the workforce at its European headquarters and factory in Cologne, Germany, by a four-digit number, sources told Automotive News Europe sister publication Automobilwoche. The job losses will be

Germany for decades led on well-engineered combustion cars. It’s now facing a watershed year in the quest to retain an edge in the age of electric vehicles. Europe’s biggest economy is under growing pressure to retool dozens of fossil fuel-era factories employing tens of thousands of workers in a race for clean-technology leadership with the

Tesla needs to speed up production at its German factory after the automaker’s recent price cuts increased delivery times to customers, a local politician said. The expected delivery of the basic basic Model Y to customers in Germany is now February-March, according to Tesla’s website, as opposed to January-March before a price cut of 17

High-ranking Volvo Cars executive Henrik Green, who until last year was considered a strong candidate to rise to CEO at the automaker, will leave the company at the end of the month. Green’s position, head of advanced technology and sustainability, will be dissolved and his responsibilities will be distributed to other parts of the business.

BERLIN — Northvolt believes in Germany as an industrial location and continues discussions on building a battery plant there, it said on Wednesday amid speculation that the Swedish battery maker could divert its planned investment to the U.S. The $369-billion U.S. Inflation Reduction Act passed last year prompted companies including Northvolt to rethink planned investments

Mercedes-Benz has reshuffled its executive team, with Michael Schiebe taking over as head of the performance AMG division and Top End Vehicle group from Philipp Schiemer, who will lead a new Top End Customer and Community Management function. Schiebe is currently chief of staff to Mercedes CEO Ola Kallenius. He starts in his new position

Volvo Cars is restructuring its Americas business and spinning the U.S. and Canada markets into a separate unit. Anders Gustafsson, 54, head of Volvo Cars Americas and CEO of Volvo Car USA, will give up his responsibilities March 1, three people briefed on the matter told Automotive News. Michael Cottone, a 21-year Volvo veteran and

PARIS — Renault improved sales in higher-margin segments in 2022, a key component of CEO Luca de Meo’s turnaround plan for the brand, even as overall sales slumped by 9.4 percent.  Sales excluding Russia were 1.47 million units. Including Russia, global sales declined by 15 percent.  In Europe, sales in the compact segment were up by

COLOGNE, Germany — Ford will reduce its dependence on Volkswagen Group’s EV technology as the U.S. automaker shifts its European lineup to electric-only. After launching two new all-electric EVs based on VW Group’s MEB electric-only architecture, Ford will use its own technology for future electric cars. VW’s MEB platform was a transitional technology for Ford

Carl Hahn, who led Volkswagen Group’s international expansion in the 1980s, died on Saturday. He was 96. Hahn died in his sleep at his home in Wolfsburg, according to a spokeswoman from his charitable foundation. A ceremony is planned for Jan. 24. “Carl Hahn was a great visionary and a great personality,” Oliver Blume, current

Tesla reduced prices on its electric vehicles in Europe and the U.S., launching an EV price war that will boost its deliveries and challenge traditional automakers. The automaker cut prices for its Model Y and Model 3 cars by up to 20 percent in the company’s latest effort to stoke demand after several quarters of

BRUSSELS — Mazda has revived its rotary engine a decade after discontinuing the cult powerplant by adapting it for the electrification era. The MX-30 e-Skyactiv R-EV plug-in hybrid, which debuted at the auto show here Friday, uses a gasoline rotary engine as a power generator that along with a 17.8-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery helps give the

TOKYO — The Tokyo Auto Salon started on Friday in full force with souped-up roadsters, super-tuned hot rods and far-out race demons all on display. The event has eclipsed the Tokyo Motor Show in recent years in buzz and pulse. So it is little wonder that Japan’s automakers have gone all out for 2023 with