Europe

Skoda may exit China amid intense competition from local brands in the world’s biggest market. “We will look together with our Chinese joint venture partner at how we want to continue there,” Skoda CEO Klaus Zellmer told Automotive News Europe sister publication Automobilwoche. Skoda’s withdrawal from China would allow parent Volkswagen Group to concentrate its

PARIS — Valeo said that board member Gilles Michel, a former top executive at PSA Group, will become its new chairman of the board, effective Jan. 1, 2023. Michel will replace Jacques Aschenbroich, who will step down on Dec. 31, in line with commitments he made in the context of his appointment as chairman of

Lexus is working through an order backlog in Europe after Toyota’s premium brand was hit particularly hard by the chip shortage, forcing it to pause sales of some versions of its newly launched NX midsize SUV. “There’s no denying 2022 was a very tough year for Lexus,” Matt Harrison, president and CEO of Toyota Motor

The former Nissan car plant in St. Petersburg, Russia, will be run by AvtoVAZ, with production planned to start in 2023, RIA Novosti reported on Friday, citing Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov. The Nissan assets in Russia are now owned by state entity NAMI. The

Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo will serve as president of the European automakers’ trade group ACEA, succeeding BMW CEO Oliver Zipse. De Meo has been nominated for a one-year term, renewable for one year, although presidents traditionally serve two years.  ACEA, founded in 1991, represents 16 car, truck and bus manufacturers, but the group

PRAGUE — Volkswagen Group is postponing its decision on where to locate a planned gigafactory for electric car batteries in eastern Europe beyond 2022. VW pointed to the current economic environment in announcing the decision on Thursday. “Volkswagen AG and its battery company PowerCo are continuously evaluating suitable sites for their next gigafactory in Europe,”

MOSCOW — Chinese brands account for almost a third of Russia’s car market, data shared with Reuters shows, as the sector more than any other shows China’s growing importance to the economy following the exodus of Western companies. New sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles are down almost 61 percent year-on-year, as Western

TOKYO — The talks between Renault and partner Nissan over alliance restructuring are certain to spill into next year, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The automakers are looking to make announcements toward the end of January, Bloomberg said. In their talks, Renault is hoping to convince Nissan to invest in its electric

PARIS — The head of Renault Group‘s new mobility unit Mobilize, Clotilde Delbos, is stepping down and will leave the company, the automaker said.  Delbos is a former CFO and deputy CEO of Renault Group. She will be replaced by Mobilize COO Fedra Ribiero, who will become CEO of Mobilize Beyond Automotive, and Patrick Claude, vice president finance for

BERLIN — Volkswagen will decide by late January or early February whether it needs a new factory to build its Trinity self-driving flagship cars, brand chief Thomas Schaefer said. The Trinity model is 1.5 to 2 years behind schedule, Schaefer said, speaking to Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung and Wolfsburger Nachrichten. The model was delayed in part

BERLIN – Volkswagen Group’s main plant in Wolfsburg is building well under 400,000 cars a year, less than half its capacity, because of “flat-out chaos” in the supply chain, VW brand chief Thomas Schaefer said. Speaking in a live interview with local newspapers in Wolfsburg on Tuesday, Schaefer said suppliers were cancelling deliveries with one

BERLIN — Porsche will join Germany’s blue-chip index, just over two months after its market debut, exchange operator Deutsche Boerse said. Porsche will replace sportswear maker Puma on the DAX stock index on Dec. 19 while Puma will move down to the MDAX index, it said. Shares in Porsche have gained around 30 percent since

Two of China’s biggest automakers are so determined to ensure their cars make it from factories on the mainland to anyone who wants to drive them they have bought their own ships. BYD, which only makes electric and hybrid cars, is going the extra length to avoid any last mile supply chain snarls, ordering at

TOKYO — Renault and Nissan are set to delay a Wednesday announcement of a deal to restructure their automotive alliance as they struggle to bridge their differences, three people familiar with the matter said. Discussions with Nissan started earlier this year as Renault began work to carve out its electric-vehicle business, known as Ampere. Nissan

McLaren has recently sold some of its prized heritage car collection to Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat Holding to raise capital to upgrade its Artura supercar. McLaren was forced to seek an injection of funds after identifying “certain technical upgrades” on the Artura plug-in hybrid car that triggered delivery delays, McLaren said earlier this week

LONDON — BMW has invested in Jetti Resources, which has technology to extract more copper from low-grade resources and produce metal with a low carbon footprint, the automaker said in a statement. BMW and other automakers are forging deals to ensure supply of copper and other critical raw materials that may see shortages in coming

TOKYO — Renault and Nissan are set to forgo a Wednesday announcement of a deal to restructure their automotive alliance as they struggle to bridge their differences, three people familiar with the matter said. In their discussions, Renault is looking to Nissan to invest in its electric vehicle business, while Nissan is seeking the sale

MUNICH — BMW Group has begun production of an early-stage hydrogen-powered crossover — a milestone in the automaker’s diversified powertrain strategy. A test fleet of BMW iX5 Hydrogen vehicles, based on the X5 crossover, will hit the road early next year as the automaker aims to commercialize the technology by decade’s end. BMW is one