Europe

After repeated delays, the European Commission last week released its proposed Euro 7 pollution rules, succeeding Euro 6, which came into force in 2014. This is significant because they will most likely be the final internal-combustion engine regulations enacted in Europe, with the EU requiring the sales of only zero-emission vehicles after 2035. Automakers had

PARIS – Renault will give operative independence to its highly profitable commercial van unit and is planning a new electric modular vehicle in cooperation with another, unnamed company. CEO Luca de Meo said Tuesday in an update of his Renaulution strategic plan that a standalone unit will be able to unlock more value from a

PARIS — Renault is targeting even bigger margins for Dacia, its “value for money” Romanian brand that has been a profit engine for the group. Dacia margins are now 10 percent, CEO Luca de Meo said Tuesday in his “Revolution” strategic plan update, and the brand will reach 15 percent by 2030. That level is

STOCKHOLM — A key to helping Volvo Cars’ EVs achieve price parity with comparable combustion-powered models will be an affordable small SUV the automaker plans to reveal in 2023. Volvo showed a teaser image of the vehicle at the end of its introduction of the new EX90 flagship electric large SUV here Wednesday. The EV

WASHINGTON — European Union Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis said he was very hopeful that negotiations with the United States could result in elimination of discriminatory provisions in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. Lambrinidis told an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday that EU officials were working with U.S. officials in a special

LONDON — Jaguar Land Rover will resume marketing spending after production levels for key models started to return to normal. The automaker had reduced its marketing spending in recent months as it struggled to fulfil orders for in-demand models such the new Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Land Rover Defender due to chip shortages

LONDON — MG Motor has merged its UK business with its mainland European sales operations as the Chinese-owned company continues its rapid sales expansion in the region. MG had originally separated its longer-standing UK business, which offers both combustion engine and electric models, with that of its continental European business, which focuses on all-electric cars

BERLIN — Volkswagen passenger cars brand named Nelly Kennedy as its new chief marketing officer. Kennedy is currently senior global brand marketing director for Google in California, which she joined in April 2015. She will take over the role at VW in mid-February, succeeding Jochen Sengpiehl, who has moved to Volkswagen China. Kennedy will be

MOSCOW — Russian automaker Sollers will buy out Japan’s Mazda 50 percent stake in their joint venture car assembly plant in Vladivostok, Sollers said. In a results statement on Thursday, Mazda said the deal would be worth one euro, bringing it the right to buy the asset back for the same amount within three years.

BERLIN — The German government on Wednesday blocked prospective Chinese investment in two domestic semiconductor producers after the moves raised concerns over national security and the flow of sensitive technological know-how to Beijing. The government said it had vetoed the takeover of the chip factory of the Dortmund-based company Elmos by Silex, a Swedish company

Volvo CEO Jim Rowan said the shutdown of Argo AI, the autonomous vehicle technology company backed by Ford and Volkswagen Group, solidified his automaker’s approach to turning cars that can drive themselves into reality. “We don’t have these massive, sprawling AI (artificial intelligence) teams,” he said. “Our teams are focused on what we think it

Electric-vehicle startup Arrival warned on Tuesday that it may not have enough cash to keep its business going toward the end of next year. The company said it has been exploring options to tackle the fund crunch and hinted at cost-cuts that could have a sizeable impact on its workforce in the UK. Arrival’s move

German supplier Schaeffler plans to cut 1,300 jobs, or 1.6 percent of its global workforce, as the sector grapples with the shift from combustion engines to electric vehicles, the company said in a statement. Schaeffler said the switch to EVs was leading to overcapacity in products for combustion-engine vehicles, and automakers were continuing to cut

FRANKFURT — Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius spoke out against distancing from China, saying it was “absolutely inconceivable” to write off the country. The comments came days after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz led a delegation of business leaders to China, urging German companies to diversify should the relationship between the two countries sour. Kallenius said he

BEIJING — Nissan’s concerns about technology transfers have complicated its partner Renault’s plans to sell a large stake in its gasoline-engine business to China’s Geely, three people familiar with the talks said. Renault is pursuing a complex two-pronged restructuring. On one hand, it is aiming to revamp its alliance with Nissan and convince the Japanese

Renault is aiming for a roughly 10 billion euro ($10 billion) valuation for the electric-vehicle business the French automaker is carving out as a stand-alone entity, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company is preparing the EV and software entity for a potential initial public offering on the Euronext Paris exchange sometime

TOKYO — Nissan’s talks with alliance partner Renault are focused on optimizing their investment in electric vehicles and strengthening their competitiveness as equal partners, Makoto Uchida, the Japanese automaker’s CEO, said. Negotiations with Renault, also Nissan’s top shareholder, have less than two weeks remaining to meet a Nov. 15 target the automakers had set to

Stellantis has joined BMW in warning that Europe is struggling to cope with surging costs. As a result,  consumers in the region are starting to dial back car purchases. The comments come as German factory orders continued to decline in September, adding to concerns that Europe’s largest economy is slipping into recession as it struggles