Europe

Porsche’s leadership set-up and the limited influence for stock market investors after its IPO are prompting some fund managers — particularly those focused on governance issues — to think twice about whether to invest in the listing. Volkswagen Group has said it will list its Porsche sports car brand this month or early next month.

PARIS — Global automotive production appears to be gaining momentum, according to a new forecast from S&P Global Mobility — but the analyst company has downgraded its outlook for Europe as semiconductor shortages continue and slowing demand looms as an issue. S&P Global Mobility (formerly IHS Markit) has upgraded its latest global forecast, issued this

Volkswagen Group is set to receive hundreds of millions of euros in trading profits as it offloads a massive natural-gas hedge, selling large amounts of fuel it previously purchased back into the German market. VW has directed the sale of 2.6 terawatt-hours’ worth of gas contracts, according to a document seen by Bloomberg News. That

MADRID — Stellantis and Renault will partly halt their Spanish plants in the coming days and weeks as the lack of microchips persists, two union representatives told Reuters on Friday. The global chip shortage, caused by pandemic supply chaos and booming demand, has ravaged the automotive sector with many companies halting production temporarily. Two Renault

FRANKFURT – Volkswagen Group’s supervisory board is due to meet on Sunday to move forward with the IPO of its Porsche brand, which will comprise 911 million shares in a nod to its most famous model, two sources close to matter said. Details on the price range, valuation and confirmed cornerstone investors are likely to

DETROIT — Stellantis is considering “significant” investments to produce energy for its European facilities as part of its response to the threat of the cut-off of natural gas supplies from Russia. “We are now preparing a very strong energy (use) reduction plan,” CEO Carlos Tavares,Tavares told reporters during a video conference on the sidelines of

On his last day as Volkswagen Group’s CEO, Herbert Diess shared footage from his farewell dinner. The video clip captures the 63-year-old grabbing a microphone, asking his colleagues to gather a little closer and then making a prediction: Other old-guard manufacturers will have trouble with software just as VW has. “Where we are struggling through,”

Aston Martin has delayed its 575.8-million-pound ($662 million) rights issue by one day due to the bank holiday for Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral in London. Queen Elizabeth, the UK’s longest-serving monarch, died last week in Scotland aged 96, after reigning for 70 years. Her funeral will be held on Sept. 19. The latest date

MARANELLO, Italy — Ferrari could soon close the order book for its first four-door production model, the Purosangue, because of overwhelming demand, executives said. “We risk not being able to satisfy demand, and maybe we will need to close the order intake very soon,” Ferrari’s chief commercial and marketing officer, Enrico Galliera, said at a

PARIS — Peugeot will launch a full-electric version of the 308 compact hatchback and station wagon next year, with a new motor developed by Stellantis’ joint venture with the Japanese company Nidec. The full-electric version joins plug-in hybrid options (with 225 or 180 hp), as well as gasoline and diesel engines in the 308. Peugeot

HAIPHONG, Vietnam — Vietnam’s VinFast began handing its first batch of 100 full-electric SUVs to local customers, with U.S. deliveries of the vehicle due to begin as soon as December. VinFast, which began operations in 2019, is gearing up to expand in the U.S. market, where it hopes to compete with legacy automakers and startups

BERLIN — Porsche and Red Bull have ended talks over Porsche joining Formula One with Red Bull as a partner, but the automaker remains interested in entering the racing series. “The two companies have now jointly come to the conclusion that these talks will no longer be continued,” Porsche said in a statement on Friday.

FRANKFURT — Tesla will launch an open-door event on Sunday for its workers to inform local residents about the progress and environmental footprint at its German gigafactory in Gruenheide, according to the municipality’s official website. At the town hall event, to run from 10:00-17:00 CET, residents will be able to talk to Tesla employees and

PARIS — Renault plans a full slate of launches and product reveals at this year’s Paris auto show, led by the Renault 4 concept, a retro-inspired small full-electric vehicle that will go into production by 2025. The Renault 4 will be a “reinterpretation” of the original model, a rugged five-door hatchback that was in continuous production

STOCKHOLM – Volvo has resumed limited production at its auto plant in the Chinese city of Chengdu. The automaker had temporarily closed the plant on Sept. 1 due to local coronavirus restrictions.  “Volvo Cars is now operating a single daily shift at the (Chengdu) plant and will continue to evaluate the situation on an ongoing

Rivian just added almost $3 billion to its market capitalization in a day, and all it took was a fairly bare-bones deal with a potential rival. The upstart EV pickup, SUV and van maker and Mercedes-Benz will join forces to build big electric vans in Europe ”in a few years,” the two revealed Thursday, sending Rivian

FRANKFURT — Chinese battery manufacturer Svolt has unveiled plans to build an additional cell assembly plant in Germany to supply electric vehicles, picking the state of Brandenburg – also home to Tesla’s gigafactory – as a location. The planned site in Lauchhammer would have a capacity of 16 gigawatt hours per year and start production

Nissan has opened its order books in Europe for the long-delayed fourth-generation X-Trail midsize SUV, which is available with a hybrid drivetrain for the first time. The X-Trail adopts Nissan’s e-Power hybrid drivetrain from the smaller Qashqai SUV, with a lower-powered mild-hybrid version also available. The starting price will be 35,500 euros ($35,500) in Germany