Europe

BRUSSELS — The European Commission has approved a 5.4-billion-euro ($5.4 billion) hydrogen project jointly funded by 15 EU countries and 35 companies including Alstom and Daimler, to boost the bloc’s competitiveness and economy. Called IPCEI Hy2Tech, the project hopes to attract another 8.8 billion euros in private investments. The 27-country bloc has in recent years

Aston Martin said on Friday it was looking to raise 653 million pounds ($772 million) through a right issue to shareholders, while bringing in Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund as its second-largest shareholder. The luxury automaker said Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Yew Tree Consortium and Mercedes-Benz will together invest 335 million pounds. The

Aston Martin is closing in on a deal to raise over 500 million pounds ($589 million) by bringing in Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund as a major shareholder and launching a rights issue for investors, the Financial Times reported. The proposal will result in Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) investing up to 200 million pounds

Electric-car maker and EV supplier Rimac is developing a battery module platform based around 46 mm (1.8 inch) diameter cylindrical cells. The switch to 46 mm cylindrical cells mirrors that of Tesla, which has said it wants to move to larger 4680 cells, which are 46 mm in diameter and 80 mm tall. The advantage

Nineteen young and talented automotive executives on Wednesday received their Rising Star awards from Automotive News Europe at a gala awards dinner in Prague. Since the program was started in 2011, Automotive News Europe has awarded more than 220 Rising Stars. The 12th annual Rising Stars awards recognize fast-climbing auto leaders who are already taking

UK electric vehicle company Arrival plans to reorganize its business, which could result in up to 30 percent reduction in its workforce, the startup said. Arrival said the move will enable it to start production of its Arrival Van in the third quarter as planned. The restructuring, which the company said is in response to

SHANGHAI — Zhejiang Geely Holding Geely on Tuesday unveiled a new electric pickup truck, targeting growing demand from city residents as coronavirus curbs fuel an interest in outdoor activities such as camping. The Volvo owner also launched a new brand, Radar, at an online event on Tuesday where it showcased the first pickup, the RD6.

BERLIN — Tesla’s new Gigafactory in Gruenheide, Germany, is only building Model Y only in black or white, according to a report from Automotive News Europe sister publication Automobilwoche. The electric SUV, which began production at the factory in March, is produced in a shade of black that Tesla calls “solid black” and a white

Mercedes-Benz sold 16 percent fewer cars during the second quarter as COVID-19-related lockdowns in China and a prolonged shortage of semiconductors continued to weigh on production. Deliveries in China, the world’s largest car market, declined 25 percent, while sales in Europe fell 10 percent and North America saw a dip of 3 percent in the

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Friday he was terminating his $44 billion deal for Twitter, citing a material breach of multiple provisions of the agreement. The announcement likely brings to an end a will-he-won’t-he saga after the world’s richest person clinched a deal for Twitter in April but then put the buyout on hold

Automotive News Europe honors the winners of the 2022 Rising Stars awards. Through July 13, the 19 winners will be featured. The Rising Star for in the Entrepreneur category is Florian Petit, who is founder of lidar specialist Blickfeld. For his full profile click here. The 2022 Rising Stars winners will be honored in Prague

British International Investment and Mahindra will each invest up to $250 million in the automaker’s new electric vehicle unit, as Mahindra aims to lead sales of electric SUVs in the country. BII will have a 4.8 percent ownership in the business, which will focus on electric passenger vehicles. The unit, with a $9.1 billion valuation,

Volkswagen Group’s software unit Cariad believes one of the ways the automaker can monetize future software developments is by offering customers pay-as-you-go autonomous driving technology. “There is a new business model already out there — a subscription model, or function-on-demand — where you can drive autonomously if you want, for the next 50 miles. We

Volvo Cars has announced it will leave Europe’s main automotive lobbying group, ACEA, by the end of this year. The automaker, which aims to be electric-only by 2030, said in a statement Friday that its sustainability strategy is “not fully aligned with ACEA’s positioning and way of working at this stage. We therefore believe it

ZF Friedrichshafen has named Holger Klein, a current management board member focusing on China, as its next chairman and CEO, succeeding Wolf-Henning Scheider, who will leave the company at the start of 2023. ZF also said that Chief Financial Officer Konstantin Sauer and Commercial Vehicles chief Wilhelm Rehn would leave the company. Those changes take

Automotive News Europe honors the winners of the 2022 Rising Stars awards. Through July 13, the 19 winners will be featured. The Rising Star for Mobility is Olia Michou, who is director of product at Vulog. For her full profile click here. The 2022 Rising Stars winners will be honored in Prague at a gala

Volkswagen Group has added a slew of additional underwriters as it pushes ahead with the planned initial public offering of its Porsche sports car unit, people with knowledge of the matter said. BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley were selected as senior joint bookrunners, the people said. Barclays, Banco Santander, Societe Generale and UniCredit

Automotive News Europe honors the winners of the 2022 Rising Stars awards. Through July 13, the 19 winners will be featured. The Rising Star for Distribution Strategy is Katia Maeso Bucher, who is Seat’s digital business rollout management boss. For her full profile click here. The 2022 Rising Stars winners will be honored in Prague