Europe

Ford is postponing the European market launch of the Explorer, its first all-electric volume model in the region, by about six months. Instead of arriving in showrooms at the beginning of next year, the compact SUV is now scheduled to roll out in the summer of 2024. Ford cited new European standards for batteries as

LONDON — Lotus built more than 2,200 Emira sports cars at its U.K. factory in the first half after the company rebounded from a poor 2022. All the cars built at the plant in Hethel, Norfolk, England this year were Emiras — the automaker’s final combustion-engine model. Lotus began production of the two-seater last year following

As China’s electric mobility industry matures, leading autmakers and battery makers including BYD, CATL and Farasis Energy are aiming to boost their profiles in Europe in a global expansion strategy that threatens the dominance of the region’s automakers. China’s electric mobility trade show, the World New Energy Vehicle Congress (WNEVC), will be held on Sept.

BERLIN — Semiconductorshortages that have created bottlenecks for Germany’s car industry will take years to resolve despite chipmakers’ plans to build factories in the country, Renate Vachenauer, Audi’s head of procurement, was quoted as saying by a German newspaper. German automakers and electronics producers have been hit hard by manufacturing delays, caused by a global

EV maker VinFast Auto plans to start trading on the Nasdaq next week after a NYSE American-listed special-purpose acquisition company approved their merger. Black Spade Acquisition Co. shareholders on Thursday signed off on the combination with the manufacturer. VinFast expects to debut on the Nasdaq on or around Aug. 15 under the symbol VFS. The

SHANGHAI — China’s Zeekr brand will launch its first luxury sports car, which will be priced above 1 million yuan ($140,000). The Geely-owned brand plans to launch the Zeekr 001 FR sports car within weeks and aims to deliver the first batch of cars this year, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Opel/Vauxhall said its Experimental all-electric concept car gives a “clear vision” of its future design and technology direction. The sporty concept will be unveiled at the IAA Mobility show in Munich, which runs from Monday, Sept. 4 to Friday, Sept. 8. The Experimental is based on a Stellantis BEV platform and is equipped with electric

MILAN — The Italian government aims to agree a broad plan to 2030 for the country’s automotive industry with Stellantis and other groups involved by the end of this year, industry ministry sources said. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares and Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said last month they were working on a deal to increase the

Volvo Cars and EV startup Polestar will be tapping into an old U.S. trade program to import Chinese vehicles at a lower cost, giving the Swedish brands a competitive leg up. By using the U.S. Duty Drawback program, the Geely-affiliated automakers can recoup import duties and the 25 percent U.S. tariff assessed on the Chinese-made

BERLIN — Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer TSMC’s board of directors will decide in favor of building a factory in the German city of Dresden, the Handelsblatt daily reported on Monday, citing government sources. The German government will support the construction of the factory with 5 billion euros ($5.49 billion), according to the sources. The German economy

Tesla said Zachary Kirkhorn stepped down as its chief financial officer and named its accounting head, Vaibhav Taneja, as its new finance chief. Kirkhorn, a company veteran of 13 years, stepped down from the role on Friday, although he will remain with Tesla through the end of the year. The Elon Musk-led firm did not

Tesla appears to be trolling Ford Motor Co. by dressing up a Cybertruck prototype to look like an oddly shaped F-150. Photos of the wrapped Cybertruck driving or being transported around the San Francisco Bay Area began spreading around the Internet in late July, just as Tesla said it would begin limited production of the

Sales of full-electric cars continued to grow in Germany, boosted by demand for EV-only brands Polestar, Tesla and MG Motor. Battery-electric car registrations jumped 69 percent to 48,682 in Germany in July, giving the drivetrain a 20 percent market share, according to data from the German motor transport authority (KBA). Overall registrations including gasoline and

BRUSSELS — The European Commission said in a statement it had approved, under EU State aid rules, 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) worth of French state support for ProLogium Technologies to research and develop a new generation of electric vehicle batteries. It said that the measure will contribute to the achievement of the strategic objectives

Stellantis is planning to add a second lower-priced all-electric vehicle to its arsenal to compete with Renault and Chinese carmakers as consumers look for more affordable EVs. The new EV — a no-frills Fiat Panda-inspired model for less than €25,000 ($27,347) — will be unveiled in July 2024 to take on Renault’s Dacia Spring, Fiat

Startup elecrtric carmaker Fisker slashed its production forecast for the year on Friday due to supply chain woes, a common issue among smaller EV-only brands. Fisker now expects to produce between 20,000 and 23,000 vehicles in 2023, down from 32,000 and 36,000 units that it projected in May. The California-based company said it lost $87.9

Electric truck maker Nikola said Michael Lohscheller will step down as CEO less than a year after taking over the job and would be replaced by former General Motors vice chairman Stephen Girsky. Girsky, who is currently Nikola’s chairman, will be the company’s fourth CEO in as many years. His appointment comes as Nikola tries

Rolls-Royce has a small number of its super luxury cars aboard the ship that went up in flames off the Dutch coast a week ago. The BMW Group subsidiary is informing affected customers personally, a spokesperson told Bloomberg Wednesday in an email. While both BMW and Mercedes-Benz have confirmed they have several hundred cars on