Europe

SHANGHAI — Volkswagen Group said its Shanghai operations were not currently affected by the city’s lockdown and that production was still ongoing, after authorities imposed drastic curbs to try and stem the spread of COVID-19. “Our Anting operations are currently not affected by the Shanghai city lockdown. In the current situation we still need to

SHANGHAI — Tesla is suspending production at its Shanghai factory for four days after the city said on Sunday it would lock down in two stages to carry out mass testing for COVID-19, two people familiar with the matter said. The automaker has notified its workers and suppliers of the move, the people said. The

Italian car designer Pininfarina is looking at acquisitions after returning to profit for the first time in three years, CEO Silvio Angori said. “We can move on after the restructuring and look actively to opportunities in the market for inorganic growth, in addition to our organic growth plans,” Angori said in a phone interview. The

During inaugural ceremonies at Tesla’s new Berlin factory earlier this week, CEO Elon Musk delivered the first German-made Model Y crossovers to eager customers, did a little dance near the assembly line for cheering fans and casually predicted that Tesla will reach annual production of up to 20 million vehicles by the early 2030s. “I

Honda will complete the electrification of its range in Europe with the launch of the new Civic Hybrid in the autumn, followed in 2023 by a small full-electric SUV, a hybrid compact SUV and a new CR-V SUV with a plug-in hybrid option. The new Civic compact hatchback, called the Civic e:HEV, will be sold

MILAN — Stellantis will build new full-electric flagship models for the DS and Opel/Vauxhall brands starting in 2024, according to documents seen by Automotive News Europe, as the group reshuffles model allocations for its European factories. The models will be built in Melfi, southern Italy. Production is set to start by late 2024 for the

Plastic Omnium reached a deal to buy AMS-Osram’s automotive-lighting business for 65 million euros ($72 million), a move aimed at supporting the French firm’s push into new market segments. The companies said the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022 and didn’t comment further on integration plans, according to a statement

PARIS – Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo has warned that the automaker’s retreat from Russia creates a “very complex situation” for the company, weighing on profits and sales as it seeks to accelerate a multiyear turnaround effort. In an internal video for employees on Thursday, de Meo said Renault will make the security of

Stellantis is continuing to build vans at its factory near Moscow, even as rival Renault has bowed to pressure to exit its sizable operations in Russia. Stellantis’s Kaluga factory is operating at a low level, a spokeswoman said Thursday, though the plant may have to shut down because of logistical and supply problems.  After weeks

Volkswagen Group’s Spanish subsidiary Seat is facing production shortfalls from multiple sources, first from the semiconductor shortage and now from the impact of the war in Ukraine, CEO Wayne Griffiths said. Seat had an operating loss of 371 million euros ($407 million) in 2021, when production was 25 percent less than planned because of a

PARIS — Renault said it would suspend operations at its plant in Moscow while it assesses options on its majority stake in AvtoVAZ, the country’s No. 1 automaker. In response to the pullback from its second-biggest market, Renault revised downward its financial outlook for this year both for profit margin and free-cash flow.  The company

BARCELONA — Volkswagen Group’s planned battery cell plant in Spain will be located in Sagunto, on the outskirts of Valencia. The factory will have around 3,000 employees and a production of 40 gigawatt hours (GWh) a year, VW said on Wednesday. The factory will be VW Group’s second battery cell plant after Salzgitter and the

MILAN — Maserati unveiled the Grecale midsize SUV, the Stellantis brand’s rival to the Porsche Macan and BMW X3. The Grecale, Maserati’s second SUV after the larger Levante, will arrive in European dealerships in the third quarter and in the U.S. by the end of the year. It will be available with a regular gasoline

BERLIN —Tesla is handing over to customers the first Model Y models built at its new 5 billion euro ($5.5 billion) factory, launching its first European production hub with the biggest investment in a German car factory in recent history. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will attend the opening ceremony on Tuesday afternoon local time alongside

Volkswagen Group of America plans to spend at least $7.1 billion in North America through 2027 to build up its local EV production capacity — including construction of a battery plant as well as overhauls of its assembly plants in Puebla and Silao, Mexico — and bolster interim ICE-powered production as part of a push

SHANGHAI — Mercedes-Benz said it opened a research and development center in Shanghai that will focus on mobility technology. The center, its second R&D site in China, will work in tech fields such as connectivity, automated driving and big data, the company said in a statement. Mercedes-Benz did not elaborate on the size of the

BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is scheduled to attend the opening of Tesla’s gigafactory near Berlin on Tuesday, along with the automaker’s CEO, Elon Musk. Scholz will give a welcoming speech at the opening ceremony for the factory, a government spokeswoman said, but in view of the war in Ukraine, there may be changes

FRANKFURT — Managers at Porsche travelled to the United States late last year to discuss possible joint projects with iPhone maker Apple as well as with some other tech companies, the sports-car maker’s CEO said. “We already have Apple CarPlay, we will expand on that,” Oliver Blume said during a video conference on the automaker’s