Mazda braces for 30% FY profit drop on falling car sales in US, China: Nikkei

Mazda Motor Corp is facing a drop in annual profit of about 30 per cent as the Japanese automaker struggles with falling sales in the United States and China, its biggest markets, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Friday.The updated forecast would be almost half the automaker’s previous profit forecast of 110 billion yen.Demand for Mazda vehicles including the Mazda3 sedan and the CX-5 SUV crossover has slumped since the company posted record annual sales of about 1.6 million vehicles in the 2018 financial year.

Volkswagen introduces electric car in Sub-Saharan Africa for 1st time

KIGALI, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) — German automaker Volkswagen (VW) on Tuesday launched a pilot project of its electric car e-Golf in partnership with German technology giant Siemens in Kigali, capital city of Rwanda, which makes Rwanda the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa where VW introduces an electric car.
VW had in June 2018 launched a car assembling plant in Rwanda together with integrated mobility solutions including application-based car-sharing services. The Rwandan plant has an annual capacity of assembling up to 5,000 cars including Polo, Passat and Teramont, and can create up to 1,000 jobs per year.
The success of VW's pioneering mobility solutions business in Rwanda has shown that the central African country has the potential to leapfrog the internal combustion engines into electric cars, said Thomas Schaefer, Chairman and Managing Director of VW Group South Africa at an official launch of the project.
Rwanda becomes the first African country where Volkswagen is testing el..

Hyundai, Taavura forge partnership for future mobility

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor and Israeli mobility firm Taavura have forged a partnership to seek business opportunities in future mobility, the companies said Tuesday.The company plans to establish a Taavura Innovation Center this year to nurture Israeli budding enterprises and secure its innovative technology in smart mobility, transportation, logistics and energy.Sull Won-hee (left), executive vice president and head of Hyundai Motor’s Technology Innovation Center shakes hands with Shai Livnat, CEO of Taavura Group, at an MOU signing ceremony held in Ramla, Israel, on Monday.

Passat might soon be made in Bratislava

Volkswagen might start producing its Passat model.The supervisory board of Volkswagen is expected to meet this week to decide on whether they will work on the planned construction of the plant in Turkey.Lower Saxony owns a 20 percent share in Volkswagen and it has a great impact on the carmaker’s decision-making.

Hungarian-Israeli JV to develop self-driving bus comms system

Hungarian and Israeli business partners have established a joint venture to develop a communication system for dispatchers and passengers on self-driving buses, diplomatic and government officials from the two countries said at the Hungarian embassy in Tel Aviv on Sunday.WeVid will have access to ZalaZone, Hungaryʼs new test track for self-driving vehicles, to develop its solution.

Bentley’s CEO of North and South America reveals the biggest way millennials are different than older customers

Climate change has received more attention as its current and future effects become increasingly dire.Like other automakers, Bentley plans to increase its electric and hybrid offerings in the coming years.Each of its vehicles will have a hybrid option by 2023, and the luxury automaker plans to release its first fully-electric vehicle in 2025.

BAIC makes capital statement with BEIJING brand launch

China’s BAIC Group, partner of Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai, has unveiled a new brand called BEIJING in an effort to sharpen the competitive edge of its own passenger vehicle business.BJEV spent 159 million yuan ($22.5 million) in research and development in the first half of the year.In five years’ time, the group will invest 20 billion yuan to develop two new product platforms: one for hybrid cars and the other for electric vehicles.

Russia and UAE plan to discuss orders and sales of Aurus cars in November

MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Tawazun Economic Council are planning to discuss orders and planned sales of Aurus line of executive-class vehicles in November, the ministry's press service told TASS.
“The visit of the President of Russia to the UAE, undoubtedly, gave an additional impetus to the development of cooperation and sparked special interest in the brand. Therefore, together with Tawazun, specific actions are being worked out to develop Aurus for the coming year. With regard to orders for cars and planned sales volumes, we will discuss it in more detail with colleagues from Tawazun (participates in the Aurus project – TASS) at the next Aurus board of directors meeting, which will be held in Abu Dhabi in late November,” the ministry said.
The ministry also noted “huge interest” of the Middle Eastern countries in the Aurus brand.
Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said earlier that since February 2018, more than 600..