Author: World_Newz Mon

Volkswagen intends to increase stake in U.S. battery specialist QuantumScape

BERLIN, June 16 (Xinhua) — Volkswagen would increase its stake in QuantumScape and make an additional investment of up to 200 million U.S. dollars in the U.S. battery specialist, the German carmaker announced on Tuesday.
With the investment, Volkswagen was seeking to “drive forward” the development of solid-state batteries with which Germany's largest carmaker expects to significantly increase their range while further reducing charging time.
“The additional investment will effectively strengthen and accelerate our joint development work,” said Thomas Schmall, chairperson of the board of management of Volkswagen components.
Volkswagen had already been cooperating with QuantumScape since 2012 and is the largest automotive shareholder with its previous investment of more than 100 million U.S. dollars.
The closing of the announced investment and the resulting increase of Volkswagen's stake in QuantumScape was still “subject to various conditions,” according to Germany's la..

BMW Group Australia CEO Vikram Pawah says the government could do more to support the electric vehicle industry

As more car companies start to introduce electric vehicles into their product lineups and the number of charging stations across Australia increases, driving a greener alternative is becoming more achievable to the average consumer.BMW Group Australia has a partnership with Chargefox, Australia’s largest electric vehicle charging network which is powered by 100% renewable energy.The company also believes in giving consumers the power of choice by offering a number of vehicle variants, including hybrid and fully electric among its traditional petrol and diesel options.

Hyundai, Kia Pass 1.5 Million Mark in Combined Green Car Sales

Hyundai and affiliate Kia have seen their combined sales of eco-friendly cars exceed the 1.5 million milestone globally.Despite the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus epidemic, their green car sales in the first five months of the year rose 12 percent on-year to 160,000 units.The carmakers are also expanding their presence in the global green car market.

Jaguar Land Rover plunges to £501m loss as sales sink

Jaguar Land Rover has plunged to a huge loss as sales fell by almost a third in the first three months of the year, driving it to announce 1,100 jobs will go.The 1,100 agency workers being cut from the company’s manufacturing operations will leave about 1,000 contract staff spread around the business, including in non-production roles.In January 2019, about 10pc of the workforce – 4,500 jobs worldwide – was cut as JLR responded to falling sales of its cars.

Spain launches a $4.2 billion coronavirus auto industry stimulus package

Spain launched a 3.75 billion euros ($US4.2 billion) stimulus program to help the country’s automotive industry recover from the fallout of coronavirus.The automotive industry is considered one of the many lifelines of the Spanish economy.Spain is Europe’s second largest car manufacturing country, producing around 3 million cars every year.

Auto sales rebound for second straight month in May

Vehicle sales in May soared 14.5 percent year-on-year in China as customer confidence was boosted by the country’s ability to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic.The government’s stimuli on new car sales and generous discounts at dealerships were also contributing factors.The Japanese carmaker’s other joint venture FAW-Toyota delivered over 72,000 vehicles in the same month, up 2 percent.

Volkswagen, Audi ordered to keep Mexican factories shut 13.06.2020

German carmaker Volkswagen and its subsidiary Audi won’t be able to restart production at their plants in the Mexican state of Puebla as planned on Monday due to fears about the coronavirus spreading.Its plant at Puebla southeast of Mexico City is the largest automobile production facility in the country.The Mexican newspaper La Razon reported that restarting production at the Audi and VW facilities in Puebla would see some 30,000 employees returning to work.

Capacity utilization of Russian automobile plants is below 30% – newspaper

MOSCOW, June 13. /TASS/. Capacity utilization of systemic companies in the Russian automotive industry declined from 50% to less than 30% after two months of the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Izvestiya newspaper reports on Saturday, citing data of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Automobiles production plummeted by 60.2% year-on-year in April 2020, according to the Russian statistical agency Rosstat. Key reasons for the decline was suspension of operations by automobile plants because of nonworking days in the country during the pandemic period, disruption of imported components' deliveries and falling demand, the agency told the newspaper.
The segment of minivans suffered most in the commercial transport sector, GAZ Group told Izvestiya. The plant capacity utilization fell more than twofold in June 2020 on an annualized basis, according to Group data.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced nonworking days in the country from March 30 to May 12 in order ..