#Automobiles / Auto Parts (Legacy)
Jaguar Land Rover to test over 100 autonomous cars in Britain by 2020
LONDON Britain’s biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover said it will create a fleet of more than 100 research vehicles over the next four years to test autonomous and connected technology, with the first models to hit the streets later this year. Jaguar Land Rover... More »
Volkswagen should pay Europeans same compensation as U.S. drivers: EU commissioner
BERLIN Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) should offer European drivers similar compensation to what the German carmaker is expected to pay U.S. customers, Europe’s Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska told a newspaper on Sunday. “Volkswagen should voluntarily pay... More »
Nissan to develop ethanol-based fuel cell technology by 2020
TOKYO Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) said on Tuesday it was developing fuel cell vehicle (FCV) technology using ethanol as a hydrogen source in what would be an industry first, and planned to commercialize its system in 2020 as part of efforts to develop cleaner car... More »
Lufthansa CEO says rising protectionism hampering M&A
ZURICH The growing trend of protectionism worldwide is hampering cross-border consolidation in the airline industry, the chief executive of German airlines group Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) said on Saturday. “To be honest I see protectionism around the world rising ra... More »
Jaguar Land Rover sues Chinese automaker over Evoque copycat: source
BEIJING Jaguar Land Rover is suing Chinese automaker Jiangling Motor for allegedly copying the British firm’s Range Rover Evoque, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said – a rare move by a foreign automaker to fight copycats in the world’s biggest au... More »
BMW revamps R&D for new era of self-driving cars
MUNICH BMW is overhauling its research and development activities to focus on self-driving cars, board member Klaus Froehlich told Reuters, a move which includes a revamp of its “i” sub-brand of carbon-fibre based electric vehicles. The company is updating its... More »
Roglic wins Giro time trial, Brambilla keeps lead
Slovenian Primoz Roglic won the Chianti Classic individual time trial that formed the ninth stage of the Giro d’Italia on Sunday, while Italian Gianluca Brambilla held on to the leader’s pink jersey. Roglic, from the Lotto-NL team, clocked 51 minutes 45 second... More »
Hyundai raids Bentley to turbo-charge Genesis luxury drive
BEIJING After poaching Bentley’s design chief last year, Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) said on Monday that it has also secured the services of the luxury marquee’s exterior designer. Hyundai issued a statement saying Sangyup Lee will start work next month as it... More »
Verstappen makes F1 history as Mercedes crash out
BARCELONA Dutch teenager Max Verstappen made Formula One history as the youngest race winner on Sunday in a sensational Spanish Grand Prix that saw dominant Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collide and crash out on the opening lap. Verstappen, ... More »
Mobileye China sees boom in sales as government moves on automated driving systems
BEIJING Mobileye NV expects its China sales to increase “exponentially” after the country moves to require advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in all buses and trucks, an executive said on Monday. A government announcement on regulations requiring basic ... More »
Faulty door handle sabotages Putin’s inspection of military equipment
SOCHI, Russia An effort to show off the superiority of Russian military equipment backfired on Thursday when the door handle of a jeep fell off just as President Vladimir Putin was inspecting the vehicle. The Kremlin leader was being shown an array of military... More »
‘Hyperloop’ sled speeds through U.S. desert via electromagnets
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. A car-sized sled powered by electromagnets rocketed to more than 100 miles (160 kph) an hour through the Nevada desert on Wednesday in what the Los Angeles company developing the technology said was the first successful test of a futurist... More »
Uber drivers, if employees, owed $730 million more: U.S. court papers
SAN FRANCISCO Drivers who worked for ride-hailing service Uber [UBER.UL] in California and Massachusetts over the past seven years would have been entitled to an estimated $730 million in expense reimbursements had they been employees rather than contractors, ... More »
Mitsubishi Heavy says too early to decide on support for Mitsubishi Motors
TOKYO Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (7011.T) on Monday said it was too early to decide whether to offer support to sister company Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211.T), which is facing a financial hit after admitting to falsifying fuel economy data on its vehicles... More »
BMW expects China sales to rise by single digit percentage
BEIJING BMW (BMWG.DE) expects its car sales in China to rise by a mid-single-digit percentage this year, in line with the overall growth of the world’s biggest passenger car market, board member Ian Robertson said on Monday. Last year, BMW sold 460,000 cars in... More »
Mercedes-Benz China sales to moderate in remainder of 2016: country head
BEIJING Sales of Mercedes-Benz vehicles in China will moderate over the remainder of 2016, compared with a 39 percent year-on-year growth in the first quarter, the brand’s China head said on Monday. Mercedes-Benz’s sales in China rose three times as fast as BM... More »
Fiat Chrysler targets ‘significant double-digit growth’ China jeep sales growth in 2016
BEIJING Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCHA.MI) (FCA) is targeting “significant double-digit growth” for jeep sales in China this year, said Mike Manley, Chief Operating Officer for the Asia-Pacific region, speaking at the Beijing auto show. Manley told reporters ... More »
Taking on Tesla: China’s Jia Yueting aims to outmuscle Musk
BEIJING/DETROIT Tomorrow’s cars will be all-electric, self-driving, connected to high-speed communications networks … and free. And probably Chinese. That, at least, is the vision of Jia Yueting, a billionaire entrepreneur and one of a new breed of Chinese who... More »
DoubleLine’s Gundlach says negative interest rates are a ‘horror’
VIENNA Europe and Japan’s central bank policies of negative interest rates are a “horror” and will run counter to the desired effect, Jeffrey Gundlach, the widely followed investor who runs DoubleLine Capital, said in an interview with a Swiss newspaper. Gundl... More »
Japan quake rattles markets as factories shut- survivors line up for food
TOKYO The Japanese share market plunged 3 percent on Monday after a series of earthquakes measuring up to 7.3 magnitude struck a southern manufacturing hub, killing at least 42 people and forcing major companies to close factories. About 30,000 rescue workers ... More »
Sony extending closure of image sensor plant in quake-hit southern Japan
TOKYO Electronics giant Sony Corp on Sunday said production at its image sensor plant in Kumamoto, southern Japan, remained suspended as it assessed damage from a powerful earthquake. Operations at its image sensor plants in Nagasaki and Oita, also on the sout... More »
Automakers urge insurance companies to remind U.S. drivers of recalls
WASHINGTON Major carmakers want U.S. auto insurance companies to help persuade millions of American car owners to get recalled vehicles fixed. The new push comes as a U.S. House panel will hold a hearing Thursday on efforts by the National Highway Traffic Safe... More »
Credit Suisse faces tough questions after $1 billion write-downs
(This version of the April 4th story fixes spelling of analyst name in 13th paragraph) By Joshua Franklin ZURICH On Jan. 19, Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam contacted the head of the Swiss bank’s markets business asking for more details ab... More »
Japan government, Toyota, Nissan to step up efforts on intelligent maps: Nikkei
TOKYO Japan’s government and auto giants Toyota Motor Corp Nissan Motor Co will join in an effort to develop intelligent maps by 2018, the Nikkei daily said, as competition heats up to improve the technology key for autonomous driving. Japanese automakers, map... More »
Austrian museum reaches settlement over Nazi-looted artwork
VIENNA Vienna’s Leopold Museum said on Thursday it had reached a settlement over five Nazi-looted works of art in its collection that will return two of them to the heir of their original Jewish owner, a victim of the Holocaust. The five pieces, all by Austria... More »
Tesla says Model 3 orders top $10 billion in first 36 hours
DETROIT Tesla Motors Inc said orders for its new Model 3 electric sedan topped 253,000 in the first 36 hours — a fast start for the company’s first mass-market vehicle, which may not begin to reach customers for another 18 months or more. Tesla Chief Executive... More »
No Cadillacs for old men in China
BEIJING Cadillac, a favorite among America’s older ‘supper club set’, is revving up sales to younger luxury buyers in China through smoother designs and localized production to keep prices accessible. The General Motors (GM.N) brand is softening some hard edge... More »
Ex-employee sues VW in U.S. over data deletion: German media reports
FRANKFURT A former employee of Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) U.S. subsidiary is suing the company for damages, claiming he was unlawfully fired after flagging internally what he alleged was illegal deletion of data, a group of German media outlets said on Sunday. T... More »
Trump without the hair? EU’s migration policy gets rough
BRUSSELS Europe’s emerging migration policy is looking increasingly like Donald Trump without the hair. Except that, unlike the Republican presidential frontrunner, who wants to make Mexico pay for a wall to keep migrants out of the United States, the European... More »
China’s electric cars sales to double in 2016: minister
BEIJING China’s production and sale of electric cars will more than double this year, the industry minister said on Sunday. More than 300,000 electric cars were sold in China last year, Miao Wei, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ... More »
Clinton will call for stricter ‘rules of origin’ at Ohio campaign stop
WASHINGTON U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will call for higher trade standards at a Saturday campaign stop in Youngstown, Ohio, to ensure that automakers that use largely foreign parts are not given preference for producing “made in Ame... More »
Britain to test driverless cars on motorways from next year
LONDON Britain said it will begin trialing driverless cars on motorways for the first time in 2017, as it moves toward its goal of allowing autonomous cars to take to the streets by 2020. The government said last year there were no legal barriers to the techno... More »
U.S. lawmakers say Takata manipulated data to hide airbag problems
WASHINGTON/DETROIT U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday stepped up pressure on federal regulators and Takata Corp (7312.T) to accelerate the recall of millions of airbag inflators, citing evidence that the Japanese company manipulated data to cover up problems with its p... More »
Volkswagen says is open to listing trucks business
FRANKFURT Volkswagen AG’s (VOWG_p.DE) trucks business may pursue acquisitions or even a public listing, the company said on Monday, only days after the parent company was forced to delay publishing earnings in the wake of a diesel emissions scandal. “We’re kee... More »
Russia’s crisis produces a paradox: surging luxury car sales
MOSCOW As Russia wrestles with an economic crisis, more and more Porsches and Rolls-Royces are appearing on its roads. It seems something of a paradox- while mass-market car sales in the country have tumbled along with the rouble and oil prices, one area is bu... More »
Toyota to stop Japan production for one week due to steel shortage
TOKYO Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Monday it would halt production at all car assembly plants in Japan from Feb. 8 to Feb. 13 due to a steel shortage following an explosion at a steel plant of one of its affiliates. The world’s biggest automaker said on ... More »
Sky strikes deal to screen CBS’s Showtime programs in Europe
European pay-TV group Sky Plc has struck a deal to screen programs from CBS Corp’s popular Showtime stable, including Billions starring Damian Lewis, as competition for top shows heats up among European broadcasters. The licensing deal will allow Sky to offer ... More »
German carmakers see steady U.S. sales in 2016: VDA
DETROIT Sales of German carmakers including Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE>, Daimler and BMW in the United States may hold steady this year, the VDA auto industry association said on Monday. U.S. deliveries of German manufacturers may come in at about 1.4 million cars... More »
Israel brings tech expertise to protecting connected cars
TEL AVIV Building on its expertise in technology, Israel is emerging as a leader in the race to keep cars secure and prevent the nightmare scenario of a hacker commandeering your vehicle. Most cars today are equipped with some level of connectivity and self-dr... More »
A rebranded Saab at the center of China’s green car push
BEIJING The Swedish automaker once known as Saab has emerged as part of China’s push to make electric vehicles a mass-market alternative to petrol cars, after getting a $12 billion order for EVs. Chinese-owned National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) – the comp... More »
Vice chancellor says Austria cannot accept more than 100,000 migrants a year
VIENNA Austria’s Vice Chancellor said on Monday that Austria could not accept more than 100,000 migrants a year, following a pledge from its larger neighbor Germany to limit arrivals. Hundreds of thousands of people, many of them fleeing conflict and poverty i... More »
Google to make driverless cars an Alphabet company in 2016 – Bbg
Google plans to make its self-driving cars unit, which will offer rides for hire, a stand-alone business under its parent company Alphabet Inc next year, Bloomberg reported. The service could be launched in San Francisco and Austin, Texas locations, where it h... More »
Citron calls Mobileye “short of the year: 2016”- shares fall
Mobileye NV’s (MBLY.N) stock is “short of the year: 2016”, influential short-selling firm Citron Research said in a tweet on Wednesday, pushing down shares of the driving assistant software maker nearly 7 percent. The tweet provided a link to a report on elect... More »
Red Bull and Infiniti end F1 partnership
LONDON Former world champions Red Bull and Nissan’s Infiniti premium car brand will end their Formula One partnership at the end of this year, the team said in a statement on Sunday. Infiniti, part of the Renault-Nissan alliance, have been with Red Bull since ... More »
Volkswagen denies Qatar talks sought to curb labor role
BERLIN Volkswagen has denied a report saying its chief executive and chairman were urged on Sunday by its third-largest shareholder to reduce the influence of VW’s powerful unions as it battles to overcome its emissions scandal. CEO Matthias Mueller and Chairm... More »
Baby boon: mini-vans the next big thing as China eases one-child policy
GUANGZHOU, China Automakers are betting that Chinese families will embrace the mini-van, hoping the larger, unsexy sibling of the bestselling SUV will become the next big thing just as Beijing relaxes the one-child policy. Mini-vans, or multi-purpose vehicles ... More »
Green car technologies collide in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES Asian automakers are opening up a new front in the contest to define the future of cars in California, fielding a flock of cars powered by hydrogen in a bid to woo green car buyers from Tesla Motors Inc, the battery electric vehicle leader. Toyota,... More »
Austria’s highest court to decide whether to allow class action vs Facebook
VIENNA Austrian student Max Schrems’s attempt to bring a class-action lawsuit against Facebook (FB.O) over its privacy policies will head to Austria’s Supreme Court to determine whether such collective legal action is allowed, his group said on Monday. The law... More »
Automakers battle for high-tech dominance on the road to self-driving car
TOKYO/FRANKFURT At the recent Frankfurt Auto Show, Ford Motor Co unveiled a new feature that lets drivers pre-set their car to go at or just above the speed limit. In-car cameras and software read and react to road signs, speeding the car up or slowing it down... More »
Some EU countries deserve budget leeway over refugee crisis: Dijsselbloem
BRUSSELS European countries most affected by the refugee crisis may be granted some leeway on fiscal rules for a limited period of time, the head of the euro zone finance ministers said on Monday. “My own opinion is that for a number of countries there are gro... More »
Scientists announce progress toward better battery to power cars
WASHINGTON Scientists have created a battery whose technology in principle could power electric cars and other energy-hungry devices far better than current lithium-ion batteries, but it remains years away from commercial use. Researchers at the University of ... More »
U.S. union, GM reach tentative agreement on labor contract
DETROIT Negotiators for the United Auto Workers and General Motors Co reached a tentative agreement on undisclosed terms for a new four-year labor contract, averting a threatened strike, the union said late on Sunday night. The proposed deal will now go to a c... More »
‘Open the gate!’: Migrants stranded on Balkan borders
BERKASOVO, Serbia Thousands of migrants clamored to enter European Union member Croatia from Serbia on Monday after a night spent in the cold and mud of no-man’s land, their passage west slowed by a Slovenian effort to impose limits on the flow to western Euro... More »
Legal troubles, market realities threaten Uber’s global push
PARIS/SINGAPORE Uber Inc’s aggressive global expansion is looking costlier and riskier than ever as the company struggles with regulatory and competitive obstacles in major markets. Just last week, the company faced a police raid on its European headquarters i... More »
Volkswagen to hold extraordinary board meeting on Wednesday: sources
BERLIN Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) supervisory board will hold an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday at which finance chief Hans Dieter Poetsch is expected to be appointed as new head of the 20-member controlling panel, two sources said on Sunday. Europe’s bigges... More »
U.S. regulator considers expanding Takata air bag recalls: Bloomberg
The U.S. regulator overseeing the replacement of Takata Corp (7312.T) air bags is considering an order that would expand the recalls and has contacted seven manufacturers who could be affected, including Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) and Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA.O),... More »
EU’s Schulz expects agreement on migrants at minister meeting
BERLIN The head of the European Parliament said on Monday that he expects European Union interior ministers to agree on a voluntary scheme to relocate 160,000 migrants at their meeting on Tuesday. “There will be some discussions, but at the end there will be a... More »
Volkswagen to halt U.S. sales of some 2015 diesel cars
FRANKFURT/HAMBURG Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) told U.S. dealers to halt sales of some 2015 diesel cars after regulators found software it designed for the affected vehicles gave false emissions data, the company said Sunday, announcing it had launched an investigat... More »
Cheap robots may shift car making from China to U.S.: Magna CEO
FRANKFURT The falling cost of intelligent robots may help repatriate some car manufacturing work away from low-cost locations like China back to factories in Germany and North America, Donald Walker, Chief Executive of auto supplier Magna told Reuters. Rising ... More »
Factbox: Companies, organizations offer help for migrants
Companies and organizations are pledging to provide funds, goods and services to help thousands of migrants arriving in Europe from war-torn and impoverished countries. Companies are helping through both corporate and employee schemes. Following are some examp... More »
Google hires Truecar’s Krafcik to head its driverless car unit
Google Inc said it named auto industry veteran John Krafcik as chief executive of its self-driving car project from late September. With the hiring of Krafcik, currently the president of automotive pricing terminal Truecar Inc and a former CEO of Hyundai Motor... More »
Austria plans to end measures allowing migrants from Hungary and move ‘towards normality’
VIENNA/MUNICH Austria said on Sunday it planned to end emergency measures that have allowed thousands of refugees stranded in Hungary into Austria and Germany since Saturday and move step by step “towards normality”. Austria had suspended its random border che... More »
Migration crisis tears at EU’s cohesion and tarnishes its image
BRUSSELS Deep divisions over how to cope with a flood of migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia pose a threat to the European Union’s values and global standing and may diminish its ability to act jointly to reform the euro zone and ease Greece’s debt.... More »
Fiat Chrysler U.S. to recall 7,810 SUVs to prevent hacking
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s (FCAU.N) U.S. arm said on Friday it would recall 7,810 sport utility vehicles in the United States to update software for radios to prevent hacking. The announcement by FCA US LLC, formerly Chrysler Group LLC, comes more than a m... More »
Toyota partners with Stanford, MIT on self-driving car research
DETROIT Toyota Motor Corp is collaborating with two top U.S. universities on artificial intelligence and robotics research aimed at ramping up the Japanese automaker’s efforts to develop self-driving cars. Toyota said on Friday that it would spend $50 million ... More »
Cupcakes & time travel: Changing cities explored in Berlin show
BERLIN If you could go back in time to change your city, what would you do? What kind of a place do you want to live in? Would you try to stop gentrification? These are some of the questions being posed by a Berlin-based collective of artists, called copy & wa... More »
Euro zone factory growth eases in August despite modest price rises – PMI
LONDON, Euro zone manufacturing growth eased last month, despite factories barely raising prices, adding to the European Central Bank’s woes as it battles to spur expansion and inflation, a survey showed. Tuesday’s disappointing readings come almost half a yea... More »
Refugee crisis suddenly Merkel’s biggest challenge
BERLIN Returning from her summer break in mid-August, German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised some eyebrows by describing Europe’s refugee problem as a bigger challenge than the Greece crisis, which had overshadowed all else in the first half of 2015. No one in... More »
Suzuki Motor says it will buy back VW stake as court settles feud
TOKYO Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp (7269.T) said on Sunday it would buy back the 19.9 percent stake it sold to Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) after an international arbitration court ordered the German automaker to sell its holding. Their planned partnership soured wi... More »
Uber hires two security researchers to improve car technology
SAN FRANCISCO Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] has hired two top vehicle security researchers, the company said on Friday, high-profile additions that come as the ride-hailing service ramps up its work on technology for self-driving cars. Charlie Miller, who ha... More »
As Argentina struggles, TV ad producers flock to Chile
SANTIAGO When the creators of an elaborate 2013 Cadillac commercial began to scout for shooting locations three years ago, they began in Argentina, where varied landscapes and creative talent had long attracted ad producers. But when it came time to import the... More »
Security researcher who hacked moving Jeep leaves Twitter
SAN FRANCISCO The security researcher who hacked into a moving Jeep earlier this year has resigned as an engineer at Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) after three years on the job, a person familiar with the matter said. Charlie Miller, a former National Security Agency ha... More »
Factbox: Euro zone countries vote on Greek bailout
Here is a list of euro zone parliaments that must approve the new 86 billion euro ($96 billion) Greek bailout this week. Here is a list: TUESDAY, AUG. 18 AUSTRIA – Parliament subcommittee to meet on the bailout. ESTONIA – Parliament holds extraordinary session... More »
Ford moves commercial truck production to Ohio from Mexico
DETROIT Ford Motor Co (F.N) on Wednesday will start building its medium-duty F-650 and F-750 commercial trucks at a Cleveland-area plant, moving production out of Mexico for the first time. The shift to the 41-year-old plant in Avon Lake, Ohio means that about... More »
German carmakers buy Nokia maps to fend off digital rivals
FRANKFURT/HELSINKI German carmakers BMW (BMWG.DE), Audi (VOWG_p.DE) and Mercedes (DAIGn.DE), will pay around 2.5 billion euros ($2.75 billion) to buy Nokia’s maps business, a transformational deal that will help them to develop self-driving cars. Daimler BMW a... More »
Car hacking risk may be broader than Fiat Chrysler: U.S. regulator
WASHINGTON The cybersecurity issues that led Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV to recall 1.4 million vehicles this month could pose a problem for cars and trucks from other automakers, the top U.S. auto safety regulator said on Friday. Mark Rosekind, who heads the ... More »
Sky beats year forecasts with broad demand across Europe
LONDON European pay-TV group Sky said on Wednesday it expects to perform strongly in its new financial year after better-than-expected 2014/15 profits prompted investors to rethink their growth forecasts for the newly-enlarged group. Sky, formed from the combi... More »
Iran negotiator says hopes for deal, can’t promise one by Tuesday
VIENNA A senior Iranian negotiator voiced hope on Monday that a nuclear deal with six major powers would be completed but cautioned that there was work to be done and he could not promise the talks would finish by Tuesday night, Iranian media reported. “I cann... More »
GM to recall 155,000 vehicles in India to fix wiring trouble
NEW DELHI General Motors Co (GM.N) will recall 155,000 vehicles in India, its largest such exercise to date in the country, in order to fix wiring problems linked to a remote keyless entry accessory. The recall, also one of India’s biggest, follows a move in 2... More »
Car dashboards that act like smart phones raise safety issues
SAN FRANCISCO When it comes to dashboard displays that are more like smart phones, two things are clear: Customers want them, and automakers are intent on supplying them. But are they really a good idea? Car companies answer with an emphatic yes. They say outs... More »
Iran demands end to U.N. missile sanctions, West refuses
VIENNA A dispute over U.N. sanctions on Iran’s ballistic missile program and a broader arms embargo were among issues holding up a nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers on Monday, the day before their latest self-imposed deadline. “The Iranians want... More »
Iran’s Zarif returning to Vienna with Salehi for nuclear talks: IRNA
DUBAI Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, departed Tehran for Vienna with nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi and Hossein Fereydoon, a brother and close aide to President Hassan Rouhani, for nuclear talks, state news agency IRNA reported on Tuesday. Zari... More »
London luxury art fair displays high-end wheels to boot
LONDON Italian luxury car maker Maserati is showcasing its hand-crafted Quattroporte S in an unlikely setting: at the Masterpiece London art and antiques fair, which opened on Thursday in a plush tent on the grounds of Chelsea’s Royal Hospital. Featuring among... More »
