Volkswagen slashes 90 per cent of ad agencies to drive down costs November 27, 2018 Volkswagen is cutting the number of advertising agencies it works with by more than 90 per cent in a bid to improve marketing efficiency. The German car manufacturer has said it will reduce its pool of 40 agencies to just three, while keeping its marketing budget stable at roughly €1.5bn (£1.3bn). Omnicon will be responsible [...]
Thousands of Volkswagen cars sold with ‘potentially lethal’ seat belt fault , according to Which? November 24, 2018 Thousands of Volkswagen cars with a "potentially lethal" seat belt fault were sold to customers following the discovery of the issue, a consumer group has claimed. In May an investigation by a Finnish car magazine found that the centre-rear seatbelt failed when the back seats were full and the vehicle turned sharply. Volkswagen sold nearly [...]
Volkswagen embarks on $50bn plan to mass produce electric cars November 17, 2018 German car manufacturer Volkswagen has said it will become the most profitable manufacturer of electric cars in the world, under the terms of a new plan to mass produce battery-powered vehicles. Chief executive Herbert Diess said the company will spend almost €44bn (£39.1bn) on developing the technology for a fleet of electric and self-driving vehicles, [...]
Ford opens itself up to investors on driverless car tech November 15, 2018 The chief executive of Ford Motors has said the company is open to discussions with rival firms and investors on funding its self-driving technology unit, but played down ongoing talks with Volkswagen about a potential deal. Ford and Volkswagen have previously acknowledged that they are in talks on a partnership, however Ford boss Jim Hackett said today [...]
Bentley could halt production after ‘damaging’ no-deal Brexit October 30, 2018 A no-deal Brexit could be “quite damaging” for Bentley’s annual profit, and may force it to close stop production for a few days, the company’s chief executive said today. Adrian Hallmark said his firm is already stockpiling parts and switching some imports from the port of Dover to Immingham. The carmaker could consider more contingencies [...]
Volkswagen profits hurt by ‘painful’ new anti-pollution rules and China downturn October 30, 2018 Volkswagen profits dropped by 18.6 per cent in the third quarter as the German car manufacturer struggled with new emissions testing rules and slower vehicle sales. The figures The German carmaker's underlying profit for the third quarter was €3.5bn (£3.1bn), down from €4.3bn in the same period in 2017. Vehicle sales also dropped 3.6 per [...]
How to capitalise on the electric car revolution October 23, 2018 Electric vehicles have existed since 1828, and yet their prevalence in popular society has remained the stuff of science fiction for more than two centuries. It’s only recently that electric cars have become commonplace, helped partly by government policies – such as the planned ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by [...]
Pilfered pens and fudged expenses could foreshadow an ethics scandal October 18, 2018 Are UK employees the least ethical in Europe? The Institute of Business Ethics’ 2018 Ethics at Work Survey seems to indicate so. Brits appear to take a more lenient approach than the average European employee to questionable workplace practices. We asked employees about their attitudes to ethical issues in the workplace, ethical practices in their [...]
Regulator hits Audi with €800m fine for diesel emissions offences October 16, 2018 German prosecutors fined Audi €800m (£702m) today for breaking regulatory rules on V6 and V8 diesel engine emissions. Audi accepted the fine, admitting responsibility for failing to correctly monitor the engines’ emissions. Read more: Volkswagen deliveries drop as new emissions testing hits In a statement, the company warned the penalty would “significantly undercut major financial [...]
Volkswagen car deliveries drop nearly 20 per cent as new emissions testing hits October 9, 2018 The number of cars delivered by Volkswagen fell nearly 20 per cent last month due to the introduction of new emissions testing rules, the manufacturer said. A total of 485,000 vehicles were delivered throughout the world in September, 18.3 per cent down on the same month last year, with Europe experiencing a severe fall following the introduction of the [...]