Audi latest carmaker to delay production amid parts shortages January 18, 2021 Audi has become the latest carmaker to be forced into delaying production due to a global shortage of semi-conductors. The German auto giant has had to put more than 10,000 of its staff on furlough as a result of the lack of chips, chief executive Markus Duesmann told the FT. The production pause comes after [...]
European car giants count cost of dire year for auto industry January 12, 2021 European car giants this morning began to lay out of the full cost of the coronavirus pandemic on their performances in 2020. Over the course of the year, vehicle sales plummeted as factories and showrooms were shuttered around the world. French auto firm Renault said that worldwide sales fell 21.3 per cent last year as [...]
Jaguar Land Rover secures second straight quarter of sales growth January 11, 2021 Jaguar Land Rover closed out a brutal year for the car industry with a second successive quarter of sales growth, the luxury car brand reported today. The auto firm sold 128,469 cars in the last quarter, up 13.1 per cent from 113,569 vehicles sold in the preceding quarter. However, as a result of the pandemic, [...]
UK can still be gateway to Europe for car giants after Brexit, says auto boss January 6, 2021 The UK can still be the gateway to Europe for foreign carmakers despite the challenges of leaving the EU, the head of the country’s biggest auto trade body has said. Mike Hawes, the chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said that the UK would still be able to compete with [...]
Honda halts Swindon car production for second time in a month due to supply chain disruption January 5, 2021 Honda this afternoon said that it would halt production at its plant in Swindon due to supply chain disruption – the second time it has done so in a month. In a statement, the carmaker said that production would stop today and tomorrow, with a view to starting again on Thursday. It said that the [...]
Stars in their eyes: PSA and Fiat shareholders approve mega-merger January 4, 2021 Shareholders in Peugeot-owner PSA and Fiat Chrysler (FCA) have today approved the mega-merger of the two firms, a deal which will create the world’s fourth-largest auto firm. The new entity, called Stellantis, will comprise 14 different brands, including FCA’s Fiat, Maserati and US-focused Jeep, Dodge and Ram to PSA’s Peugeot, Citroen, Opel and DS. Stellantis [...]
McLaren considering listing in bid to raise £500m – report December 10, 2020 British supercar firm McLaren is mulling a public listing in a bid to raise cash in order to shore up its finances after taking a battering from the coronavirus pandemic. The carmaker is looking to raise up to £500m over the next 12 months, and is considering going public via a deal with a special [...]
Car production falls again as nightmare year stretches on November 26, 2020 Car production fell once again in October as the sector’s nightmare year showed no sign of ending. Just 110,179 cars were built last month, down almost a fifth on the same month last year, according to new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. For the year as a whole, production has dropped [...]
Sign Brexit deal to ‘give us our future’, pleads car industry November 24, 2020 The car industry has pleaded with the government to sign a post-Brexit free trade agreement by Christmas, saying that the failure to do so could cost the sector £55bn by 2025. Speaking at a Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) summit, chief executive Mike Hawes said that a new partnership with the EU “could [...]
Plug-in hybrid cars emit far more carbon dioxide than advertised November 23, 2020 Plug-in hybrid cars emit far more carbon dioxide than advertised, new research published today shows, just days after the government decided to allow sales of such vehicles to continue to 2035. According to a study done by European body Transport & Environment, three of the most popular hybrids all emitted more carbon dioxide than advertised [...]