BMW raises 2021 profit forecast, but warns chip shortage will hit second half August 3, 2021 BMW has raised its profit forecast for 2021 today announcing strong quarterly results while warning investors about the impact of the global semiconductor chip shortage on the carmaker. The company saw “strong customer demand during the first half of the year,” according to a statement by chief executive Oliver Zipse. “However,” he continued, “in light of [...]
Upfront cost of electric cars putting customers off August 2, 2021 The upfront cost of buying an electric vehicle is putting people off buying one, new research from Which has found. According to a recent survey by the consumer group, more than a third (34 per cent) of potential buyers cited costs as the reason they might not buy one. That is despite the fact that [...]
Some car firms losing 30 per cent of staff due to ‘pingdemic’ July 29, 2021 Some UK car makers are seeing up to 30 per cent of their staff having to isolate due to the ‘pingdemic’, trade body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has warned. Speaking at the association’s half-year production briefing, SMMT boss Mike Hawes said that the problem, which has affected many industries, was threatening [...]
Gigafactory firm Britishvolt mulling London listing July 15, 2021 The firm behind the UK’s first battery gigafactory for electric cars has said it is now considering a London listing by the end of next year’s second quarter. In an interview with Bloomberg, Orral Nadjari, the chief executive of Britishvolt, said that the recent overhaul of London listing rules was behind the decision. Britishvolt had [...]
Semiconductor shortage drives car production off the road July 9, 2021 The impact of the ongoing shortage of semiconductor chips was laid bare this morning as the Office of National Statistics (ONS) said that car manufacturing fell over a quarter in May. The government agency said that vehicle production fell 26.9 per cent in the period, driving an overall fall in manufacturing output of 0.1 per [...]
BMW and Volkswagen Group fined $1bn by EU for emission cleaning July 8, 2021 The European Commission fines BMW and Volkswagen Group a total $1bn (£726m), saying that three German carmakers breached EU antitrust rules by restricting competition in emission cleaning for new passenger diesel cars. The EU executive said the trio – BMW, Volkswagen Group and Daimler – had colluded on technical development in the area of nitrogen [...]
Renault-Nissan alliance to build 1m electric cars a year by 2030 June 30, 2021 Renault and its partners Nissan and Mitsubishi will produce 1m electric cars a year by 2030, the French auto giant announced today, as it accelerates its move away from the internal combustion engine. Chief executive Luca de Meo said that the carmaker would launch 10 new electric vehicle models by 2025, with 90 per cent [...]
Car production still stalled at just half of pre-pandemic levels June 25, 2021 The number of cars produced in the UK last month remains mired at nearly half of pre-pandemic levels as the industry grapples with shortages of key components like semi-conductors. In May, 54,962 cars rolled off production lines, a tenfold improvement on the same month in 2020, when factories were in lockdown. However, the figure is [...]
UK car sales up eightfold as market recovers from last year’s skid June 4, 2021 UK car sales increased eightfold last month compared to a year ago as customers continued to return to showrooms and garages. There were 156,737 new cars sold in May, up from a mere 20,247 in the same month in the previous year, when showrooms were closed due to lockdown. However, the statistics, which are compiled [...]
Car production bounces back on 12-month anniversary of factory shutdowns May 27, 2021 UK car production returned to near normality in April compared to the same month a year before as automakers continued to struggle with the shortage of semiconductor chips. Britain made 68,306 cars last month, up from 197 a year ago when factories were shuttered due to the initial Covid-19 lockdown. Compared to April 2019, the [...]