Hyundai Motor Company announced a new roadmap—Strategy 2025—intended to secure its position as a frontrunner in the future mobility industry. Under Strategy 2025, the company will foster Smart Mobility Device and Smart Mobility Service as two core business pillars; the synergy between the two pillars is expected to facilitate the... Read more →

The Volkswagen Group says that it is making faster progress towards sustainable and efficient production while also making good progress towards reducing its production costs. We are producing more environmentally friendly than ever. From 2010 to the end of 2019, the environmental impact per produced vehicle is expected to drop... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation and Nishi-Nippon Railroad Co., Ltd. (Nishitetsu) have begin full-scale operation of the Toyota-developed multi-modal mobility service “my route” for smartphones. The service was launched in Fukuoka City and Kitakyushu City in collaboration with service providers in the areas of traffic, shopping, and event information. The project will... Read more →

Audi AG plans an outlay of approximately €37 billion for research and development expenditure and investment in property, plant and equipment over the next five years (2020 to 2024). The current planning reflects a significant improvement in investment and cost discipline, as well as the strong prioritization of investments in... Read more →

Starting 1 January 2020, the Volkswagen Group’s Car.Software organization will operate as an independent business unit. As a Group company, the Car.Software organization will centralize the associates and subsidiaries within the Group that develop car software and software for the digital ecosystems. Initially, around 3,000 digital experts from the software-related... Read more →

Volkswagen is focusing its motorsport strategy on electric mobility. A clear emphasis on fully electric racing cars will be backed up by the farewell to factory-backed commitments using internal combustion engines. The role as a technological pioneer will continue to be taken over by the ID.R electric race car, which... Read more →

Volkswagen Group China, together with its Chinese partners, plans to invest more than €4 billion next year, with around 40% of this investment going towards e-mobility. This will accelerate the Group’s electrification strategy, which will be strengthened next year through the start of production of models based on the modular... Read more →

The BMW Group is deepening its existing business relationships with battery cell manufacturers CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited) and Samsung SDI. The original CATL order volume of four billion euros announced in mid-2018 will now be increased to €7.3 billion (contract duration from 2020 to 2031), with €4.5 billion... Read more →

Volkswagen Group Logistics is the first to use two car freighters powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) in overseas traffic. The two charter ships of Siem Car Carriers were launched last Friday in Xiamen, China. We are entering a new field here to reduce emissions. Both ships are the first... Read more →

The BMW Group has pooled its years of experience with battery cells and extensive knowledge in the field in a new Competence Center in Munich. The purpose of the facility is to advance battery cell technology and carefully dissect the production processes. The new Battery Cell Competence Center puts us... Read more →

Planned investments and development costs for future areas such as hybridization, electric mobility and digitalization will total roughly EUR 60 billion between 2020 and 2024 Share of planned spend for future topics increased in Planning Round 68 to approximately 40 percent from approximately 30 percent in the previous Planning Round... Read more →

Hyundai said it will introduce 13 alternatively fueled vehicles by 2022, including six sedans and seven SUVs. Upcoming highlights from this eco-friendly commitment include a refreshed 2020 Ioniq Electric, Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid to be revealed later this month at the Los Angeles Auto Show. In addition, the all-new Sonata... Read more →

The Supervisory Board of Peugeot S.A. and the Board of Directors of FCA N.V. have each unanimously agreed to work towards a full combination of their respective businesses by way of a 50/50 merger. Both boards have given the mandate to their respective teams to finalize the discussions to reach... Read more →

In a first for the African continent, the Volkswagen Brand has launched a pilot project in partnership with Siemens to test the feasibility of electric mobility in an African country. The pilot project, which will form part of Volkswagen’s operations in Rwanda, was officially announced today by Thomas Schäfer, CEO... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company announced key investments into three hydrogen companies—Impact Coatings, H2Pro and GRZ Technologies—to strengthen its leadership position in the global hydrogen fuel cell ecosystem. The collaborations will enable Hyundai to expand its hydrogen infrastructure and enhance the efficiency of its fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) manufacturing. Our investment... Read more →

Volkswagen AG has established Volkswagen Autonomy GmbH (VWAT GmbH) with headquarters in Munich and Wolfsburg. Another subsidiary in Silicon Valley will follow in 2020. A further subsidiary is planned in China in 2021. As a center of excellence for autonomous driving from Level 4 up, VWAT will serve to build... Read more →

Daimler Trucks & Buses, one of the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturers, aims to offer only new vehicles that are CO2-neutral in driving operation (“tank-to-wheel”) in the triad markets of Europe, Japan and NAFTA by 2039. The Mercedes-Benz eActros heavy-duty electric truck, with a range of up to 200 km,... Read more →

Toyota Motor Europe reported strong performance continuing into the third quarter 2019 driven by new model introductions and increased demand for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). The company announced Jan-Sep total vehicle sales of 838,691 units across the region in a declining market, reporting 3.1% growth year-on-year, showing an increase of... Read more →

Ford is offering its all-electric vehicle customers North America’s largest electric vehicle public charging network—the FordPass Charging Network—with more than 12,000 places to charge, including fast charging, and more than 35,000 charge plugs—more than any other automotive manufacturer. Ford is providing two years of complimentary access. The Ford all-electric vehicle... Read more →

Groupe Renault has created RENAULT M.A.I. (Mobility as an Industry), an operating subsidiary exclusively dedicated to new mobility services. Bringing together all the Group’s mobility activities within a single entity will create synergies, simplify the decision-making process, clarify existing offers and create new ones, the company said. Groupe Renault has... Read more →

As part of a new business an capital alliance between Toyota Motor Corporation and Subaru Corporation, Subaru will expand the use of the the Toyota Hybrid System in other Subaru models, following on the Crosstrek Hybrid (earlier post, which is available only in North America.) Subaru and Toyota first agreed... Read more →

Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corporation signed a Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement to deepen their partnership in the fields of electrification and intelligent networking. Chairman of Guangzhou Automobile Group Zeng Qinghong (left) and Toyota President Akio Toyoda (right) Under the agreement, based on the basic concept that... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company and Cummins Inc. have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) jointly to evaluate opportunities to develop and commercialize electric and fuel cell powertrains. These new powertrains are expected to be developed by combining Hyundai’s fuel cell systems with Cummins’ electric powertrain, battery, and control technologies. The... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv will be forming an autonomous driving joint venture to advance the design, development and commercialization of SAE Level 4 and 5 autonomous technologies. The joint venture will begin testing fully driverless systems in 2020 and have a production-ready autonomous driving platform available for robotaxi providers,... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) has completed its creation of a global innovation network with the establishment of Hyundai CRADLE Beijing. With sites in Seoul, Berlin, Tel Aviv, and Silicon Valley, the China office is the fifth center in the network, which exists to explore and utilize various innovation opportunities and... Read more →

Volkswagen is investing in climate protection projects to compensate for unavoidable CO2. The first project, Katingan Mentaya, a forest protection project on the Indonesian island of Borneo, compensates for the currently still unavoidable CO2 emissions from the supply chain, production and delivery of the new Volkswagen e-vehicle ID.3, as well... Read more →

Toyota is preparing to apply the philosophy and technology of the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) to elevate the design and driving performance of its small cars with the debut of the GA-B platform. The first TNGA platform—the GA-C platform for mid-sized cars—is the foundation for advances in the driving... Read more →

Volkswagen has acquired a minority stake in the technology company SeeReal Technologies. This participation will secure access for the Group to future-oriented augmented reality in the field of display technologies for the automobile. SeeReal’s solution to 3D displays is based on true interference-based holography. Holographic 3D (H3D) designs, systems and... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation and Suzuki Motor Corporation entered into a capital alliance agreement to establish and promote a long-term partnership between the two companies for promoting collaboration in new fields, including the field of autonomous driving. Toyota plans to acquire 24,000,000 shares of common stock in Suzuki (4.94% ownership of... Read more →

The Motor Vehicles and Component Parts sector employed 3% more people in 2018 than 2017. More than 2 million employees in the sector worked with conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles in 2018, up 1.4% from 2017. About 110,000 employees worked with hybrid electric vehicles, up 10% from 2017. Electric vehicle... Read more →

Porsche has acquired a minority stake in the Israeli start-up, TriEye. The newly established company has developed a sensor technology for short-wave infrared (SWIR). It enhances safety in vehicles fitted with assistance systems or autonomous driving functions by improving the ability to see in weather conditions where visibility is poor,... Read more →

Consumer Reports said that emails and other government documents released publicly for the first time show failures by Tesla regarding its safety claims and the performance of Autopilot. Consumer Reports (CR) said that the documents reveal that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) must do more to ensure investigations... Read more →

Electric bus manufacturer Proterra launched Proterra Powered vehicle electrification solutions, leveraging Proterra’s electric vehicle technology and expertise to help commercial vehicle manufacturers electrify their heavy-duty vehicles. Proterra has developed high-performance battery systems, electric drivetrain technology, and standardized, heavy-duty charging systems for commercial vehicle applications. Proterra technology and equipment helped the... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) concluded an agreement with Didi Chuxing (DiDi) to expand collaboration in Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in China. As part of this agreement, Toyota will invest US$600 million in DiDi and a joint venture, which the two companies will establish with GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.... Read more →

Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) is committing to reduce its carbon output in the United States by entering into Virtual Power Purchase Agreements (VPPAs). It will use them to reduce emissions from its North American operations by up to 40% over the next 3 years. The move represents another major... Read more →

China-based Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) and Toyota Motor Corporation have entered into a comprehensive partnership agreement for the stable supply and further development of New Energy Vehicle (NEV) batteries. The two companies have also commenced discussions that cover a wide range of fields, including: supply of batteries, new... Read more →

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) signed a three-year joint research agreement running from fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2021. Over the course of the three-year joint research period, JAXA and Toyota will manufacture, test, and evaluate prototypes, with the goal of developing a... Read more →

Ford Motor Company and Volkswagen AG are expanding their global alliance to include electric vehicles—and will collaborate with Argo AI to introduce autonomous vehicle technology in the US and Europe. Volkswagen is joining Ford in investing in Argo AI, the autonomous vehicle technology platform company. (Earlier post.) In 2017, Ford... Read more →

The Volkswagen Group is bundling all its measures in environmental protection under its new “goTOzero” environmental mission statement. With the new Group Environmental Policy, the Group is giving itself and its stakeholders a clear orientation. Our efforts to improve environmental protection cover the entire product cycle, from development, production and... Read more →

Volkswagen inaugurated its “We Campus” in Berlin. The new “We Campus” will bring together about 900 experts from Volkswagen and its technology partners who have previously worked at different locations. In future, they will develop new added value and mobility services which will be offered within the “Volkswagen We” ecosystem.... Read more →

Daimler AG and BMW Group are launching their cooperation on automated driving, announced earlier this year (earlier post): representatives from the two companies on Thursday signed an agreement for a long-term strategic cooperation, which will focus on joint development of next-generation technologies for driver assistance systems, automated driving on highways... Read more →

Hyundai Group joined its partner Rimac Automobili in an event hosted by Rimac CEO Mate Rimac and attended by Croatian Prime Minister, ministers, and senior government officials to discuss the potential of the new auto industry in Croatia. In May, the Hyundai Group announced an investment of €80 million in... Read more →

As of 1 July 2019, the Volkswagen Group will introduce a worldwide Sustainability Rating for its suppliers. This will enable the company to assess the sustainability conduct of its business partners in its supply chain with regard to risks relating to human rights, environmental protection and corruption. We are convinced... Read more →

Volkswagen AG intends to group more than 5,000 digital experts together in its new “Car.Software” unit with Group responsibility for software in the vehicle by 2025. The company plans to develop significantly more software in the car and for vehicle-related services itself and to boost the in-house share of software... Read more →

Together with telecommunications company Telefónica Deutschland and network supplier Ericsson, Mercedes-Benz Cars is putting in place the world’s first 5G mobile network for automobile production in its “Factory 56” in Sindelfingen. The 5G network is being installed by telecommunications company Telefónica Deutschland in collaboration with network supplier Ericsson. Once installation... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation and Subaru Corporation disclosed today that they have agreed jointly to develop a platform dedicated to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) for midsize and large passenger vehicles and jointly to develop a C-segment-class BEV SUV model for sale under each company’s own brand. A BEV-dedicated platform Toyota and... Read more →

The BMW Group and Jaguar Land Rover are joining forces to develop next-generation electric drive units in a move that supports the advancement of electrification technologies necessary to transition to an ACES—autonomous driving, connectivity, electrification and services—future. The BMW Group brings its experience of developing and producing several generations of... Read more →

Volvo Cars and Varjo, the Finnish maker of high-end augmented reality headsets, have created a mixed reality approach to evaluating prototypes, designs and active safety technologies. The collaboration will be further strengthened by the Volvo Cars Tech Fund’s decision to invest in Varjo. The Tech Fund is the car maker’s... Read more →

The Volkswagen Group is further expanding its business in its most important market, China, with the entry of SEAT, a member of the Volkswagen Group, and the Smart City Project. Volkswagen Group China, SEAT and the Chinese auto manufacturer JAC, which together form the joint venture JAC Volkswagen, continue to... Read more →

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. delivered a non-binding letter to the Board of Groupe Renault proposing a combination of their respective businesses as a 50/50 merger. The combined business would sell approximately 8.7 million vehicles annually. The combination would create a brand portfolio that would provide full market coverage with a... Read more →