Auto Industry News

Spurred on by looming bans on combustion engines in China and Europe, major automakers are striving to bring their commercial electric vehicles (EV) to market fast and ensure they don't get caught out again by another Tesla.

Volkswagen Chief Executive Herbert Diess said on Wednesday he expects the car industry to see widespread autonomous driving within 25 years and that the company was pursuing new partnerships to increase its self-sufficiency in software.

Volkswagen said in early February that night shifts at Wolfsburg would be cut on some production lines because of the lack of chips. Diess said capacity adjustments would also be needed in the medium term.

Nissan said it plans to assemble electric vehicles for its Nissan and Infiniti brands in Mississippi starting in 2025 and aims to have electric vehicles make up 40 per cent of its US sales by 2030.

China has ambitious goals in promoting NEVs as part of efforts to curb air pollution and believes the industry has matured enough to be driven by demand rather than subsidies.

In a presentation to investors, Renault said a "pure electric entity" could be focused on France and be open to partnerships, while a separate one for the combustion engine and hybrid cars could be focused outside France and do the same.

The broad trade and investment pact will cut all tariffs on each other's goods and aims to increase annual trade between the two nations to $100 billion within five years.

A cargo ship named Felicity Ace carrying 3,965 Volkswagen AG vehicles aboard, including Lamborghini, Porsche and Audi cars, caught fire near the Azores Islands in the Atlantic Ocean.