Volkswagen Group may move production of the VW Passat to a Skoda plant in the Czech Republic as part of a wider factory shake-up to accommodate electric cars, a German press report said.
CG Car-Garantie strengthens its leading position in Central Eastern Europe. As new Director Central Eastern Europe (CEE), Edyta Wasiluk is now responsible for the markets in Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Czech Republic.
BMW is recalling about 1.6 million diesel cars to fix a potential fire hazard in their engines, expanding repairs from just under half a million vehicles in Europe and Asia.
European automakers’ industry association ACEA warned that excessively steep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions limits on cars and vans could harm the industry and cost jobs ahead of a vote by the European Parliament on the new targets.
Trade unions at Volkswagen Group’s Czech unit Skoda oppose any idea of moving some of the production of its flagship Superb sedan to German plants.
The European Commission has opened a formal investigation into whether German automakers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen Group colluded to avoid competition in developing clean emissions technology.
Germany’s Transport Ministry said on Sunday there was no fresh news in a Bild am Sonntag report that Volkswagen Group engineers told investigators certain gasoline engines in VW, Audi and Porsche vehicles can be used to manipulate emissions tests.
Workers at Skoda Auto’s Mlada Boleslav plant fear that the Volkswagen Group, owners of the Czech marque, intend to shift a part of the production to Germany or other countries abroad.
PSA Group has halted production of the Peugeot 308 at its plant in Sochaux, France, after the factory ran out of manual transmissions.
Volkswagen Group plans to fire a group of engineers and managers implicated in the automaker’s diesel emissions-cheating scandal, German press reports said.
Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess was given a memorandum warning the company might face legal action in the U.S. over the use of cheating software in cars just days before the scandal broke, a public broadcaster reported.
Strategic alliance with Bentley Systems, which started in 2016, to be further expanded. In the companies’ latest Alliance Board meeting, Bentley Systems and Siemens decided to further strengthen their strategic alliance.
South Korea’s transport ministry said on Tuesday it would ban about 20,000 BMW vehicles from the streets amid mounting public fears about engine fires.
Škoda made a strong start to the second half of the year, delivering 99,700 vehicles to customers worldwide in July, and exceeding last year’s car deliveries by 14.6%. Alongside Europe (+15.7%), ŠKODA made considerable gains in Russia (+24.7%), China (+13.9%) and India (+12.7%).
BMW’s South Korean unit apologized over 27 engine fires between January and July that have prompted a government probe and a major backlash from consumers.
Manufacturers ranging from Renault to Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler are on the hook for total fines in excess of 14 billion euros ($16 billion), should they fail to comply with tighter emission regulation phased in from 2020, an analysis by IHS Markit shows.
