Shares of South Korea's SK Innovation and LG Chem jumped on Monday after the battery makers agreed on a 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) dispute settlement over EV battery technology, which analysts said freed them up to stay on top of battery developments from clients like...
South Korea said on Wednesday it will exempt business people working to secure supply of auto chips from two-week COVID-19 quarantine requirements and prioritise the vaccination of people key to auto chip procurement.
By Reuters Staff
(Adds GM’s sales figure, background)
April 1 (Reuters) - Canadian auto sales rose in the first quarter, signaling a recovery from a pandemic-driven slump a year earlier, despite a severe shortage of semiconductor chips that has plagued the industry globally.
Pent-up demand and customers preferring to buy vehicles seeking more safety during the COVID-19 health crisis have lifted auto sales but semiconductor chip crunch has cost the global auto industry 130,000 vehicles in lost production, research firm AutoForecast Solutions estimates.
Fiat Chrysler Canada said on Thursday first-quarter sales rose 4% to 46,077 vehicles, driven by demand for Jeep and Ram pickup trucks. Sales at the carmaker’s Chrysler brand were up nearly three-fold to 2,360 units compared to the prior year.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
BEIJING, April 1 (Reuters) - Chinese nickel and stainless steel giant Tsingshan Holding Group said on Thursday it will invest 10.3 billion yuan ($1.57 billion) to build a lithium-ion battery plant in Guangdong province, which will be operated by the group’s battery unit.
Tsingshan’s battery manufacturing unit REPT Energy Co aims to expand its annual production capacity for lithium batteries from 6 gigawatt currently to 200 gigawatt capacity by 2025 and the new plant in Foshan city will be part of that expansion, the group said.
The plant will have an expected annual capacity of 30 gigawatt when it is completed in 2024, Tsingshan said in a statement.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: A car is plugged in at a charging point for electric vehicles in London, Britain, March 6, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) - Electric vehicle battery startup Britishvolt is considering going public, possibly through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), it said on Thursday, as it continues fundraising for a 2.6 billion pound ($3.59 billion) plant in England.
The startup has appointed Guggenheim Capital LLC and Barclays Plc to explore merger options, including a SPAC.
A wave of electric vehicle-related startups around the world have gone public over the past year, typically involving a reverse merger with a SPAC. The top performer among them last year was battery startup QuantumScape Corp.
By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: A woman walks past a BYD sign at the second media day for the Shanghai auto show in Shanghai, China April 17, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song
BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD is hiring engineers for its first overseas battery plant in Europe, the company backed by Warren Buffett said on Wednesday, as it pushes to become an EV parts supplier.
Batteries are key components of EVs. BYD, based in the southern city of Shenzhen, which also makes semiconductors for EVs, sold 426,972 vehicles last year, among them 189,689 EVs.
“The planning of the factory is to prepare for supply to European automotive customers and to prepare for the further expansion of BYD’s overseas business,” a BYD representative told Reuters, without detailing location or manufacuturing capacity.
4 Min Read
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. automotive safety regulators reviewed evidence related to an allegedly defective steering sensor that was used in roughly 778,000 older General Motors Co vehicles but ultimately decided against opening a formal investigation into the matter.
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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) told Reuters about the previously unreported review. The agency evaluated information related to a lawsuit against the automaker brought by the widower of a 42-year-old woman who died after her 2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer SUV crashed, according to documents Reuters reviewed. The cause, her widower alleges in the lawsuit, was a defective steering sensor that the automaker failed to adequately warn drivers about despite long knowing the component had issues.
By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: The Honda logo is displayed at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, March 5, 2019. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Japanese carmaker Honda Motor Co will temporarily suspend production at its plants in Mexico beginning on March 18 due to supply chain problems related in part to pandemic disruptions, a company spokesperson said Wednesday.
The spokesperson said in a brief statement that it was unclear how long the pause will last, describing the suspension at Mexican plants as a coordinated North America-wide stoppage.
Carmaking makes up large part of Mexico’s manufacturing sector which hosts many of the globe’s top auto companies.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: Solar cell panels are seen on the hood of German solar car company Sono Motors' prototype car "Sion" in Munich, Germany, August 1, 2018. REUTERS/Andreas Gebert
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German solar car firm Sono Motors is exploring a U.S. stock market listing that may value the company at more than $1 billion, people close to the matter said.
Sono Motors is developing an electric car that uses solar panels on its outside to power its batteries, but which can also be charged using a plug. The solar panels generate energy worth on average 112 kilometers a week.