Germany’s federal president inspected the state of Sino-German automotive technology in person on 27 October, and the object of inspection was a driver-assistance stack built by a Chinese chip company. Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife visited Volkswagen Group China Technology in Hefei during a state visit to China. Horizon Robotics founder and chief executive Yu … Read more
The three largest political groups in the European Parliament have converged on a rewrite of the EU’s new-car CO2 rules, and the rewrite keeps the internal combustion engine alive past 2035. Negotiators for the centre-right EPP, the centre-left S&D and the centrist Renew reached agreement on 20 October on an amendment that resets the 2035 … Read more
INTILION, a European energy storage solutions provider, has signed a memorandum of understanding with CATL covering 3GWh of sodium-ion storage systems over the next five years in the German-speaking market. The deployment covers Germany, Switzerland and Austria, with product going to grid-level peak shaving and commercial and industrial storage. The agreement covers 3GWh of CATL’s … Read more
CATL expects to reach small-batch production of all-solid-state batteries in 2027, the company said on 27 October, responding to an investor question on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange interactive platform about progress at its Hefei sulphide solid-state pilot base. The company said it continues to invest firmly in all-solid-state technology and that its position is industry … Read more
In early October four Chinese ministries, led by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, published a draft for public comment on strengthening the management of automotive product innovation design and R&D test validation. The comment period closes on 10 November. The draft adds 51 main technical parameters to the vehicle filing process. Forty-one of … Read more
On 26 October Audi signed separate strategic agreements with China FAW and SAIC Group, redrawing how its brands operate in China. The four-rings brand goes to FAW to run in full. SAIC takes the lettered AUDI brand. The agreements took effect the same day. A transition arrangement was published alongside them: SAIC Audi may continue … Read more
Stellantis published third-quarter results on 28 October showing a net loss of EUR 453 million under IFRS, against a net loss of EUR 4.722 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. The improvement is roughly 90 per cent. The prior-year loss was driven by major exceptional items, so the comparison flatters the current quarter … Read more
Mercedes-Benz Group reported third-quarter revenue of EUR 30.7 billion, down 4.4 per cent year on year, alongside a sharp rise in earnings that owes almost everything to a weak comparative base. EBIT for the quarter was EUR 1.77 billion, up 136 per cent. Net profit was EUR 1.52 billion, up 27.7 per cent. Mercedes-Benz Group … Read more
Volkswagen Group China has obtained a Level 3 autonomous driving road test licence in Hefei, the company said on 26 October. The permit was granted under China’s current L3 regulatory framework, which the company describes as the most demanding in the country, and it states that the approval fully meets the latest mandatory safety design … Read more
Baidu put a car in front of Londoners this week. An RT6, the sixth generation of its Apollo Go robotaxi, parked on a London street on 22 October next to Freenow, the European ride-hailing arm of Lyft. The two companies want paying passengers in driverless cars in London by 2027. Baidu Apollo Go’s RT6 robotaxi, … Read more