Europe

MILAN — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group completed their $52 billion tie-up and formally merged into Stellantis on Saturday. The merger will create an auto group with combined annual sales of around 8.1 million vehicles and deep enough pockets to fund the shift to electric driving and take on bigger rivals Toyota and Volkswagen

New-car sales in Russia fell by 2.1 percent in December to 166,666 vehicles, according to data from the Association of European Businesses. Despite the drop, Russia performed better than many other markets hit by government lockdowns to suppress the spread of COVID-19. Despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic, Russia was “one of the best

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly characterized the ID Buzz’s U.S. arrival as delayed until 2023. Volkswagen had initially planned a 2022 launch when production was confirmed in 2017; the revised plan for a 2023 debut had been reported previously. The anticipation for the Volkswagen ID Buzz is building among dealers —

HAMBURG — Volkswagen said it would further cut car production at its Wolfsburg plant in northern Germany due to a shortage of semiconductors that has hit the industry worldwide. Staff producing the Tiguan, Touran, and Seat Tarraco models at Wolfsburg will work reduced hours, VW said in a statement on Wednesday. Production of the Golf

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles plans to help Archer, a California startup, try to reduce production costs on a proposed electric aircraft designed to reduce traffic congestion and pollution. The automaker’s low-cost supply chain and expertise in advanced materials and engineering will help to make Archer’s vehicle more affordable, the companies said in statement Tuesday. Archer said

DETROIT — Following numerous reschedulings due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Detroit auto show planned for this September has been canceled. The show will be replaced this year by an enthusiast-focused event at a racetrack north of Detroit in Pontiac, Michigan, organizers said Monday. Organizers anticipate having vehicle reveals and other events that typically take

SEOUL — Hyundai Motor and Apple plan to sign a partnership deal on autonomous EVs by March and start production around 2024 in the U.S., a Korean newspaper reported on Sunday. The report by Korea IT News follows a statement on Friday from Hyundai that it was in early talks with Apple after another local media

PARIS — The outlines of the power structure at Stellantis, the new company formed from the merger of Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group, are starting to take shape ahead of the expected start of trading on Jan. 18, but key positions remain to be filled. Incoming CEO Carlos Tavares will be in command of operations,

PARIS – New Renault CEO Luca de Meo will revive some best-selling models from the brand’s past as electric cars under a turnaround plan aimed at improving sales and repositioning the struggling automaker, two sources familiar with the matter said. De Meo is due to unveil his strategy update on Jan. 14, which is expected

LONDON — Daimler on Thursday unveiled a new “Hyperscreen” display that will cover almost the entire dashboard of its luxury Mercedes-Benz models, in a bid to outdo Tesla’s large touchscreen infotainment system that has been a hallmark of the electric-car maker’s success. In a video presentation, Daimler CEO Ola Kallenius said the new screen –

LONDON — Honda will restart output at its British factory on Thursday after it was halted for two days due to global supply delays, a spokesman said. Major automakers operate just-in-time manufacturing, meaning some parts arrive moments before they are fitted to vehicles. Honda built just under 110,000 Civic cars in Swindon in 2019. Honda

LONDON — Britain’s biggest trade union, Unite, called on PSA Group to build electrified vehicles at its Vauxhall/Opel factories in England after post-Brexit trading terms were finalized. PSA bought Opel, which trades as Vauxhall in Britain, in 2017, from General Motors. PSA said in 2019 that future investment in Vauxhall’s plant in Ellesmere Port would

The Bentley Bentayga Hybrid, the British ultraluxury brand’s first and only electrified vehicle, has been freshened for 2021, following updates of the standard Bentayga and Bentayga Speed. Bentley said the freshened Bentayga Hybrid is one of two plug-in hybrid models it will launch in 2021 as it prepares for an electrified future. In November, Bentley

Tesla delivered a record number of cars worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2020, but fell just shy of a goal for 500,000 units for the full year. The company delivered 499,550 vehicles during 2020, above Wall Street estimates of 481,261 vehicles, according to Refinitiv data — but 450 units shy of CEO Elon Musk’s

TURIN – A big question is whether Stellantis — the new company that will result from the merger of PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles — will be able to support all its 12 brands in the future because of the huge investments that will be needed for electric cars, autonomous driving, and connectivity. Stellantis’

PARIS — New-car registrations fell by 12 percent in France in December, even though showrooms reopened at the beginning of the month after being closed in November because of a surge in coronavirus infections. There were 186,323 registrations in December, industry group CCFA said, on 22 selling days. There were 21 selling days in December

Daimler’s North American truck unit on Thursday agreed to a $30 million U.S. civil penalty to resolve an investigation of delayed recalls, the second time since late 2019 the German automaker has agreed to settle a probe by U.S. auto safety regulators. NHTSA said Daimler Trucks North America failed to recall vehicles in a timely

MOSCOW – Honda’s Russian subsidiary said it would stop supplying new cars to official dealers in Russia in 2022 as part of the company’s efforts to restructure its operations. The company said Wednesday that it would keep its presence on the Russian market with motorcycle and power equipment sales, and retain its activities related to

Tesla is coming to the end of its first year selling China-made cars with a commanding position in the world’s biggest EV market, but Elon Musk shouldn’t rest on his laurels. While Tesla regularly topped monthly premium EV sales tallies this year, helped by the sedans churned out from its multibillion-dollar plant opened to much fanfare

FRANKFURT — BMW plans to step up its production of electrified vehicles, CEO Oliver Zipse told a German newspaper. “We already had ambitions growth plans and want to further expand our market position,” Zipse said in an interview with the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper published on Sunday. Between 2021 and 2023, BMW will build 250,000 more

TOKYO — Japan aims to eliminate gasoline-powered vehicles in the next 15 years, the government said on Friday in a plan to reach net zero carbon emissions and generate nearly $2 trillion a year in green growth by 2050. The “green growth strategy,” targeting the hydrogen and auto industries, is meant as an action plan

Renault CEO Luca de Meo will present his turnaround plan for the automaker on Jan. 14. The Italian executive plans a “revolution” at the French company, so he is calling his plan “Renaulution.” De Meo describes the key points of the restructuring to the automaker’s executives and employee representatives in an internal paper of several

Jaguar Land Rover has not seen any impact so far from congestion at UK ports, its parent Tata Motors said on Thursday, even as many countries cut transport ties with Britain due to a fast-spreading new variant of the coronavirus. Toyota brought forward its Christmas production breaks at plants in England and France after transport

Automakers welcomed a post-Brexit trade deal agreed between the UK and the European Union that was finalized on Christmas Eve, days before Britain is due to leave the bloc’s single market. The accord will complete UK’s separation from the EU and averts the threat of an acrimonious breakup on Jan. 31, when a 12-month transition

Volkswagen Group’s Seat unit will cut production at its Spanish factory in Martorell, near Barcelona, because of a shortage of microchips. A production line that builds the Seat Leon and Cupra Leon compact cars, and the Cupra Formentor crossover, will work on two shifts per day instead of the current three from Jan. 25 until

SEOUL — Hyundai plans to suspend operations at its factory in Asan, South Korea for eight working days until Jan. 6. “The operations schedule at the Asan plant is being adjusted during the year-end and New Year holiday season to secure stable production volumes,” a company spokesperson said. Work is planned at the Asan factory

Apple is moving forward with self-driving car technology and is targeting 2024 to produce a passenger vehicle that could include its own breakthrough battery technology, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The iPhone maker’s automotive efforts, known as Project Titan, have proceeded unevenly since 2014 when it first started to design its own vehicle

FRANKFURT — The drama that played out in recent weeks at the highest levels of Volkswagen Group can be explained with these two facts: 1. VW is in the midst of a generational shift toward a fully carbon-neutral business over the next 30 years. 2. The software-enabled, zero-emission vehicles favored by CEO Herbert Diess will

Volkswagen brand aims to develop a full-electric sedan for global markets that could take on Tesla’s flagship. It will be built in VW’s home plant in Wolfsburg, Germany. The new model would slot in above the VW Aero midsize electric car, which is due in 2023, but below upper-premium electric sedans such as the Mercedes-Benz

Tesla Inc. halted some construction work at its German plant project after failing to make a security deposit with local authorities. Brandenburg’s environment ministry stopped tree removal activity and the installation of paint-shop machinery at the site until the funds are received, a spokeswoman for the ministry said Friday, declining to comment further. Tesla needs