WAP ANE Breaking

Audi overtakes BMW as India's top-selling premium brand

May 18, 2013 06:01 CET
Audi has overtaken BMW as India's top seller of luxury vehicles, and Audi executives say the success is due to the automaker's rapid expansion outside large urban centers, as well as the Q3 SUV introduced last year.... Read More »

 

PSA workers end four-month strike over car plant closure

May 17, 2013 15:05 CET
Workers at a PSA/Peugeot-Citroen factory near Paris have agreed to end a four-month strike in protest at its planned closure.... Read More »

 

Europe car sales rise for first time in 19 months

May 17, 2013 08:34 CET
European car sales rose for the first time in 19 months on strong demand in the UK and a rebound in Germany. Registrations in April increased 2 percent to 1.08 million vehicles from 1.06 million cars a year earlier, industry association ACEA said.... Read More »

 

ANALYSIS

New S class key to boosting Mercedes profit margins, China sales

May 17, 2013 06:01 CET
Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche was leaning back in the rear seat of a prototype Mercedes-Benz S-class sedan in 2010 when he realized it didn't recline far enough.... Read More »

 

Fiat says headquarters shift to U.S. is not on agenda

May 17, 2013 06:01 CET
Fiat said the idea of moving the group's legal headquarters to the United States following a planned merger with Chrysler Group is not on the company's agenda.... Read More »

 

VW Group sales increase 7% in April

May 17, 2013 12:06 CET
Volkswagen Group's global monthly sales picked up pace again in April after growing at their slowest rate in more than three years a month earlier. VW Group said on Friday that deliveries to customers rose 7 percent to 784,600 vehicles last month.... Read More »

 

VW, GM, others get unexpected boost in China

May 17, 2013 06:01 CET
A surprise policy shift in China is expected to give a boost to VW Group, GM and other foreign automakers planning to expand in the world's largest car market.... Read More »

 

Tariff played a role in Mexico winning Audi plant

May 17, 2013 06:01 CET
At the groundbreaking for the Q5 plant in San Jose Chiapa, Mexico, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler offered another explanation for deciding not to locate in the United States: The European Union slaps a 10 percent tariff on U.S.-built vehicles.... Read More »

 

Audi Q7 will shed weight

May 17, 2013 06:01 CET
The redesigned Audi Q7 that debuts next summer in Europe will weigh about 363kg less than the current model, company insiders said, adding that Audi is also planning a hybrid version of the next-generation large SUV.... Read More »

 

Audi shifting to high-performance models to propel sales

May 16, 2013 10:34 CET
Audi is counting on bigger sales of high-performance cars like the RS5, as well as the new version of the A3 compact, to propel volume this year amid intensifying economic headwinds.... Read More »

 

Toyota plant in France starts Yaris output for U.S.

May 16, 2013 14:48 CET
Toyota Europe has started making the Yaris for North American export at its plant in Valenciennes, France, marking the first time the automaker's European-built models have been exported to the United States and Canada.... Read More »

 

Porsche says 918 Spyder will influence future models

May 16, 2013 13:21 CET
Porsche's says its 918 Spyder hybrid supercar, which begins production in September, will have a big influence on the automaker's sports cars of the future.... Read More »

 

Skoda's global April sales hit by switch to new Octavia

May 16, 2013 16:10 CET
Skoda said today that its global sales fell 4.6 percent to 77,600 in April due to a switch to a new Octavia compact model and continued weak demand in some European markets.... Read More »

 

Volkswagen starts construction of 300,000-vehicle plant in China

May 16, 2013 09:04 CET
Volkswagen has begun construction of a new factory in Changsha, China, with an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles, the company said in a statement today. The plant is one of seven factories being built by the company as it seeks to expand annual capacity in China to 4 million vehicles by 2018 in order to meet growing demand.... Read More »

 

Renault expects 5% dip for European car market

May 16, 2013 09:34 CET
Renault expects the European car market to shrink 5 percent this year over last year, Chief Operating Officer Carlos Tavares said. The French carmaker foresees the European market being "slightly better" in the remaining three quarters of this year than the first three months, when European market sales fell 10 percent after a "very poor performance," Tavares said.... Read More »

 

Mercedes makes new S class leaner, greener

May 15, 2013 23:50 CET
The new Mercedes-Benz S class is 100kg lighter than the model it will replace and its greenest variant will emit less CO2 than a Smart ForTwo. The brand's flagship sedan also has six eyes and six ears that allow it to see and hear enough to drive itself at speeds up to 60kph.... Read More »

 

Fiat mulls U.S. headquarters after Chrysler merger, report says

May 15, 2013 16:04 CET
Fiat is considering moving its corporate headquarters to the United States following a planned merger with Chrysler Group, three people familiar with the matter said.... Read More »

 

Continental kept in the dark over Schaeffler's decision to end investment agreement

May 15, 2013 14:35 CET
Continental said it was kept in the dark about the decision of Schaeffler to quit a five-year-old investment accord. Analysts suspect the accord's scrapping may be a prelude to Schaeffler restructuring Continental or reducing its stake.... Read More »

 

BMW's Reithofer tells Germans to embrace EVs

May 15, 2013 06:01 CET
BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer told his fellow Germans to set aside their worries and embrace EV technology as the carmaker gears up to launch the i3 electric city car.... Read More »

 

Ford aid from Spain probed by EU antitrust regulators

May 15, 2013 12:19 CET
European Union antitrust regulators will investigate whether a 25.2 million euro ($32.71 million) grant given by Spanish authorities to Ford's factory in Valencia breached EU state aid rules.... Read More »

 

GM will move Opel Zafira production to German plant

May 15, 2013 11:58 CET
General Motors will move production of the Opel/Vauxhall Zafira minivan to Ruesselsheim in Germany from its Bochum factory. Ruesselsheim and Vauxhall's plant in Ellesmere Port, England, had been in the running to gain Zafira production after Bochum closes.... Read More »

 

Peugeot pushes 308 upscale to catch VW Golf

May 15, 2013 10:15 CET
Peugeot hopes more upscale features and an innovative design will help the new 308 gain market share in Europe's overcrowded compact segment against competitors including the Volkswagen Golf.... Read More »

 

Ford will build EcoSport in Russia for local market

May 15, 2013 08:57 CET
Ford's Russian joint venture will begin building the EcoSport compact SUV in Russia next year for the local market, at a time when the demand for small SUVs is gaining traction in the country..... Read More »

 

Fiat 500, Maserati production hit by supplier dispute

May 14, 2013 16:04 CET
Fiat faces delays producing vehicles after a supplier stopped delivering parts for the Fiat 500 and Maseratis.... Read More »

 

Autoliv targets revenue gains of 5% on China, U.S. demand

May 14, 2013 10:19 CET
Swedish supplier Autoliv is targeting annual revenue growth of 5 percent or more in the next five years based on an increase in Chinese and U.S. car sales.... Read More »