The subsidies will be part of a new "Marshall Plan" to help Europe recover from the coronavirus pandemic. In the U.S., there has not yet been movement toward a similar "Cash for Clunkers" initiative.

Germans want to know why taxpayer funds should go toward helping the automakers when they are not canceling shareholder dividends that will benefit the wealthy families that control BMW and VW.

The brand was on its way to reaching the target before the coronavirus pandemic hit the economy, VW Group CFO Frank Witter said.

VW Group is reconsidering which of its brands will develop a new family of small electric cars after Spanish unit Seat lost the project. Seat was partnering with JAC Automobile Group on the EVs as part of plans to resume sales in China, though its reentry has been postponed.

The eyes-off feature, called Traffic Jam Pilot, was the most significant technological breakthrough added to the latest-generation A8 when it debuted in 2017.

Daimler will run out production of the Mercedes GLC F-CELL, its only fuel cell model, and focus on using the technology in heavy-duty vehicles.

The automaker  provided new, more precise guidance for the production ramp-up of the battery-powered hatchback, the first of its new generation of mass-market, long-range EVs.

The strategy to overhaul Skoda, the only VW Group brand to post a volume decline in China last year, will resemble what the VW brand did in the mid-2010s, which included a new crossover and EV offensive and the mass rollout of fully connected models to appeal to the country's tech-savvy buyers.

VW Group expects to more than double sales of plug-in hybrids in China, but it may still need to purchase emissions credits from other automakers to meet CO2 requirements.

German auto lobby groups welcomed the move. They had warned that many dealerships faced bankruptcy after building up high inventories that cannot be sold to customers.

Unlike Tesla, Porsche does not aspire to be a volume producer of EVs, Michael Steiner, the German brand's R&D boss, told Automotive News Europe.

BMW's i Hydrogen Next has a hydrogen fuel cell propulsion system that could become another pillar of the automaker's drivetrain portfolio.

While BMW will offer a full-electric variant of the 7-Series sedan, Audi is opting for a plug-in drivetrain with the next A8.

Europe's automakers are calling for immediate support from the EU and member states after suffering production losses that could soon leave them short of cash.