Category: Trends (Page 6 of 10)

GM is considering investing more than US$4 billion in two Michigan plants to boost its EV production capacity

2021-12-10 / Robert Vinet

David Shepardson and Paul Lienert / Reuters »

GM has proposed building a $2.5 billion battery plant near Lansing with partner LG Energy Solution, the documents show.

The largest U.S. automaker is separately considering a $2 billion overhaul of its Orion Township assembly plant north of Detroit to build next-generation electric vehicles. The total investments could top $4 billion, a source familiar with the plan told Reuters.

Documents posted by the city of Lansing show GM is considering building a battery cell manufacturing plant in nearby Delta Township that could employ 1,700 people by 2028. The Lansing City Council is expected to consider the proposal on Monday.

Elsewhere » The Detroit Bureau

CEO Linda Jackson says Peugeot will switch all European models onto EV platforms by 2030

2021-12-07 / Robert Vinet

Automotive News »

There will continue to be internal-combustion based models in Peugeot’s lineup for international buyers, Jackson added.

“As we move on to the new [Stellantis] platforms, STLA Small, Medium, Large, by 2030 in Europe all of our models will be electric,” Jackson told Automotive News Europe. “But I still have to make sure I maintain internal-combustion offerings for my international customers.”

Peugeot’s move would come five years ahead of the EU’s proposal to mandate only zero-emissions vehicles in 2035. A number of automakers have already announced they will be all-electric in Europe well ahead of that date.

Elsewhere » Autocar

China’s Geely’s sold a record 16,161 new energy vehicles in November 2021

2021-12-06 / Robert Vinet

CnEVPost »

That’s up 137 percent year-on-year and 104 percent from October.

Geely’s NEVs include pure electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), mild hybrid electric vehicles (MHEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), according to the announcement.

EV Trend » New car registrations in the UK in November rose slightly as EVs increase market share

2021-12-06 / Robert Vinet

Hybrids and EVs claim a 27 percent market share of November 2021 sales.

Electric vehicle boom fuels rise in UK new car sales » The Guardian »

Almost 22,000 pure electric vehicles were registered in November, more than double the 10,345 registered in the same month last year, as the share of total sales accounted for by battery-powered electric vehicles climbed to 19%.

The Tesla Model 3 was the third bestselling car, with 3,077 sold, and is the bestselling pure electric vehicle in the UK, according to the figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

The boom in electric car sales helped overall sales of new cars to reach 115,706 in November, a 1.7% rise on the same month last year. While the increase is a welcome boost for the car industry, sales are still close to a third down on pre-pandemic levels.

“After four miserable months that the motor industry would rather forget, the tide is finally turning for new car sales,” said James Fairclough, the chief executive of AA Cars. “But the patch supply of new vehicles continues to peg back the number of sales dealers can make. Stock levels of some vehicles are so low that some dealers are even struggling to offer test drives.”

EV Trend » Nearly half of the Mustangs Ford sold in November were electric

2021-12-03 / Robert Vinet

Ford Mustang Mach-E

Customers purchased just over 3,000 electric Mustang Mach-E SUVs last month.

Tim Levin / Business Insider »

Ford launched its first modern electric car, the Mustang Mach-E SUV, just last year, and it’s already a hit. It’s even matching sales of the iconic Mustang sports car — at least during some months.

In November, almost half of the Mustangs Ford sold to US customers were of the battery-powered variety, the company said Thursday. All told, the Blue Oval shipped out 6,797 Mustangs, 3,088 of which were the Mach-E SUV.

It was a particularly strong month for the Mach-E, with sales rising more than 8% over October’s figures. It was a weaker month for the regular Mustang, which notched 8,000 sales back in April. During one month this year, June, a few hundred more people bought Mach-E SUVs than gas-fueled Mustangs.

EV Trend » Auto executives expect EVs will own half of Japan, U.S. and China markets by 2030

2021-12-02 / Robert Vinet

Joseph White / Reuters »

Auto industry executives expect electric vehicles will make up just over half of new vehicle sales in the United States and China by 2030, and could do so without receiving government subsidies, according to a new survey by accounting and consulting firm KPMG.

But combustion vehicles, including hybrids, are expected to retain a significant share of most major vehicle markets for years to come, according to KPMG’s latest annual survey of 1,000 auto industry executives.

The speed at which automakers can phase out combustion engines and the carbon dioxide they emit is a pivotal issue for the global auto industry. A group of automakers and countries signed a statement earlier this month calling for phase-out of combustion vehicles globally by 2040, and by 2035 in richer nations.

But the world’s two largest automakers by sales, Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp, and three of the world’s biggest vehicle-buying nations – China, the United States and Germany – did not sign on.

GM dealers would rather be ahead of the game than behind the eight ball

2021-11-30 / Robert Vinet

Business Insider 🔒 »

GM dealers across the country told Insider they are generally optimistic about the future of their businesses and that they’re happy to sell cars no matter their power source. But some also expressed concern about how, exactly, to handle the expense (between $50,000 and $500,000 in upgrades, according to a GM spokesperson), the loss of revenue from cars that need less maintenance, and how to encourage customers to embrace a new way of getting around.

How they handle those challenges could dictate not just the long-term viability of their businesses, but also how widespread predictions that US EV sales are set to explode actually play out.

“Is it a concern? Absolutely,” said Paul Householder, service director at Michigan-based LaFontaine Automotive Group. “We just don’t know what we don’t know yet.”

It is clear, though, that dealers must be proactive. “It’s all that much more significant for us as dealers to be engaged,” said Ben Faricy, president of The Faricy Boys auto group in Colorado Springs, Colorado. “We know that this is coming, and we would rather be ahead of the game than behind the eight ball.”