Category: Brands

Currently Audi’s alphanumeric model names do not make a distinction between powertrains. The lineup starts with the small A1, and goes up to the A8 flagship sedan, Q8 crossover and R8 sports car. 

German rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz have their own naming conventions for EVs, with Mercedes adding “EQ” to its letter series, while BMW adds an “i” to its number series.

Mercedes plans to drop the EQ designation, starting as early as 2024, according to German news reports.

Audi has already started to rename some models. The E-tron, which was updated at the start of this year, is now called the Q8 E-tron. The brand’s next full-electric model will be the midsize Q6 E-tron crossover. Duesmann did not say if the E-tron GT would be renamed. 

According to the newspaper report, the A4 and A6 combustion models will be renamed A5 and A7, respectively.

The current A5 and A7 will not have direct successors as internal combustion models, thus eliminating any confusion with the new A4 and A6 names.

Genesis is considering launching a small, luxury electric car for Europe based on the Mint concept, Autocar reports. The Mint concept was revealed at the 2019 New York Auto Show with compact dimensions that make it ideal for the European market, where smaller cars are popular.

Mark Choi, head of product planning for Genesis, has confirmed that the South Korean firm is considering expanding its model lineup, and a smaller model is being studied, particularly for the Old Continent.

“But it’s not a simple case of adding new models; we need to factor in the growth of sales anticipated for our current cars, weigh that against our manufacturing capacity and then consider the rising cost of raw materials and understand how that affects the decision,” Choi added.

However, Choi hinted that the rising cost of battery raw materials could delay the launch of the small EV, which should slot below the Genesis GV60 in the lineup.

SangYup Lee, the design boss at Genesis, also commented, “The Mint concept is still being studied. We want to understand what a small luxury car could be. When you live in a city, you don’t necessarily want a big car, so a small luxury vehicle is something to think about. There are premium small cars, but a luxury small car could be something new.”

The Mint Concept is a breath of fresh air for the Genesis brand, as it takes a unique approach to design and functionality. This quirky little two-seater should be easy to navigate through the city, though Genesis also touted it to offer an exhilarating driving experience.

While specifics on performance are limited, Genesis claims a 200-mile range with fast-charging capabilities. The car’s compact size has allowed for a minimalist interior, with a small touchscreen integrated into the oblong steering wheel and large buttons for quick access to important systems. It also features reverse-scissor rear doors for easy access to the trunk. It’s certainly an interesting addition to the Genesis lineup, and we can’t wait to see what the production version would be like – if it happens at all.

Adelmann said that COVID-related lockdowns in Shanghai at the end of last year affected #1 production ramp up, and the company had to revise the timing of the model’s roll out in Europe.

Smart’s supplier base is in and around Shanghai, and the shutdowns in that area affected Smart production heavily, he said.

In January, Smart opened orders in Germany only. There are 3,500 nonbinding pre-orders, but just 700 units have been produced and are in transit to be delivered to customers. First deliveries began in mid-March.

To shorten the waiting period from order to delivery, Smart has delayed opening orders in France, Italy and Spain to June from March. Other selected European markets, including the U.K., will follow from September.

Adelmann said it takes Smart three months from producing a #1 in its plant in Xi’an, China, to deliver it to European customers. Shipping alone takes six weeks.

Smart declined to give a sales prediction for Europe. The brand’s peak volume was in 2006, with around 130,000 units sold in the region.

Ossuama Kaddoura, a Paris-based dealer and president of the ASP (Smart Partner Association) said his group expects each new Smart model to sell 20,000 to 25,000 units in Europe and that by 2027 the 2006 peak volume could be easily exceeded.

Last year, Smart sold 21,156 vehicles in Europe, a 42 percent decline from 2021, when it sold 36,609 units. The electric ForTwo EQ accounted for 17,333 sales, with the now discontinued ForFour EQ four-seater accounting for 3,585 units, figures from Dataforce show. There were 248 #1s registered, mainly as dealer demonstration units.

The #3 will join a small but growing list of full-electric models in the compact SUV segment, including mainstream contenders from VW Group such as the ID4 and the Cupra Born sibling model; the Nissan Ariya and future Renault Scenic; as well as the next-generation Peugeot 3008 from Stellantis. 

BMW M remains bullish in its move to electrification and announced that in just four years, it will sell more electric cars and plug-in hybrids than vehicles with pure combustion engines. By 2027, the proportion of pure combustion engines in M ​​sales will have fallen below 50 percent.

Furthermore, BMW M expects that by 2028, purely electric M cars will account for more than 50 percent of sales figures, outselling its vehicles equipped with internal combustion engines. In 2030, the proportion of combustion engines will only be around 10 percent.

The announcement was made by BMW M chief Frank van Meel during a presentation of the M2 and XM while being supported with graphics, Bimmer Today reports.

BMW M’s electric range is currently populated by the i4 M50 and iX M60, but this year it will be supplemented by the BMW i7 M70 (G70) and the BMW i5 M60 (G60). Meanwhile, a high-performance M EV with an electric motor on each wheel is currently in development, with a widened i4 M50 as its testbed.

This is, of course, in line with BMW Group’s overall outlook in terms of electrification. In a presentation earlier this month, the company announced that it’s expecting a significant increase in the production and sales of fully electric vehicles in the coming years.

Currently, the German marque has around a dozen fully electric models on offer. By 2024, at least 20 percent of the new cars produced by the company will have a fully-electric drivetrain. By 2025, every fourth new vehicle delivered should be a battery-electric vehicle (BEV); in 2026, one in three new cars.

BMW is optimistic about the development of the charging infrastructure, raw material prices, and availability. The new Neue Klasse line will be at the forefront of this offensive, which should make its debut in 2025. Depending on these factors, the company expects to achieve more than a 50 percent BEV share well before 2030.

The BMW Group aims to deliver over 10 million fully-electric vehicles to customers by 2030, with a significant milestone of selling 2 million fully-electric vehicles expected to be reached in 2025.

Scout Motors chose a greenfield site just north of Columbia, S.C., for a new $2 billion factory over a number of other sites across the U.S. in part because it — and an accompanying $1.3 billion package of incentives — was “ready to go,” according to Scout CEO Scott Keogh.

Gov. Henry McMaster signed the incentive package into law Monday. It includes a $400 million grant to Scout Motors “for hard assets as determined by the company,” local media reported, citing the state’s Department of Commerce. It also includes funding for $650 million in local infrastructure improvements, a $25 million training facility and a $200 million loan for soil stabilization.

Speaking to reporters in a video conference call Monday, Keogh said the Volkswagen Group-owned brand looked at 74 sites in the South, Midwest and West for the factory, which will produce Scout SUVs and pickups, beginning in 2026. But the process to land on the site in Blythewood “took just 60 days” instead of 12 to 18 months of negotiations and preparations. The factory will have a capacity of 200,000 vehicles.

In response to a question from Automotive News, Keogh said any announcement on how Scout would sell or repair its vehicles in the U.S. is forthcoming.

As for choosing South Carolina, “We looked at 74 sites in, I don’t know, a dozen states, roughly. We looked at a lot of states to the north, and we looked at a lot of states to the south, and we looked at a few states to the west, so we have a good feel of what’s going on in America with 74 sites,” Keogh said. The state had the available infrastructure, a sufficient local population from which to draw the plant’s estimated 4,000 workers and an existing supply base from other automakers that have been in the state for decades, Keogh said.

“This was the best play based on the 74 sites, full stop,” Keogh said.

Subaru of America has promoted one of its regional vice presidents to lead its U.S. sales operations effective April 1, succeeding Jeff Walters, who will transition to the brand’s top U.S. role. Walters will become president and COO as regional CEO Tom Doll steps down from day-to-day management and assumes an advisory role.

Troy Poston, 54, eastern regional vice president of Subaru’s U.S. sales operations, is a 26-year veteran of the brand’s field and regional sales operations. He’ll take over the job from Walters, 56, who has headed Subaru’s U.S. sales operations since 2014 and was named to the brand’s top U.S. role March 3.

“Troy brings a passion for our customers, excellent relationships with our Subaru retailers and a deep knowledge of the Subaru sales network,” Doll said in a written statement. “His leadership will be critical moving forward as we look to grow our sales and move past the production constraints of the past few years and begin the launch of a new and more electrified product line-up.”

Poston assumes his new role as Subaru works to recover from the industrywide production problems caused by COVID-19 and the global semiconductor shortage. In 2020, the automaker fell short of achieving its 12th-straight year of record U.S. sales when deliveries dropped 13 percent. Last year, U.S. volume dipped 4.7 percent to 556,581 vehicles, far off the all-time high of 700,117 achieved in 2019 before COVID-19 gripped the world.

With supply coming back online, Subaru’s U.S. sales rose 1.3 percent to 90,163 vehicles in 2023 through February.

Subaru plans to step up its electrification strategy in the U.S., which includes several battery-powered EVs by 2025. The EV rollout will lean on Subaru’s partnership with Toyota Motor Corp. and be further amplified by the expansion of the company’s hybrid vehicles, executives have said.

Hans Greimel contributed to this report.

Sandy Munro, head of Michigan-based Munro & Associates, which tears down vehicles and advises automakers on how to improve them, said the Model Y battery pack has “zero repairability.”

“A Tesla structural battery pack is going straight to the grinder,” Munro said.

EV battery problems also expose a hole in the green “circular economy” touted by automakers.

At Synetiq, the UK’s largest salvage company, head of operations Michael Hill said over the last 12 months the number of EVs in the isolation bay – where they must be checked to avoid fire risk — at the firm’s Doncaster yard has soared, from perhaps a dozen every three days to up to 20 per day.

“We’ve seen a really big shift and it’s across all manufacturers,” Hill said.

The UK currently has no EV battery recycling facilities, so Synetiq has to remove the batteries from written-off cars and store them in containers. Hill estimated at least 95 percent of the cells in the hundreds of EV battery packs — and thousands of hybrid battery packs — Synetiq has stored at Doncaster are undamaged and should be reused.

It already costs more to insure most EVs than traditional cars.

According to online brokerage Policygenius, the average U.S. monthly EV insurance payment in 2023 is $206, 27 percent more than for a combustion-engine model.

According to Bankrate, an online publisher of financial content, U.S. insurers know that “if even a minor accident results in damage to the battery pack … the cost to replace this key component may exceed $15,000.”

A replacement battery for a Tesla Model 3 can cost up to $20,000, for a vehicle that retails at around $43,000 but depreciates quickly over time.

Andy Keane, UK commercial motor product manager at French insurer AXA, said expensive replacement batteries “may sometimes make replacing a battery unfeasible.”

There are a growing number of repair shops specializing in repairing EVs and replacing batteries. In Phoenix, Arizona, Gruber Motor has mostly focused on replacing batteries in older Tesla models.

But insurers cannot access Tesla’s battery data, so they have taken a cautious approach, owner Peter Gruber said.

“An insurance company is not going to take that risk because they’re facing a lawsuit later on if something happens with that vehicle and they did not total it,” he said.

Ferrari has announced that it’s discontinuing its entry-level Portofino M hardtop convertible. The news was confirmed by a Ferrari spokesperson to Road & Track, stating that the company’s newly introduced Roma Spider will take over as the entry-level drop-top in the Italian marque’s lineup.

The Ferrari Roma Spider, which was introduced a few days ago, boasts a twin-turbo 3.9-liter V8 that makes 612 horsepower and 561 pound-feet of torque. Unlike the Portofino M, the Roma Spider is equipped with a traditional fabric roof, which is significantly lighter than the outgoing model’s folding hardtop. Just like the Portofino M, the Roma has a 2+2 seating configuration, as well.

The Ferrari Portofino M was launched in 2020, following the Portofino that was introduced in 2017. It was known as the California T before, which started out as just the California – a lineage that dates back to 2008. It came with the introduction of the naturally aspirated 4.3-liter V8 engine that made 453 hp.

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The “T” designation was added to the California’s name in 2014, representing the addition of two turbochargers that increased the power output to 552 hp. The car was subsequently renamed the Portofino, with the power output increased to 591 hp. The Portofino M was then launched with a power output of 612 hp.

Despite these figures and improvements to the nameplate, the Portofino M and its predecessors weren’t exactly at the top of mind when it comes to Ferrari sports cars. Will the Roma Spider be a worthy successor? Even beyond the Roma’s critically acclaimed overall design, we think the Roma Spider is a fitting replacement for the two-seater sports car.

Given the Roma Spider’s output figures above, Ferrari claims that the Roma Spider can reach 62 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour) in 3.4 seconds and 124 mph (200 km/h) in 9.7 s. For comparison, the hardtop model also hits 62 in 3.4 s but reaches 124 mph in 9.3 s. Top speed is rated at 199 mph (320 km/h), according to Ferrari.

Volkswagen‘s diesel emissions cheating scandal is helping a ferry service for tourists in northern Michigan go electric.

The Mackinac Island Ferry Co. plans to use a $3 million grant from the state’s Volkswagen settlement fund to replace two 1988 diesel engines on one of its boats with new electric motors. The conversion will eliminate 14,152 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents and 887 metric tons of nitrogen oxides over time, Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy said in a news release.

The 84-foot Chippewa, built in 1962, will be the first zero-emission ferry serving Mackinac Island, where automobiles have been banned since the 1890s. During the summer, ferries make about 125 round trips daily in the straits between Michigan’s two peninsulas.

State officials said they have a long-term goal of converting all 138 50- to 200-ton ships operating in the upper Great Lakes to electric or hybrid-electric power.

“Our mobility leadership must extend from electric cars and buses on the road to industrial power and watercraft, too,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said. “Converting a ferry in the Mackinac fleet to electric will build on our clean-energy leadership and help us achieve the goals of the MI Healthy Climate Plan to make our state carbon-neutral by 2050.”

BERLIN — Volkswagen Group plans to invest in mines to bring down the cost of battery cells, meet half of its own demand and sell to third-party customers, Thomas Schmall, the automaker’s technology chief, said.

VW wants its battery unit PowerCo to become a global battery supplier, not just produce for the group’s own needs, Schmall told Reuters in an interview.

PowerCo will start by delivering cells to Ford for the 1.2 million vehicles the U.S. automaker is building in Europe on VW’s electric MEB platform, he said.

Long-term, VW plans to build enough cells to meet half its global battery needs, with most production capacity located in Europe and North America, according to Schmall.

“The bottleneck for raw materials is mining capacity – that is why we need to invest in mines directly,” he said.

The automaker was partnering on supply deals with mining companies in Canada, where it will build its first North American battery plant.

Schmall declined to comment on further locations under consideration or where or when VW might invest directly in mines, saying the company would not disclose that information until the market was more settled.

“In future, there will be a select number of battery standards. Through our large volume and third-party sales business, we want to be one of those standards,” he said.