Autos
- BusinessReuters
Genuine Parts lifts profit forecast as US prospects brighten
Automotive parts distributor Genuine Parts raised its 2024 profit forecast on Thursday, hinging on strong demand for parts and improving automotive sales in the United States. In the past months, the company has been implementing pricing initiatives and strategic sourcing programs to perk up slowing sales in its U.S. automotive segment that was hurt by high costs and other inflationary pressures. It reaffirmed its sales growth forecast of 3% to 5% for the full year.
1-min read - BusinessReuters
Early Easter causes EU new car sales to drop 5.2% in March, says ACEA
New car sales in the European Union fell by 5.2% year-on-year in March, marking the first decline this year and the biggest since July 2022, Europe's auto industry body said on Thursday, citing the impact of early Easter holidays and a market downturn. Top European carmakers Volkswagen and Stellantis have said the market will be tough in 2024, as a result of weak global demand for electric vehicles (EVs), increasing Chinese competition, sustained cost pressures and geopolitical tensions. Car r
2-min read - BusinessReuters
Analysis-Wall Street wants answers from Musk on Tesla's affordable car
Elon Musk has kept investors hanging since he issued cryptic social posts following an exclusive April 5 Reuters report that Tesla had scrapped its plans for a $25,000 “Model 2” electric vehicle. “Reuters is lying,” Musk wrote in one post that day, without identifying any inaccuracies. Nearly two weeks later, with no concrete updates from Musk, Tesla investors are restless.
6-min read - BusinessReuters
US auto sector 'whipsawed' by politicians, Ford chairman says
The U.S. auto industry needs regulatory certainty from politicians in Washington and the back and forth as the White House changes hands doesn't help, but the adoption rate of electric vehicles will continue to grow, Ford Motor's executive chairman Bill Ford said on Wednesday. The growth rate on EV sales has slowed, but globally they are being adopted quickly and Ford will follow even as it hedges it bets with its gasoline-powered and hybrid electric vehicles, he said at a Detroit Free Press ev
3-min read - BusinessReuters
Chinese automaker FAW's auto finance unit launches loan with no down payment
The auto finance arm of China's state-owned automaker FAW Group has launched a loan programme with no down payment, becoming one of the first providers to make such a move since the removal of government-set minimum payments. The move is intended to "maximally relieve customers' car purchase pressure", FAW said in a statement on Wednesday. FAW Auto Finance is one of 25 auto finance firms operating in the world's largest auto market, where slowing demand and a price war have vexed both authorit
1-min read - BusinessReuters
Volkswagen to roll out new architecture with Xpeng to cut China EV costs
Volkswagen AG said on Wednesday it has developed a new architecture for intelligent and electric cars with its Chinese partner Xpeng, which the German automaker said will help it offer more affordable EVs in its biggest market. Volkswagen plans to use the China Electrical Architecture (CEA) in locally developed VW-branded EVs from 2026, it said. The architecture uses a central computer and a zonal structure to control all electronics to achieve functions such as autonomous driving.
2-min read - BusinessReuters
Japan's Nissan bets on solid-state batteries, gigacasting for next-gen EVs
Japan's Nissan Motor will begin to produce solid-state batteries for electric vehicles at scale by early 2029 and use huge casting machines as it seeks to raise efficiency and drive down costs on future models, the automaker said on Tuesday. Nissan is betting on technological advancements to stave off heavy competition from rivals such as Tesla and BYD that have raced ahead in production of battery-powered cars. Japan's third-biggest automaker by volume will initially do prototype tests and de
2-min read
