Latest News

 4 June

Ford starts production at Cologne EV manufacturing hub

Credit: Ford Motor Company

Ford has opened the Cologne Electric Vehicle Center, a hi-tech production facility in Germany that will build Ford’s new generation of electric cars for the European market. 

Ford has transformed its historic plant in Niehl, Cologne – first founded in 1930 – as part of a $2 billion investment. 

The site is equipped with a brand-new production line, battery assembly and new tooling and automation, enabling an annual production capacity of 250,000+ EVs. Ford recently unveiled its fourth EV globally, the electric Explorer, which will be the first electric vehicle to be produced in Cologne, followed by a second electric vehicle, a sports crossover.

The Cologne EV Center will be Ford’s first carbon neutral assembly plant. Ford is aiming to reach carbon neutrality across its entire European footprint of facilities, logistics and direct suppliers by 2035. At the core of the Cologne EV Center are digital advancements that connect machines, vehicles and workers.

12 June

EU to apply additional duties to Chinese electric vehicles

The EU’s European Commission (EC) has confirmed new ‘provisional’ tariffs applying to Chinese electric vehicles shipped to the EU from July 2024.

The EC said it has provisionally concluded that the battery electric vehicles (BEV) value chain in China benefits from unfair subsidisation, which is causing a threat of economic injury to EU BEV producers.  The individual duties the EC would apply from 4 July to the three sampled Chinese producers and others would be: 

  • BYD: 17.4%; 
  • Geely: 20%;   
  • SAIC (ships MG branded cars): 38.1%. 
  • Other BEV producers in China, which cooperated in the investigation but have not been sampled, would be subject to a ‘weighted average’ duty of 21%. 
  • All other BEV producers in China which did not cooperate in the investigation would be subject to a residual duty of 38.1%

7 June

Fiat confirms hybrid 500 for Mirafiori

Stellantis has confirmed that it will build a hybrid version of the Fiat 500 model in Italy. The move reflects slower than expected sales of the all-electric 500 model made at the Mirafiori plant. 

The historic Mirafiori plant will be the production site of the new Fiat 500 Ibrida, a new made-in-Italy hybrid model set to be released between late 2025 and early 2026. 

The hybrid version will be developed, engineered and designed in Turin, like the 500e. The engine will come from the Stellantis plant in Termoli, the exhaust system will be produced in Napoli, and the gearbox will also be manufactured in Mirafiori.

Stellantis has announced a €100m investment to boost the potential of the Fiat 500e with a redesigned platform that it says will embed new generation battery tech to ‘make the model more affordable for customers’.

5 June

Volvo US starts building EX90

Volvo’s US factory outside Charleston, South Carolina, has now started building the EX90 electric flagship SUV with and the first customer delivery scheduled for the second half of this year. 

The plant opened in the summer 2018 and now produces the EX90 as well as the S60 sedan with capacity for 150,000 cars per year. The body and paint shops have recently been renewed and expanded and the plant now includes a battery pack production line.

Volvo also said the EX
90 also represents a paradigm shift for the company as it is the first Volvo Car powered by core computing technology – a technology that it says enables 'a new era of safety for our cars'.

3 June

Fisker lays off ‘hundreds’

Struggling US EV start-up Fisker has laid off hundreds of employees in a bid to stay in business as it continues to search for funding, a buyout or prepare for bankruptcy.

Fisker has already gone through several rounds of layoffs and had announced cuts of 15% in February.

The latest layoffs came after months of financial troubles at Fisker, and less than a year after the company began full scale deliveries of the Ocean SUV. It has also slashed retail prices of its Ocean model.

Talks for a potential rescue deal with an unnamed large automaker collapsed in March. Analysts say it is close to filing for bankruptcy.