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☆ Chinese competition, Xinjiang plant loom large for Volkswagen investors at AGM
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, May 10 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) investors will demand answers from the carmakers' executives at its annual general meeting on Wednesday on its competitiveness in China and its contested plant in Xinjiang, advance copies of their speeches showed. "Volkswagen must be certain that its supply chains are clean," said Ingo Speich, head of sustainability and corporate governance at Deka. Volkswagen's China chief visited the plant in Xinjiang, jointly owned with SAIC (600104.SS) earlier this year and said he saw no evidence of forced labour. Shareholders will also flag the rising competition from Chinese electric vehicle competitors in China, with BYD outselling the Volkswagen brand to be the bestselling passenger car brand earlier this year. Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Jan Schwartz; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Porsche to incorporate Mobileye automated driving and navigation software
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, May 9 (Reuters) - Porsche (P911_p.DE) will incorporate automated assistance and navigation functions from Mobileye's (MBLY.O) so-called "SuperVision" technology platform in future models, Mobileye said on Tuesday. The agreement is the technology provider's second large signing for the platform with a large automotive group after China's Geely [RIC:RIC:GEELY.UL]. Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) has been planning to expand its cooperation with Mobileye since late last year when it decided to stop investing in self-driving start-up Argo AI, Reuters reported at the time. The Israel-based firm, which went public last October, already cooperates with Volkswagen's software unit Cariad. Reporting by Victoria Waldersee and Jan Schwartz, Editing by Rachel MoreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Porsche, VW Commercial Vehicles partner with Mobileye on automated driving software
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, May 9 (Reuters) - Porsche (P911_p.DE) will incorporate automated assistance and navigation functions from Mobileye's (MBLY.O) so-called "SuperVision" technology platform in future models, Mobileye said on Tuesday. The agreement is the technology provider's second large signing for the platform with a major automotive group after China's Geely (GEELY.UL). Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, which was previously going to use technology from Pittsburgh-based self-driving startup, Argo AI for self-driving shuttles and vans, will also partner with Mobileye, a spokesperson said. Volkswagen pulled out of its planned investment in Argo AI last October and said at the time its commercial vehicles unit would seek a new partnership. Together with Mobileye, the unit will seek to implement so-called "Level 4" autonomous driving - considered fully autonomous, though humans can still request control - in its ID.

☆ Bentley production chief to lead Volkswagen's software overhaul - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Jan Schwartz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 8 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) will announce later on Monday the removal of leadership at its troubled software arm Cariad and the appointment of Bentley production chief Peter Bosch to take the unit's helm, two sources close to the company said. Volkswagen is set to dismiss all but one of the unit's current executive board members, with only human resources head Rainer Zugehoer to remain. Bosch will also take over financial management at Cariad, the sources said, confirming an earlier report by Handelsblatt. Sources said at the time that Diess' failure to put Cariad, a business he set up, on a solid footing contributed to his ousting. Reporting by Jan Schwartz, Writing by Victoria Waldersee, Editing by Miranda MurrayOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ VW to fire top executives at software unit Cariad, source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Jan Schwartz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The unit - set up under former VW group CEO Herbert Diess -has exceeded its budget and failed to meet goals, contributing to Diess' departure and replacement by Oliver Blume last September. A VW spokesperson said the German company was analysing Cariad and its projects. A number of decisions have been made, but no decisions on personnel, the spokesperson said, adding that Cariad and vehicle software development remained integral to Volkswagen's group strategy. The problems at Cariad have delayed work on important new vehicle models Porsche e-Macan and Audi Q6 e-tron. The planned launch of company-wide structural car software, initially designed to enable the fourth of five levels of autonomous driving from 2026, has been postponed by two years.

SummarySummary Companies Move comes shortly after Scout plant announcementPlant in Canada can also qualify for IRA subsidiesBASF also picked Canada for EV battery materials plantWOLFSBURG, Germany, March 13 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) chose Canada to build its first battery cell plant outside Europe, granting its cars access to both Canadian and U.S. subsidies as it works to localise electric vehicle production chain in the region. Canada, home to a large mining sector for minerals including lithium, nickel and cobalt, is trying to woo companies involved in all levels of the EV supply chain via a multi-billion-dollar green technology fund as the world seeks to cut carbon emissions. The Canadian federal innovation minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne, called the VW battery plant a "home run for Canada" and said it was "the largest single investment in the auto sector in the history of Canada", without giving details. "I think all the big manufacturers understand that if you need to green the supply chain, Canada is the place to do that," said Champagne. Chemicals giant BASF (BASFn.DE) a year ago also secured land in Canada for a planned battery materials facility to better serve electric vehicle markets in the U.S. and Mexico.

SummarySummary Companies Move comes shortly after Scout plant announcementPlant in Canada can also qualify for IRA subsidiesBASF also picked Canada for EV battery materials plantWOLFSBURG, March 13 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) chose Canada to build its first battery cell plant outside Europe, granting its cars access to both Canadian and U.S. subsidies as it works to localise electric vehicle production chain in the region. He said Volkswagen would be making "the largest single investment in the auto sector in the history of Canada" but did not give details. The plant will be based in the city of St. Thomas, around 195 km (120 miles) northeast of Detroit. "I think all the big manufacturers understand that if you need to green the supply chain, Canada is the place to do that," said Champagne. Chemicals giant BASF (BASFn.DE) a year ago also secured land in Canada for a planned battery materials facility to better serve electric vehicle markets in the U.S. and Mexico.

☆ Volkswagen to build first North American battery cell plant in Canada
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WOLFSBURG, March 13 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) said on Monday it will build its first North American battery cell plant in Canada, granting its cars access to both Canadian and U.S. subsidies as it works to localise its electric vehicle production chain in the region. VW's Monday's announcement did not specify the size of the investment or the capacity of the new plant, but board member Thomas Schmall said in August the company was targeting 20 gigawatt hours of capacity at its first North American site. Volkswagen has long said it is working towards setting up regional supply chains in Europe, North America and China for EV production in light of high transport and logistic costs, supply chain risks and geopolitical tensions. It announced last week its Scout brand would build a $2 billion manufacturing plant near Columbia, South Carolina for trucks and SUVs, with production to start in 2026. Reporting by Victoria Waldersee and Jan Schwartz, Editing by Angus MacSwan, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Chief Financial Officer Lutz Meschke, however, warned that supply chain issues, geopolitical strains and rising inflation still presented a challenge for the industry. Porsche AG, historically a huge money spinner for the Volkswagen Group (VOWG_p.DE), which owns 75% minus one ordinary share of the group, is targeting a margin of 17-19% this year with a long-term goal of 20%, it said in a statement. Porsche reported a 27.4% rise in annual operating profit to 6.8 billion euros on revenue of 37.6 billion, slightly undershooting a consensus 6.86 billion in earnings and 38.3 billion in revenue expected by 19 analysts polled by Refinitiv. The logo of German carmaker Porsche AG is seen before the company's annual news conference in Stuttgart, Germany, March 17, 2017. He also said the company was investing 20 billion euros in digitalisation in the next five years.

Eight other people were wounded, including a seven-months pregnant woman who lost her unborn daughter, police and prosecutors said at a news conference. Authorities identified the gunmman only as Philipp F. The 35-year-old, a German citizen and former Jehovah's Witness, began shooting through a window at the hall, where dozens of people were gathered, before entering. Following the previous shootings, Germany introduced stricter gun ownership rules and the government has announced plans to tighten controls further. Jehovah's Witnesses are an international Christian denomination that was founded in the United States in around 1870. The officials said about 50 people were at an event held in the Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall in the Alsterdorf district of the city when the shooting started.

☆ Volkswagen pauses on Europe battery plants, awaits EU response to IRA
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Jan Schwartz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"De facto it is the case that we are getting ahead far faster in North America," a person close to the matter said to Reuters, declining to be named. Asked about the report, a Volkswagen spokesperson said the carmaker was "still evaluating suitable locations for our next cell factories in Eastern Europe and North America. The company said in October last year it planned to firmly settle on a location for a plant in eastern Europe in the first six months of 2023. Schmall said he participated in a discussion with EU officials via the European Battery Alliance last week on what conditions were needed in Europe for battery production. These included state aid in line with China and North America, a raw materials strategy and affordable renewable energy, he said.

☆ Volkswagen focuses on productivity in challenging year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Volkswagen AG FollowMarch 8 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) needs to focus on productivity at its mass-market brands to cope with a step up in competition this year as supply chains improve, car production rises and consumers remain under pressure, executives said on Wednesday. "2023 must be the year of productivity," finance chief Arno Antlitz told staff newspaper 360 Grad (360 Degrees). Antlitz and VW brand chief Thomas Schaeffer said supply chain snags would continue to affect output this year, but Antlitz said chip supply was improving. Volkswagen said last week it expected sales to rise by up to 331 billion euros ($350 billion) this year and forecast a 14% increase in vehicle deliveries from 2022. ($1 = 0.9454 euros)Reporting by Jan Schwartz and Victoria Waldersee Editing by Riham Alkousaa and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"We expect the supply chain bottlenecks to gradually ease in the current year, allowing us to service the high order backlog." Shares in the company rose 7.5% to the top of Frankfurt's benchmark DAX index (.GDAXI) on the news and hit their highest level since Dec. 13. Volkswagen's revenues are forecast to grow by 10-15%, indicating 2023 sales of 307 billion to 331 billion euros, significantly higher than the 280 billion Refinitiv estimate. According to Refinitiv estimates, holders of Volkswagen's preferred shares were expected to get a dividend of 8.46 euros apiece. ($1 = 0.9414 euros)Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Jan Schwartz Editing by Miranda Murray and Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Volkswagen board discusses two new North America plants at meeting - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Volkswagen AG FollowHAMBURG, March 3 (Reuters) - Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) supervisory board will on Friday discuss plans for two new factories in North America, one production plant and one battery cell factory, two people familiar with the matter said. While the committee is expected to approve a site for its Scout brand in the United States, discussions around a gigafactory are open-ended, the sources said. Separately, Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume in December said the carmaker had begun searching for a site for a battery cell factory in North America, adding Canada was "one logical option" due to its raw material resources. "We are still working hard to find a suitable location for our first gigafactory in North America and are in good, constructive talks," a Volkswagen spokesperson said on Friday, adding no decision has been made yet. Reporting by Jan Schwartz; Writing by Christoph Steitz, Editing bz Miranda Murray and Matthias WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] Customers shop at a mall ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, in Beijing, China January 15, 2023. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File PhotoLONDON/MILAN/FRANKFURT/NEW YORK, March 1 (Reuters) - The world's top consumer and luxury goods companies have seen sales of everything from cosmetics to condoms grow in China since Beijing ended strict COVID-19 curbs, another sign that the world's No. Tourism from China was helping sales in neighbouring Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Japan, he added. Reckitt Benckiser, which makes Nurofen tablets, cold remedy Lemsip and Durex, saw a pick-up in China after a decline in volumes because of lockdowns. U.S. retailer Walmart Inc (WMT.N), which operates nearly 400 retail and wholesale stores in China, reported strong traffic in its stores since reopening.

REUTERS/Wolfgang RattaySummarySummary Companies Volkswagen China chief toured Xinjiang plant on Feb 16-17Carmaker contractually bound to plant until 2030Company notes 'more repressive approach' in region since 2015No indication of forced labour on visit - China chiefPlant no longer assembling cars, 65% staff cutBERLIN, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) is contractually committed to its plant in Xinjiang until 2030, it said on Tuesday, after its China chief made the first visit by senior management to the plant in mid-February and said he saw no signs of forced labour. Ralf Brandstaetter, who has headed the carmaker's China operations since the middle of last year, spent 1-1/2 days on Feb. 16-17 touring the facility with Volkswagen's compliance and external relations chief in China. I can try and verify the facts [from joint venture partner SAIC], and that's what I did. China has strenuously denied any abuses in Xinjiang. Around 190 workers had also undertaken retraining and qualification programmes at other SAIC plants across China.

☆ Volkswagen to build own US plant for Scout brand - Automobilwoche
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Volkswagen Group (VOWG_p.DE) will build its own production plant in the United States for its new Scout brand rather than collaborating with a partner, industry publication Automobilwoche reported on Friday, citing company sources. Volkswagen said last May it planned to reintroduce the Scout off-road brand, creating a separate, independent company to build Scout trucks and SUVs starting in 2026 that will be designed, engineered, and manufactured in the United States for U.S. customers. Building its own plant was the least likely option, the publication reported at the time, also citing company sources. Volkswagen is expanding its existing U.S. plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to produce the ID. However, the Scout brand will build off-road electric pick-up trucks and SUVs that require a new platform and the Chattanooga plant does not have enough space to do it all, a source told Reuters last May.

☆ VW to speed up electric shift in five-year plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) will speed up its shift to electric cars and revamp its software strategy in a five-year investment plan presented by management to the supervisory board on Friday, the automaker said in a statement. Bosses discussed how to rejig the German group's production network to accelerate the move to cleaner driving, the statement said, without elaborating. Full details of what was discussed will be presented at the company's annual media conference on March 14. A spokesperson for the works council denied the Handelsblatt report, saying jobs in Hannover were guaranteed under an agreement with the company until 2029. Reporting by Jan Schwartz; Writing by Victoria Waldersee; Editing by Jan Harvey and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'Party is over': Hapag Lloyd CEO says freight rates to keep declining
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HAMBURG, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Container freight rates will keep declining in the current realignment of shipping demand and supply, said the chief executive of Germany's liner Hapag Lloyd (HLAG.DE), the world's number five by transport capacity. "Now we have to fight for every box again to get our ships full," he said. However, he expects freight rates will not fall below costs, which were being kept high by expensive charter rates, high fuel costs and the need to adjust fleets to running on low carbon fuel. Ship docking and scrapping was increasing this year after a period when ship owners kept old vessels running to meet high demand, he said. At the same time, Hapag Lloyd expects to receive a series of new ships it ordered in recent years, including some giant 23,600 twenty foot equivalent unit (TEU) vessels.

"They fire, we hire," said Rainer Zugehoer, Chief People Officer at Cariad, the software subsidiary of automaker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE). Spooked by inflation and the prospect of recession, Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Facebook owner Meta (META.O) have announced a combined almost 40,000 job cuts. Germany, with one of the world's oldest populations, has gaping holes in its labour force: according to IT industry group Bitkom, 137,000 IT jobs are unfilled. Gerlach added, adding Munich's famed beer festival to the strong labour protections that might prove attractive to the newly jobless. "Bureaucracy in Germany is utterly crippling for most highly-qualified workers when they first encounter it, especially if they don't speak German," said Diana Stoleru of Berlin startup Lendis.

☆ Volkswagen keeping IPO option open for charging, energy business - division chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Jan Schwartz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HAMBURG, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) energy and charging division is keeping all options open for the long-term structure of the business, including a possible listing, the division's chief Elke Temme said in an interview with Reuters. "It won't take five more years," Temme predicted, adding that Volkswagen's electric vehicles on the MEB platform were equipped for the feature. "Cars will become part of the energy system," Temme said on Monday. "The energy industry and the car market are becoming more woven together." Reporting by Jan Schwartz, Writing by Victoria Waldersee, Editing by Rachel More, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

BERLIN, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) wants to expand both its higher-end and lower-end offering in the Chinese market, China chief Ralf Brandstaetter said on Monday, calling the country's high-paced, competitive market a "giant fitness centre for the industry". Volkswagen has long dominated the combustion engine car market in China, but lags domestic competitors on electric vehicles (EVs) - most notably BYD, which sold 40,046 EVs between Jan. 1-8 compared to Volkswagen passenger brand's 1,962, according to Chinese brokerage CMBI. The carmaker aims to speed up its time to market for new models from four years closer to the 2.5-year average for its Chinese counterparts, in part by localising research and development for Chinese models even further. Volkswagen must act "from a position of strength" within China, Brandstaetter said, referring to the ongoing debate in Germany over how to diversify its economic relationships to rely less on China. It means continuing to use the market opportunities in China and ramping up America," he said.

☆ Google, Porsche in talks over Google Apps access
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The deal, which is only being considered for the Porsche brand and not the Volkswagen Group more widely, would enable Porsche customers access to Google applications like Google Maps and Google Assistant without needing to connect the car to an Android phone. Spokespeople for Porsche and Google were not immediately available for comment. A spokesperson for Volkswagen software unit Cariad declined to comment. Porsche had previously been reluctant to use Google software because Google asked for too much data to be shared, according to Manager Magazin, which first reported the talks. Carmakers including General Motors, Renault, Nissan and Ford use embedded Google technology in their vehicles via a Google Automotive Services (GAS) package, offering features like Google Maps, Google Assistant and other applications.

☆ VW's CARIAD software chief promises progress one jump at a time
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Joseph White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A technician works on the final inspection of an electric Volkswagen ID. REUTERS/Matthias Rietschel/DETROIT, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Volkswagen’s software division, CARIAD, has emerged from a review ordered by VW's new chief executive with a plan to work toward a unified software architecture for future vehicles one jump at a time, according to CARIAD chief Dirk Hilgenberg. “I call our program 'triple jump',” Hilgenberg told Reuters at the CES technology trade show in Las Vegas. “You do one jump after another.”The next key step will be the launch of the Porsche Macan SUV in 2024, which will have VW’s new premium software architecture. Volkswagen's current status is in-between: Software now deployed allows its "ID" electric vehicles to be updated remotely, with a fix for what Hilgenberg called “teething problems”.

☆ Volkswagen: decision on location of battery plant in eastern Europe coming soon
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Volkswagen will soon make a decision on the location of its planned battery plant in Eastern Europe and begin searching for a location in Canada, Chief Executive Oliver Blume said on Friday. "The decision on the location [of a battery plant] in eastern Europe will come shortly and in Canada we will begin looking for a location soon," Blume said, speaking at an extraordinary shareholder general meeting in Berlin. Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Jan Schwartz Editing by Paul CarrelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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