BMW will recall 232,098 vehicles in China for a defective bolt design that may damage the engine or cause it to fail to start.
Monthly Archives: April 2014
VW seeks to open car plant in Thailand
Volkswagen Group has applied to set up its first car plant in Thailand to help narrow the gap with Toyota in Southeast Asia, people familiar with the matter said.
European car sales recovery gains pace as German deliveries rise 5%
Germany joined France, Italy and Spain in posting higher new-car sales in March, adding to signs that a recovery in the European market is gaining strength.
German new-car registrations rose 5 percent to 296,408 last month, driven by gains from the major German brands except for Porsche and Smart, the Federal Motor Transport Authority KBA said today. Sales to private customers rose 3 percent.
400,000 plus plug-in cars on road worldwide at beginning of 2014; 2x 2013
At the beginning of 2014, there were more than 400,000 electric cars—battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and range-extended electric vehicles—on the road worldwide, according to an analysis by Zentrums für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) in Germany. This represents a doubling from 2013, according to ZSW.
UK engineering firm GKN buys Williams F1 team’s hybrid unit
A division of UK engineering group GKN Plc has purchased Williams Grand Prix Engineering’s hybrid unit for 8 million pounds (9.7 million euros). Williams will receive a 3.5 percent share in the company’s sales for the next five years, and 1.5 percent for the following five years, GKN said in a statement.
The unit, Williams Hybrid Power, has helped developed flywheel technology for Audi’s and Porsche’s endurance racecars. Porsche also has shown concept production cars with the technology, a Williams spokesman told Automotive News Europe.
