Automaker Volkswagen has suspended a top executive in response to widespread public criticism over experiments in which monkeys were exposed to diesel exhaust. The company said in a statement Tuesday that Thomas Steg, head of government relations and sustainability, was stepping away from his duties at his own request. The statement from the automaker said […]
How Realistic are Plans to Ban New Gas and Diesel Cars?
Ban the sale of gasoline and diesel cars by a deadline — 2040, 2030, even 2025. More and more governments are proposing just that. But how seriously can such deadlines be taken? The issue of how to phase out polluting traditional engines has been pushed to the forefront by scandals and crises. First Volkswagen’s admission […]
Daimler, Parts Firm Bosch Team Up to Make Driverless Cars
Automaker Daimler AG and industry supplier Bosch Group are teaming up to make driverless cars that they say could be on city streets at the start of the next decade. The companies would combine expertise in car making, sensors and software so that people in a specific part of town could order a shared car […]
Hypercars Mingle with Station Wagons at Geneva Auto Show
Europe’s automakers face huge questions: the impact of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, President Donald Trump’s proposed border tax on imports, the uncertain prospects for electric vehicles. Meanwhile, they have to keep selling cars in a ferociously competitive European market. That mix of anxiety about the future and the need to market hot […]
Scandal Can’t Keep Volkswagen from Strong Sales Increase
Booming business in China helped push Volkswagen to a 3.8 percent sales increase in 2016 — despite lawsuits and criminal investigations over its cars that cheated on emissions tests. Volkswagen sold 10.31 million cars across all of the company’s brands, which include Audi, Porsche and Skoda. Sales in China grew 12.2 percent for the full […]
Volkswagen Bets On New Technology To Bounce Back From Crisis
Volkswagen hopes to bounce back from its crisis with a shift in focus to more battery-powered cars, digital technologies such as autonomous vehicles, and an increase in sales of SUVs in the U.S. Herbert Diess, the head of the Volkswagen core brand, said Tuesday at a news conference that the goal of the Transform 2025 […]
No Diesels Need Apply: Electric Cars Rule at Paris Show
Carmakers are finding the Paris auto show , held in a city whose mayor wants to ban diesels to reduce pollution, as a fine place to show off new zero-emission electric vehicles. Most prominently, Volkswagen will unveil a new small electric car as part of its pivot from diesel to more electric models as it struggles to […]
Scandal-Hit Volkswagen Makes Profit Despite Scandal
German automaker Volkswagen saw its net profit fall 19 percent in the first three months of the year — but showed it can still make money even as it grapples with a costly scandal over cars rigged to cheat on diesel emissions tests. The company called it a “respectable” result considering the tough conditions and […]
VW Board Proposes Approval of Execs’ Work Despite Scandal
Volkswagen’s board of directors has recommended shareholders formally approve the work of the company’s top management team for last year despite the scandal over cars rigged to cheat on U.S. diesel emissions tests. The recommendation is part of the agenda for the company’s annual shareholder meeting on June 22. A vote to approve management’s work […]
Volkswagen CEO Apologized in Person to Obama Over Scandal
Volkswagen’s CEO says he apologized in person to U.S. President Barack Obama for the carmaker’s emissions scandal, in which it rigged its cars to cheat on diesel engine pollution tests. CEO Matthias Mueller said he held a “two minute” conversation with the president during his visit to Hannover, Germany, this week. “I took the opportunity […]