Two from The Telegraph. First up, Volvo, September 4, lifted in toto:
Volvo has ditched plans to sell only electric cars by 2030 amid waning demand for battery powered vehicles.
The Swedish carmaker blamed the move on changing market conditions, amid fears many of the public continue to prefer petrol and diesel models.
It comes as major carmakers grapple with slowing demand for electric vehicles because of a lack of affordable models and the slow rollout of charging points needed to support electric vehicles.
Jim Rowan, chief executive of Volvo, said: “We are resolute in our belief that our future is electric.
“However, it is clear that the transition to electrification will not be linear, and customers and markets are moving at different speeds of adoption.”
The company, which is majority-owned by China’s Geely Holding, is also bracing for the effects of European tariffs on electric cars made in China.
The decision to scale back its ambitions comes three years after Volvo announced plans to go fully electric by 2030.
Volvo is now aiming for between 90pc and 100pc of cars sold to be fully electric or plug-in hybrid models by the end of the decade.
The Chinese-owned automaker said that its new target would also allow for up to 10pc of its sales to include a limited number of so-called mild hybrid models if needed.
And also September 4:
Volkswagen has ‘one year’ to adapt as European sales collapse
Carmaker faces increased risk of factory closures amid shrinking demand in key markets
Volkswagen has as little as a year to adapt to plunging sales in Germany, its finance boss has said, as it considers closing a factory in its home market for the first time in 87 years.
Arno Antlitz, Volkswagen’s chief financial officer, told staff at the company’s Wolfsburg headquarters they had “a year, maybe two” to transform the business.
Daniela Cavallo, the chief of the company’s works council, which represents staff, said the closure threats amounted to a “declaration of bankruptcy”.
Volkswagen now expects to sell around 500,000 fewer cars in Europe per year, “the equivalent of around two [car] plants”, Mr Antlitz said, addressing a staff general meeting....
....MUCH MORE
If interested see, among many others, December 2023's "Western Legacy Automakers Probably Won't Be Long-Term Survivors":
Because their current business is being mandated and legislated out of existence the Western marques, barring some serious breakthroughs in small-scale hydrogen or methanol, will have to pivot to EV's.
And they won't be able to compete.
It almost appears that the gifting of the electric vehicle and solar industries to the Chinese was deliberate.....MUCH MORE
