Author: Automotive News n Feed

German automotive interiors maker Grammer rebuffed efforts by Bosnia’s Hastor family, a minority shareholder, to replace nearly half of its board. The Hastor family controls automotive supplier Prevent which was in dispute with VW last year.

Daimler will build its new electric vehicles in existing Mercedes plants by integrating them with serial production of cars with combustion engines. The company has said its Mercedes and Smart brands will launch more than 10 electric cars by 2025.

Nissan Motor Co. reported a 6.2 percent rise in U.S. car and truck sales in January while volume fell at the Detroit 3 amid forecasts for a sluggish start to the new year across the industry.

U.S. light-vehicle sales dipped 1.9 percent in January with consumers and automakers taking a break after a robust December fueled by heavy promotions and more generous deals. The SAAR remained strong — slipping slightly to 17.57 million from 17.

VW, Bosch agree to settle claims for $1.6 billion; Tesla Model S, BMW i3 fall short in crash tests; Prius Prime, Volt win top honors; Chao confirmed; Electrifying changes in design.

Spanish new-car sales rose 11 percent in January, with Seat, Dacia and Fiat brands leading gains among volume makers, while registrations were flat at Volkswagen brand.

Seat says it could launch a compact-sized EV in 2019, backtracking on the Volkswagen unit’s previous strategy to shun electric cars because they would cost too much for its mainly young customer base.

Forget all the hoopla this week about Volkswagen ousting Toyota as the world’s biggest automaker. Rest assured, Toyota is still No. 1 in sales and VW a far, far distant second.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s policy decisions are going in “a totally wrong direction,” German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries said in a newspaper interview on Wednesday, warning that protectionism would cost growth and jobs in both economies.

Audi is reviewing whether it needs to put aside more money to cover the costs of a settlement in the U.S. over parent Volkswagen Group’s diesel emissions scandal.