The state premier of Lower Saxony, home of Volkswagen, says he would not tolerate a large-scale reduction in staff at Germany’s largest carmaker. There is talk of axing 30,000 VW jobs nationwide, though messages have been mixed. Benjamin Wehrmann and Sören Amelang at Clean Energy Wire look at the latest news, then summarise the implications of the EV transition for the auto industry across Europe. Highlights include the observation that a Tesla … [Read more...]
Covid-19 and the EU car industry: any support should lock in EV targets
The coronavirus slump has come suddenly and hit hard. The deep thinking has already begun on the economics needed to turn around that slump without damaging our rising emissions ambitions. Julia Poliscanova at Transport & Environment looks at the car industry. Some have called for the new CO2 standards coming in 2020 to be postponed (though, notably, VW and BMW still support them). She explains that total car sales were already declining in … [Read more...]
German task force agreement on traffic emissions 1/3 off target
During what was billed as the decisive meeting, the German transport commission charged with proposing emissions cuts for the sector could only reach consensus on measures that will lower emissions by around two thirds of the necessary amount. Pro-climate activists, disappointed with the results, nevertheless welcomed the recommendation to look into the introduction of a CO2 price. Meanwhile emissions have actually increased. And VW, siding with … [Read more...]
VW joins Tesla and BMW – EV and energy company all-in-one pays for business and consumers
Last week’s announcement by VW that it is setting up a company called “Elli” (short for Electric Life) offering energy services shows VW’s vision of what lies ahead for the automotive industry. It brings them head to head with Tesla and BMW who are already playing a role outside the traditional bounds of the car business. They are the new breed, ready to profit from customers who want to go electric as long as it makes financial as well as … [Read more...]
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