Volkswagen Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Chennai: India’s free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union, announced on Tuesday, will allow European carmakers such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz India and Volkswagen Group to use imports more strategically to introduce newer models and test demand in India, without committing to local manufacturing. The deal, however, is unlikely to trigger immediate price cuts for most vehicles already sold in the country.

Mint, Audi India's top executives said that the company has exhausted its current resource allocation for the EV business and is in discussions with its headquarters for the next phase, echoing earlier comments from Skoda and Volkswagen India leadership, and leaving the Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen Group among the few major foreign carmakers without a clear EV roadmap for the country.This is in contrast with other foreign luxury car makers like Mercedes and BMW and mass-market players like Renault, Honda, Hyundai, VinFast and Suzuki that have announced their EV plans for India and committed to scale their sales over the next few years.“We are not selling an electric car because we have been selling it for the last 3-4 years. The quota that was allocated to us, the cars that we were selling got over,” Balbir Singh Dhillon, brand director at Audi India, told Mint ahead of its latest car launch in the national capital.“We are in the process of defining what next model that we bring in, at what point in time, at what price point,” Dhillon said, adding that the company would publicly announce its plans soon and remains optimistic about the opportunity in the country's EV market.Dhillon's comments echo statements from the brand head of Skoda as well as the Volkswagen Group head in India over the past two months.

New Delhi: India’s top carmakers are seeking alternative sources for lithium-ion cells that go into electric vehicle batteries as they seek to secure supply to counter China’s unpredictable curbs.Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, the country’s second-largest carmaker, has begun talks with Germany’s Volkswagen Group, which has a lithium-ion cell subsidiary PowerCo, for future supply, the company said at Kotak Institutional Equities’ Annual Investor Conference last week.While Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd will depend on its group firm Agratas, Hyundai Motor India Ltd has inked a partnership with Exide Industries Ltd to procure locally made cells from the gigafactory under construction in Bengaluru.Lithium-ion batteries account for more than a third of an EV’s cost. Diversifying cell supply is important after China imposed restrictions on the export of rare-earth magnets, another critical component used in building motors.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI: Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani have hired prominent attorneys in the US—including one of Donald Trump’s lawyers and a former Mafia prosecutor—to represent them in their defence against allegations of securities fraud levelled by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The senior Adani has appointed law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP with Robert Giuffra leading the team representing him, as per a court filing dated 30 January.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Under the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA), India plans to sharply cut import duties on cars made in the European Union (EU), from the current 110% to 10%, within an annual quota of 250,000 vehicles. For EU-built cars priced above €15,000 ( ₹16.40 lakh), tariffs are expected to ease in stages, starting at around 30-35% when the pact takes effect, likely by the end of 2026.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The India-EU trade deal has failed to excite the Street, despite its brilliant optics as the “mother of all deals". Since the trade agreement was officially locked in on 27 January, the Nifty 50 has remained largely flat.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. European carmakers in India have stayed a step ahead of the landmark India-EU free trade treaty, which is expected to slash tariffs on imported fully-made cars.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Julian Scot-Smith was window shopping at a Porsche dealership with his wife in London’s fancy Mayfair district before Christmas, sizing up the SUVs. Then the couple peeked into another dealership around the corner.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. KOCHI : Czechia-based Škoda Auto a.s. is working on multiple powertrain technologies, including electric, hybrid, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), and flex-fuel options, as it prepares to meet regulatory requirements ahead of the proposed introduction of new emission norms in India in 2027.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI : Electric vehicle investment write-offs by global auto giants, and a general automotive slowdown in demand, are sending some European auto component suppliers into bankruptcy, creating a potential business opportunity for Indian parts manufacturers as customers shift orders away from the distressed vendors.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI : India’s leading auto component manufacturers will look to hitch a ride with Chinese carmakers amid Western auto giants’ faltering electric-vehicle (EV) bets. The Ford Motor Co.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India’s tax authorities have blamed Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd for the delay in its provisional assessment of $1.4 billion (about ₹11,526 crore) tax demand, saying the Indian unit of the German automaker did not provide the information needed promptly.

Volkswagen, the German automaker, has told its car dealers that it plans to add an import fee later this month to the price of imported cars sold in the United States. The company's move is one of the first and clearest examples of automakers using price increases to deal with the 25% tariffs President Donald Trump imposed on car and auto parts imports. The tariffs on vehicles went into effect Thursday, and the levies on parts will become effective May 3. In a Tuesday memo to dealers, Volkswagen said that the exact fees would be determined by the middle of April. The New York Times reviewed a copy of the memo. The automaker also told dealers it planned to cut back on sales incentives and had halted rail shipments of cars to the United States from its plants in Mexico, although shipments by sea continue. Volkswagen plans to hold cars that are subject to the tariffs in port for «the near term.» It also told dealers that the price of the Volkswagen Atlas sport utility vehicle, which is made in Chattanooga, Tennessee, could be affected by the tariffs because it includes important imported components. The extent of the impact most likely will not be known until May, the memo said. The automaker, including its Audi and Porsche brands, imports almost all the cars it sells in the United States. Besides the Atlas, Volkswagen also assembles the ID.4 electric sport-utility vehicle in Tennessee.

Upcoming cars in India)This April 14, Volkswagen is launching the Tiguan R-Line, while the MG Cyberster electric sports car is also set for release. Additionally, Citroen is expected to unveil dark edition versions of models like Basalt, C3 and C3 Aircross this month.

BYD has led a brutal price war that has pushed it to become the largest seller in the world's biggest car market. This Monday, it reported $107 bn in revenue for 2024, crossing the $100 bn barrier for the first time. Displacing Volkswagen as China's top carmaker by sales, the company is aggressively expanding into overseas markets.

Audi said Monday it will cut 7,500 jobs by 2029 in Germany, citing «immense challenges» as the country's auto industry battles slowing electric vehicle demand and rising Chinese competition. The cuts — amounting to about eight percent of Audi's global workforce — were aimed at boosting «productivity, speed and flexibility» at its factories in its home market, the manufacturer said. «The economic conditions are becoming increasingly tougher, competitive pressure and political uncertainties are presenting the company with immense challenges,» Audi, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, said in a statement. It is the latest bad news from the ailing auto sector in Europe's biggest economy, which has been hit hard by a stuttering shift to electric cars, fierce competition in key market China from local rivals and weak demand. Audi, headquartered in the Bavarian city of Ingolstadt, said the cuts would be in areas like administration and development and be carried out in a «socially responsible» manner, meaning there would be no compulsory redundancies.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. URUMQI, China—About a decade ago, some Western companies answered Beijing’s calls to invest in Xinjiang, an underdeveloped region in the country’s remote west. Some were drawn by the natural resources there.

Skoda Auto's India unit is targeting 2026 sales of more than 100,000 vehicles, which will be more than twice its annual sales in recent years. That number may still seem small when compared with the sales volume of Maruti Suzuki, the local market leader that sells one and a half times as many cars and SUVs each month in India. But in a market where European automakers have long been pushed to the sidelines by their Japanese, Korean and local rivals, the Skoda target is a formidable one. Skoda and other European mass-market brands like Volkswagen, Renault and Citroen are trying to carve out a space for themselves in the crowded but fast-growing Indian market through strategic positioning and niche offerings with premium features, latest technology and competitive pricing. «The Indian automotive landscape is experiencing nuanced shifts, even with Japanese brands holding a strong lead. These shifts signal growing opportunities for global players to respond to evolving consumer preferences,» said Ravi Bhatia, president at Jato Dynamics.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Europe’s industrial production recovered at the start of a year that could see the beginnings of new investment and a new dawn for the beleaguered manufacturing sector. In the 20-member eurozone, industrial output was 0.8% higher in January than a month earlier.

shares fell sharply on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for a 25% tariff on cars and other goods from the European Union and the region's vow to counter «firmly and immediately» fanned fears of an escalating trade war. The pan-European STOXX 600 index has retreated 0.7% as of 0813 GMT, after closing at a record high in the previous session.

Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Customs department to explain through an affidavit how its September 2024 show-cause notice raising a tax demand of $1.4 billion from Skoda Auto Volkswagen India was not barred by limitation. A division bench of Justices B P Colabawalla and Firdosh Pooniwalla has been extensively hearing the plea filed by the automobile company challenging the notice on the grounds that it was arbitrary and illegal.