auto industry – pressnews

[ad_1] The world's auto industry is accelerating in two directions at once. Unless those contradictions are resolved, carmakers risk running themselves off the road.In China and Europe, the transition to electric vehicles is gathering pace. Battery-powered autos made up nearly a quarter of sales in both markets in August, according to Morgan Stanley, with plug-in hybrids lifting the total share to 38% and 28%, respectively. Things look very different in the US and India, where penetration is struggling to break north of 10%, and in Japan, where it's on life support at 3%. Honda Motor Co. said last week it was dropping plans to build a sub-$30,000 EV with General Motors Co., while GM and Ford Motor Co. and have pushed back targets for boosting sales of battery vehicles. Even Elon Musk ha...

[ad_1] Big fleet sales to rental car giants could soak up EVs if mid-market buyers don’t come to the party. It wasn't that long ago that sales to rental fleets were seen as a sign of failure. With the dawn of the electric-vehicle age, that's changing. In the past, automakers typically took aging or unpopular models, stripped them of many creature comforts and sold them to the likes of Hertz and Avis at discounted prices. It was a way to keep production lines moving until a freshened version of the car got to market. Electric vehicles are hot sellers right now, so cutting big deals with Hertz and other fleet buyers isn't the desperate move that it once was, but it sure is an insurance policy. Both Tesla and General Motors...

Tag: auto industry

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