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Coronavirus prompts VW to stop production throughout Europe

FRANKFURT — Volkswagen Group, the world's biggest carmaker, is suspending production at factories across Europe as the coronavirus pandemic hits sales and disrupts supply chains, the company said on Tuesday. The German carmaker, which owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat and Skoda brands, also said that uncertainty about the fallout from coronavirus meant it was impossible to give forecasts for its performance this year. "Given the present significant deterioration in the sales situation and the heightened uncertainty regarding parts supplies to our plants, production is to be suspended in the near future at factories operated by group brands," Chief Executive Herbert Diess said on Tuesday. Volkswagen's powerful works council concluded it was not possible for workers to maintain a safe distance from each other to prevent contagion and recommended a suspension of production at its factories from Friday. Production will be halted at VW's Spanish plants, in Setubal in Portugal, Bratislava in Slovakia and at the Lamborghini and Ducati plants in Italy before the end of this week, Diess said. Most of its other German and European factories will prepare to suspend production, probably for two to three weeks, while Audi said separately it would halt output at its plants in Belgium, Germany, Hungary and Mexico. Volkswagen's vast factories in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in Puebla, Mexico, and plants in Brazil were not affected, but that would depend on how the coronavirus spreads, VW said. Volkswagen has 124 production sites worldwide of which 72 are in Europe, with 28 in Germany alone. "2020 will be a very difficult year. The coronavirus pandemic presents us with unknown operational and financial challenges. At the same time, there are concerns about sustained economic impacts," Diess said.   Production in China resumes Volkswagen Group sold 10.96 million vehicles last year, putting it ahead of Toyota based on the latest figures from the Japanese carmaker. Globally, VW employs 671,000 people and it delivered 4.86 million vehicles to European customers in 2019. Only last month the car and truck maker based in Wolfsburg, Germany, predicted that vehicle deliveries this year would match 2019 sales and forecast an operating return on sales in the range of 6.5% to 7.5%. "The spread of coronavirus is currently impacting the global economy. It is uncertain how severely or for how long this will also affect the Volkswagen Group.

Trump calls Germans 'very bad,' vows to stop their car sales in US

TAORMINA, Italy -Talks between President Trump and other leaders of the world's rich nations at the G7 summit on Friday were expected to be "robust" and "challenging" after he had lambasted NATO allies and condemned Germans as "very bad" for their trade policies. Trump's confrontational remarks in Brussels, on the eve of the two-day summit in the Mediterranean resort town of Taormina, cast a pall over a meeting at which America's partners had hoped to coax him into softening his stances on trade and climate change. According to German media reports, Trump condemned Germany as "very bad" for its trade policies in a meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, signaling he might take steps to limit sales of German cars in the United States. "The Germans are bad, very bad," he reportedly told Juncker. "Look at the millions of cars that they're selling in the USA. Horrible. We're gonna stop that." White House economic adviser Gary Cohn on Friday confirmed the reports. "He said they're very bad on trade, but he doesn't have a problem with Germany." Cohn said Trump had pointed out during the meeting that his father had German roots in order to underscore the message that he had nothing against the German people. Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump had "tremendous respect" for Germany and had only complained about unfair trade practices in the meeting. Juncker called the reports in Spiegel Online and Sueddeutsche Zeitung exaggerated. The reports translated "bad" with the German word "boese," which can also mean "evil," leading to confusion when English-language media translated the German reports back into English. "The record has to be set straight," Juncker said, noting that the translation issue had exaggerated the seriousness of what Trump had said. "It's not true that the president took an aggressive approach when it came to the German trade surplus." "He said, like others have, that (the United States) has a problem with the German surplus. So he was not aggressive at all," Juncker added. In January, Trump threatened to slap a 35 percent tax on German auto imports. "If you want to build cars in the world, then I wish you all the best. You can build cars for the United States, but for every car that comes to the USA, you will pay 35 percent tax," he said. "I would tell BMW that if you are building a factory in Mexico and plan to sell cars to the USA, without a 35 percent tax, then you can forget that." Last year, the U.S.

Audi says gas-electric Q7 E-Tron PHEV coming to US, China

That 166 MPGe diesel-electric Audi Q7 E-Tron Quattro we wrote about last week from the Geneva Motor Show? The US might eventually get those, too. With one important change. Audi disclosed details about the upcoming Q7 E-Tron Quattro SUV plug-in hybrid at the Geneva show that were truly impressive. The model will be able to go as far as 35 miles on electric power alone and will have a fuel-efficiency rating of 166 miles per gallon equivalent. The 373-horsepower beast will also be able to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in about six seconds. Like we said, impressive. Now, we're finding out from Automotive News Europe that not only will the model debut in Germany next year, but the US and China will get versions as well. The difference? Whereas the standard European version pairs a 3.0-liter six-cylinder diesel engine with an electric motor, our version will use a 2.0-liter turbocharged gas engine as its non-electric mill, said Automotive New Europe, citing comments from Audi development chief Ulrich Hackenberg in Geneva. No word on when the US will start seeing its version of the Q7 E-Tron, so we'll just have to take a look at Audi's press release below from earlier this month for full details on the diesel Q7 E-Tron. Related Videos: Great class, minimal emissions – the new Audi Q7 e-tron 3.0 TDI quattro First diesel plug-in hybrid with quattro drive in its segment Best value in the segment: up to 56 kilometers (34.8 mi) electric range Maximum efficiency with hybrid management Audi Q7 e-tron 3.0 TDI quattro It accelerates from a standstill to 100 km/h (62.1 mph) in six seconds, and yet consumes not even two liters of diesel per 100 kilometers (117.6 US mpg). The Audi Q7 e-tron quattro is sporty, comfortable and at the same time highly efficient. The world's first TDI plug in hybrid with quattro drive, it is also the first plug-in hybrid with a diesel engine from Audi. The Q7 e-tron quattro is Audi's second model with a powerful plug-in hybrid drive system. The model combines the best of two worlds: Powered by the lithium-ion battery, the large SUV covers up to 56 kilometers (34.8 mi) on electric power alone – quietly, powerfully and with zero local emissions. Together with the diesel engine, the car can cover a total distance of 1,410 kilometers (876.1 mi). Sporty power and minimum consumption The Audi Q7 e-tron quattro is the world's first plug-in hybrid car with a six-cylinder diesel engine and permanent all-wheel drive.