Money Buzz! Europa

Tag: car manufacturer

  • German car market fell in 2020 to its lowest level since reunification

    German car market fell in 2020 to its lowest level since reunification

    The German car market fell in 2020 to its lowest level since reunification, as both car production and sales fell dramatically due to the pandemic, AFP reports.

    2.92 million new cars were registered last year in the largest European economy, down 19% compared to 2019, and car production fell to 3.5 million units, the lowest level in 45 years.

    The last time when less than three million cars were registered in Germany was in 1989.

    Even more, German car exports fell by 24% to 2.6 million vehicles last year.

    But there are some good signs ahead after new car registrations increased by 10% in December 2020.

  • Chervon Auto to invest 48 million euros in a factory in Hungary

    Chervon Auto to invest 48 million euros in a factory in Hungary

    Chinese company Chervon Auto will make a major investment in Hungary, of 17.5 billion forints (48 million euros), Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced on Monday, as APA and MTI report.

    The plant in Miskolc, in northeastern Hungary, will initially employ 138 people and deliver two million automotive components annually, for combustion engines and electric vehicles.

    The Hungarian government will support the investment with a subsidy of 5.3 billion forints, Szijjarto said. He added that Chinese investment indicates that Hungary continues to be an attractive investment destination.

    Last year, Hungary produced 550.000 cars and over two million engines, 90% of which were made for export.

  • EU passenger car market registered the first increase of the year in September

    EU passenger car market registered the first increase of the year in September

    In September 2020, the EU passenger car market registered the first increase of the year. Registrations grew by 3.1% last month to reach 933,987 new cars sold across the European Union.

    The four largest markets, however, posted mixed results. Losses were seen in Spain (-13.5%) and France (-3.0%), while Italy (+9.5%) and Germany (+8.4%) showed solid gains.

    Over the first nine months of 2020, demand for cars contracted by 28.8% in the EU. Seven million units were registered from January to September, almost 2.9 million less than during the same period last year.

    Despite last month’s positive results, the impact of COVID-19 still weighs heavily on the cumulative performance of the EU car market.

    Among the major markets, Spain saw the steepest drop (-38.3%) so far this year, followed by Italy (-34.2%), France (-28.9%) and Germany (-25.5%).

  • LG Chem is expanding in Europe and wants new joint ventures with car manufacturers

    LG Chem is expanding in Europe and wants new joint ventures with car manufacturers

    South Korean group LG Chem, the world’s largest maker of electric car batteries, is in talks with ”several” carmakers to set up joint ventures to make batteries, CEO Hak Cheol Shin told Reuters on Friday.

    LG Chem is making progress with joint ventures with US automaker General Motors (GM) and Chinese group Geely and hopes to expand its collaboration with other automakers, Shin said, without giving further details.

    The South Korean group is currently supplying batteries from its factory in Nanjing, China, for Model 3 vehicles produced at the Tesla plant in Shanghai.

    Shin added that Testa is not one of the companies with which LG Chem discusses joint ventures.

    LG Chem, which has a factory in Poland, is also looking for a location for a new battery factory in Europe, the head of the South Korean group announced.

    In 2017, LG Chem announced that it will invest over one billion euros to increase the production capacity of its unit in Poland.