Volkswagen Group could shift production out of Germany and eastern Europe if a shortage of natural gas persists, the latest sign that the energy crisis unleashed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens to shake up Europe’s industrial landscape.
As ordinary motorists filed past the broken-down exotic supercar – stopped on the road and not even moved off to the verge everything pointed to a major failure of the sort that has plagued owners of Italian cars for decades.
The Russian Kommersant newspaper, which first reported the plans, said the factory, which has a capacity of 100,000 units a year and produced the Camry and RAV4 models, would be preserved and might be sold in the future.
Volkswagen announced that it would close its Nizhny Novgorod factory in July, while Aston Martin, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Honda and Jaguar Land Rover have halted sales in the country.
Employees, who have been retained throughout the suspension, will be offered assistance for re-employment, retraining and wellbeing, Toyota has confirmed, adding that they will all be given redundancy payouts. It didn’t confirm how many people were affected.
Festooned with more BMW design cues than a knockoff track suit, the colorful BMW M Hybrid V8 is set to enter the inaugural IMSA GTP class at the 24 Hours of Daytona, where Acura has long reigned supreme.
Now featuring twin turbos, this 4.0-liter V-8 features a redline of 8200 rpm and delivers up to 640 horsepower. It’s mated to an IMSA-specified hybrid system, while a separator clutch between the two engines allows for electric-only driving at pit speeds.
Volkswagen Group could shift production out of Germany and eastern Europe if a shortage of natural gas persists, the latest sign that the energy crisis unleashed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens to shake up Europe’s industrial landscape.
As Germany speeds up investment in renewables, the energy consumption of its automakers reveals just how reliant the country’s most important industry is on fossil fuels, a Reuters analysis of environmental data shows.
The automaker has produced extra parts made at its foundries in Untertuerkheim, which go into gearboxes, axles and transmission components to build up stockpiles at plants in the U.S. and China.
