FAW-Volkswagen will purchase new energy points from Tesla

　　Three people familiar with the matter disclosed that FAW-Volkswagen agreed to purchase new energy points from Tesla to help comply with China's environmental protection regulations. This is the first such deal between the two companies in China, highlighting the arduous task of Volkswagen in transforming into a leader in electric vehicles.

　　Honda will resume production at its North American plant on April 5th

　　On April 1, Honda said that it will resume normal production at its North American car, engine and transmission plants on April 5. Starting from March 22, all Honda auto plants in the United States, Mexico and Canada have been affected by production cuts.

　　Ford and Mahindra end cooperation on all projects in India

　　Ford Motor and Mahindra Group stated that as part of abandoning their Indian joint venture, the two companies will not cooperate on any agreed projects.

　　Stellaantis plans to triple electric car sales this year

　　Stellatis chairman John Elkann said that the company hopes that this year’s global electric vehicle sales will nearly triple, driven by 11 new models, from 139,000 in 2020 to 400,000.

　　Nissan plans to use cobalt-free electric vehicle batteries by 2025

　　Nissan plans to start using cobalt-free electric vehicle batteries in the mid-2020s. At present, the rare metal cobalt has fallen into a shortage of supply, and as the global demand for electric vehicles continues to expand, people's concerns about further price increases are also increasing.

　　Porsche or self-produced dedicated battery

　　Porsche R&D Director Michael Steiner said in an interview that Porsche may need to work with partners to produce high-voltage batteries for future models. According to German media reports, Porsche is cooperating with the start-up Custom Cells to produce special batteries.

　　Rimac opens an electric vehicle battery research and development center in the UK

　　Croatian super sports car manufacturer Rimac has opened a new research and development center in the UK, focusing on electric vehicle battery system engineering, and is expected to hire 30 employees. Rimac CEO Mate Rimac said in a statement: "British engineers are world-class in the fields of electrification and future mobility."

　　Ford CEO earned $11.8 million last year; executives were rewarded for responding to the epidemic

　　In 2020, Ford CEO Jim Farley's total compensation rose 41% to $11.8 million. Although Ford executives did not achieve revenue, cash flow or pre-tax profit targets, the company's compensation committee made a one-time revision to its bonus plan to reward Ford executives for their response to the epidemic.

　　The first quarter of U.S. car sales performed strongly

　　Despite the shortage of chips, US car sales in the first quarter continued to perform strongly. Analysts predict that the entire industry's sales in the first quarter will increase by about 8% to 9% year-on-year. Among them, Volkswagen's sales rose 21% year-on-year; Toyota Motor's sales rose 21.6%.

　　South Korea’s top five automakers’ sales increase by 12% in March

　　On April 1, industry data showed that Korean automakers’ sales in March increased by 12% year-on-year, driven by strong overseas demand for SUVs during the epidemic. Hyundai Motor, Kia, GM Korea, Renault Samsung and Ssangyong Motor sold a total of 672,643 vehicles, surpassing the 601,082 in the same period last year.

　　Tesla's Berlin Gigafactory was approved to expand by 80 hectares

　　Tesla has obtained a new pre-approval license for the Berlin Super Factory, which can expand the factory's area by 80 hectares for storage purposes. This marks the tenth time that Tesla has received pre-approval, and no company in the region has received so many pre-approvals for projects in the past.

　　French car sales rebounded 192% in March

　　In March of this year, French car registrations rose 192% year-on-year to 182,774 vehicles. Nearly all economy brands achieved triple-digit sales growth. Among them, the biggest winner is Suzuki, sales increased by 690%; Jeep increased by 673% year-on-year; Opel increased by 473% year-on-year; SEAT increased by 430% year-on-year.

　　Daimler appoints former BMW and Volkswagen CEOs as Chairman of the Supervisory Board

　　Former BMW and Volkswagen Group CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder was appointed Chairman of the Daimler Group Supervisory Board to replace Manfred Bischoff, who resigned after 14 years in office.

　　Peugeot, Citroen, Opel will launch hydrogen battery hybrid commercial vehicles

　　At the end of this year, Stellattis will launch a hydrogen-powered and electric hybrid medium-sized commercial van under the Peugeot, Citroen and Opel brands, with a cruising range of 400 kilometers (250 miles), and the hydrogen filling time is about 3 minutes.

　　BritishVolt, an electric vehicle battery company considering a backdoor listing

　　BritishVolt, the developer of the UK’s first large battery factory, is considering listing. The company’s founder and CEO Orral Nadjari said that a consultant has been appointed to consider various options, including listing in the United States through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), with a decision announced at the earliest or at the end of the quarter.

　　Kia EV6 received 21,000 orders in South Korea on the first day of launch

　　Kia announced that on the first day of the launch of the dedicated online website, more than 21,000 customers in Korea alone booked the upcoming EV6 model online, which is comparable to Hyundai’s booking of 23,760 Ioniq 5 vehicles. Kia EV6 was launched on March 30, 2021, and will be available in the second half of this year.

　　Volkswagen ID.4 sold 474 vehicles in the U.S. in two weeks

　　Volkswagen ID.4 was officially delivered in the United States in mid-March. In just two weeks, Volkswagen delivered 474 ID.4 electric vehicles to customers, which is a good start.

　　Apple will buy more than $50 million Megapack battery system from Tesla

　　Apple announced at a press conference that it is building a 240 MWh large-scale new energy storage project in Northern California. Among them, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors project documents show that Apple will use 85 Tesla Megapacks.