VWAGY News & Events

Lawmakers will take aim at vehicle-safety mandates in a coming Senate hearing, targeting a swath of auto-industry regulations once considered too sacrosanct to attack, The Wall Street Journal's Sharon Terlep reports. Senate Republicans in January plan to criticize requirements for safety technology, such as automatic emergency braking and alarms to remind drivers that a child is in the back seat, arguing they are ineffective and will unnecessarily drive up the cost of cars, according to people familiar with the situation. CEOs of Detroit's three automakers and a senior Tesla (TSLA) executive have been summoned to appear at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation - set for Jan. 14 - to explain why vehicles have become so expensive. General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) are weighing whether to send their CEOs to the hearing, spokespeople said; Stellantis (STLA) declined to comment, the author notes.

European carmakers and industrial companies are facing "devastating" chip shortages which may cause global production lines to halt despite China agreeing to lift export restrictions, Andry Bounds and Kana Inagaki of The Financial Times reports. Nexperia's Dutch arm has not been sending parts to its Chinese subsidiary to be assembled due to continued hostility between the two sides of the company, according to car industry officials. Nexperia makes basic low-margin chips used in systems in cars, with the key components made in the U.K. and Germany, they are sent to its Chinese arm to be assembled then re-exported. European carmakers include Mercedes-Benz (MBGYY), BMW (BMWYY), Volkswagen (VWAGY), Audi (AUDVF), and Renault (RNSDF).

Ecarx (EXC) announced an award from the Volkswagen Group (VWAGY) to provide advanced digital cockpit solutions for vehicles sold under the Volkswagen brand. Ecarx will supply a complete digital cockpit solution, including the integrated hardware and software of the ECARX Antora 1000 computing platform and ECARX Cloudpeak software architecture. This is the second agreement announced between Ecarx and the Volkswagen Group in 2025, following an initial award in March 2025 to deliver industry-leading digital cockpit systems to Volkswagen and koda vehicles. This additional award represents a platform extension of the Global Entry Infotainment system sourced from ECARX in the initial award. A significant proportion of the vehicles produced under this award will also feature Google Automotive Services, integrated by Ecarx.