The European region has now entered its traditional summer holiday down period. Despite this, activity is high.

The UK market will see a significant environmentally-led change in the outer London area this month. From August 29, the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) expands to the outer edges of the capital, with a daily charge of GBP 12.50 levied for non-compliant vehicles. While the city’s mayor introduced a scrappage scheme designed to alleviate the costs of purchasing Euro 6 diesels and Euro 4 gasoline-engine cars and LCVs, there has been opposition to the changes.

German national brand BMW has now ceased production of physical price lists for customers in its home market, offering only digitised brochures. They are very similar to a printed price list but without pricing.

Audi has taken steps to reduce costs and carbon footprint by ceasing company car offerings for sales and distribution staff, with key account handling now only on a ‘digital’ basis.

Sales across Switzerland for July dropped significantly on June numbers, although they are still up on 2022 figures for the same period, with a near-19% increase. Plug-in sales reached 30% of the market share, up marginally on the 29% figure for the previous month, as the move away from pure combustion continues.

Volkswagen has invested nearly 5% into Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng at a cost of USD 700 million. It also agreed as part of a strategic partnership to develop two new models as it attempts to reverse a decline in sales in the world’s biggest car market. Both brands will initially co-develop two B-segment BEVs sold under the Volkswagen brand in the Chinese market using Xpeng's G9 platform, with an expected launch in 2026.

In July, Renault Group and Geely announced that they have teamed up for a new powertrain technology venture, with the agreement stating that a new company will be formed. Both have said they’re committed to developing, manufacturing and supplying powertrains for next-generation hybrids and ‘efficient’ internal combustion engines, which can also work with synthetic fuels.

Chinese firm DJI Automotive has launched a new intelligent driving solution called Chengxing. The first mass-produced vehicle equipped with Chengxing will be launched in the coming weeks and is said to be capable of achieving L2+ intelligent driving functions. These include City Memory Driving and Urban Navigation Driving using “strong real-time visual perception, independent of high-precision maps, and independent of LiDAR sensor” according to reports.

Mitsubishi Motors of Thailand will begin producing hybrid vehicles in the local market from early next year. This will be the first time the Japanese company has produced hybrids overseas. The firm believes emerging economies will need more time before large numbers of consumers buy electric vehicles, due to high sticker prices and recharging infrastructure development. In the meantime, hybrids will allow Mitsubishi Motors to compete with Chinese companies.

Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) has formally received investment plans from Changan Automobile. The plan is to invest approximately USD 250 million in RHD BEV, PHEV and EREV vehicle production, with the initial capacity of 100,000 units per year for domestic and internal RHD markets.