WASHINGTON: Four major automakers will not take a position on legal challenges to the Trump administration’s decision to dramatically weaken Obama-era fuel economy standards but want to weigh in on any court fix, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The Trump administration in March finalized rollback of US vehicle emissions standards to require 1.5 per cent annual increases in efficiency through 2026. That is far weaker than the 5 per cent annual increases in the discarded rules adopted under President Barack Obama.

Ford Motor Co, Volkswagen AG, Honda Motor Co and BMW AG struck a voluntary agreement with California in July 2019 on vehicle emissions rules.

On Monday, the four automakers plan to ask a US Appeals Court in Washington for permission to be heard in the court challenge “to ensure that any remedy imposed by this court is both appropriate and achievable,” according to a draft of the filing.

Last month, a group of 23 US states led by California, as well as the District of Columbia and some major cities, challenged the Trump vehicle rule.

Volkswagen said on Friday its “preference continues to be one set of national standards that’s achieved through an agreement between the federal government and California.”

Other major automakers like General Motors Co, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Toyota Motor Corp have sided with the Trump administration on the rollback.

Those companies also sided with the Trump administration in a separate lawsuit over whether the federal government can strip California of the right to set zero emission vehicle requirements.

California Air Resources Board chair Mary Nichols told Reuters on Wednesday the board hopes to finalise the voluntary agreements in the “next few weeks” as memorandums of understanding with the individual automakers.

MEXICO CITY: Volkswagen AG’s Mexican unit on Monday (Jun 22) said about 2 per cent of its workers tested for COVID-19 had contracted the disease at some point, underlining the challenge faced by automakers in reopening factories before the pandemic has peaked in Mexico.

Volkswagen last Tuesday began sending workers in reduced numbers back to its factory in the city of Puebla, where the German automaker and its luxury brand unit Audi have major plants.

Many other major carmakers, especially from the United States and Japan, had resumed operations in other parts of Mexico a couple of weeks earlier.

The state of Puebla, however, has been one of the parts of Mexico worst hit by the coronavirus and had delayed reopening factories.

Volkswagen, which has tested staff members extensively for COVID-19 infections and coronavirus antibodies, said those who tested positive had contracted coronavirus during the period after the plants had shut in late March and before resuming work.

About 45 per cent of the company’s 11,364 workers and collaborators had been tested and nearly 2 per cent had contracted the virus, the company said in a statement, equivalent to about 100 workers.

Mexico has become one of the world’s main coronavirus hotspots, with the Latin American nation on Monday reporting 4,577 new infections and 759 additional deaths.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been criticised for permitting factories to reopen too soon, with few signs that the number of deaths or infections was easing up.

Volkswagen added that the plant in “coming days will remain focused on training and preparation for the start of manufacturing.”

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FRANKFURT: Volkswagen wants to use an open-source approach to refine elements of a software-based car operating system being developed by the carmaker, Christian Senger, its board member responsible for digital services and software, said.

With the advent of autonomous driving, carmakers have been forced to link up radar, camera and ultrasonic sensors and connect them to braking and steering components, something which requires thousands of lines of software code.

“There is a race to create automotive operating systems. We are seeing that many non-automotive players are building up competence in this area,” Senger told Reuters.

By 2025, VW wants to increase its own share of software development on its cars to 60per cent, from 10per cent at present, and to design the electronics and vehicle architecture as well.

Volkswagen board member Thomas Ulbrich said in March that U.S. electric car manufacturer Tesla has a 10-year start on rivals when it comes to building electric cars and software.

“In future there will likely be fewer automotive operating systems than carmakers,” Senger explained.

Volkswagen will define the core operating system but may seek an open source approach to enhance elements of it.

“The operating system is not something that we will control on our own. We will define its core and then quickly include open-source components, to create standards. This will create opportunities for partnerships,” Senger said.

Adopting an open-source approach to development with external partners is a new approach, Senger said. “This is almost unimaginable for traditional carmakers. But this is the key breakthrough opportunity.”

In January, Volkswagen launched Car.Software, an independent unit responsible for developing lines of code, with around 3,000 digital experts and a budget of more than 7 billion euros (US$7.8 billion). By 2025 it wants to have more than 10,000 software experts.

Senger said it has received many inquires from other carmakers about whether they can participate in the project.

“We are in the process of looking at the opportunities,” Senger said, adding that Volkswagen wants to create a new system, rather than integrate legacy software from rivals.

“This will filter out many who are not willing to do this,” Senger said about potential partners.

FRANKFURT: Volkswagen will pay a 48per cent premium to buy out the minority shareholders of premium division Audi , Audi said on Tuesday.

Volkswagen, which already holds 99.64per cent of Audi, announced the squeeze-out plans in February.

“Volkswagen AG announced and specified that it has set the cash settlement to be paid to the minority shareholders in return for the transfer of their shares at 1,551.53 euros per AUDI AG share,” the carmaker said.

This compares with a share price of 1,050 euros apiece on Tuesday and amounts to a purchase price of 237 million euros (US$267 million) for the 152,749 outstanding Audi shares, according to Refinitiv data.

The transfer will be passed at Audi’s next annual general meeting, which the carmaker said is expected to take place in July or August.

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; editing by David Evans)

HAMBURG: Volkswagen expects a very bad second quarter, but also sees a positive adjusted operating profit before special items for 2020, Chief Financial Officer Frank Witter said in an internal newsletter.

The coronavirus pandemic had caused results to deteriorate in the second quarter, the multi-brand carmaking group said.

“Nonetheless there is hope for the second half of the year. The aim is at year end, to have a positive operating result before special items,” Witter told the newsletter.

A Volkswagen spokesman confirmed the remarks made by Witter, which were first reported in Wirtschaftswoche.

(Reporting by Jan Schwartz; Writing by Edward Taylor; Editing by Riham Alkousaa)