Here are some of the trending news topics in the automotive and mobility markets from around the world. We will be curating three interesting pieces of news from the automotive industry and providing insightful summaries to give our readers a better understanding of the latest developments in this field.

By presenting the most significant information in a concise and accessible format, we aim to provide an engaging and informative reading experience.

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy learning about the exciting happenings in the world of automotive technology!

1. GM cutting hundreds of white collar jobs

General Motors (GM) has announced that it will cut an unspecified number of white-collar jobs worldwide as part of its cost-cutting efforts to shift to electric vehicles (EVs).

GM just reported record annual profits for 2022. At that time, the company announced plans to cut $2 billion in costs over the next two years, including across-the-board reductions in corporate overhead.

GM is investing a significant amount of money to shift production from traditional gasoline vehicles to a pure electric vehicle lineup, which will ultimately reduce labor costs since EVs do not require as many labor hours to produce. to shift to EVs between now and 2025, with the goal of converting its entire passenger car lineup to EVs by 2035.

Elsewhere, Stellantis, which makes Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram vehicles, indefinitely suspended its Belvidere assembly plant, which manufactured the Jeep Cherokee compact SUV and had 1,200 workers on a single shift at its most recent location. Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, said the plant closure was due to the need to cut costs in anticipation of a significant increase in EV production costs in the near future.

Ford has also cut more jobs in recent months, including 3,000 layoffs announced in August and 3,800 across Europe earlier this year.

2. Volocopter sees path open to Japan VoloCity certification

Volocopter, a German aviation startup developing an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL aircraft), announced that the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) has accepted its application for simultaneous type certification with EASA, paving the way for the two-seat VoloCity to operate at the Kansai site of the Osaka Expo in 2025. In addition to Japan, VoloCopter is in the process of obtaining simultaneous certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.

VoloCopter has also secured Sumitomo Corporation of Japan as an investor, with the Japanese conglomerate investing in Volocopter’s E financing round. Sumitomo Corporation will also be VoloCity’s partner in VoloCopter’s entry into the Japanese service market.

Volocopter is producing three two-seat VoloCity platforms, which will be ready in the coming months and will enter the certification campaign in July. Initially, the aircraft will be flown by the pilot alone, but passengers will be added by the end of 2023.

3.Volkswagen invests in batteries, raw materials in race for affordable EV

On April 14, Germany’s Volkswagen (VW), Europe’s largest passenger car manufacturer, announced plans to invest 180 billion euros (about 26 trillion yen) over five years as part of measures to strengthen its EV business. More than two-thirds of the investment budget is allocated to electrification and digitalization, including up to 15 billion euros for batteries and raw materials.

Volkswagen, Europe’s top automaker, will challenge the gap with U.S. Tesla, the EV pioneer, by increasing its share of the growing market for battery-powered vehicles.

The automaker said it aims to bring an affordable EV to market by 2025 for about 25,000 euros (about 3.6 million yen) and hopes to have enough raw material sourcing deals and expanded battery production by then to lower the cost of batteries, which account for 40 percent of EVs’ costs.