Daimler has appointed Katrin Adt to lead the Smart brand into its electric future as she will succeed Annette Winkler this September. Like Winkler, Adt is a Daimler veteran and has held leading positions since 1999. Her challenge will be to reverse the trend of falling sales during the time of transition.
Weiterlesen
Annette Winkler will step down from her post as Smart CEO, handing over responsibility for Daimler’s small car business after eight years. A successor has not been appointed yet but Winkler will only leave on Sept, 30, leaving it to the next generation to complete the brand’s electrification.
Weiterlesen
Daimler is ready to party, or at least their youngster, and soon to be all-electric Smart label is. They created what they call their “smart mobile disco” aka a “workstation for DJs” in an attempt to link the brand to club culture.
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Due to high demand, the waiting period to get an electric-powered Smart gets longer and longer. According to Automobilwoche the time between order and delivery has reached a level of up to one year.
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“We will carefully monitor customer demand to have the right mix for each market, whether that be combustion engines or plug-in hybrids.”
Porsche CEO Oliver Blume expects fully electric vehicles sales to make up a double-digit percentage of sales by 2025. But he also says that the carmaker is currently solely focusing on the Mission E and will “have to see whether it’s sensible to expand the range further in the next decade.”
autonews.com
“I think for the moment we keep going and continuing because Smart has its Electric Drive slogan that is well recognized by our customers and we appreciate that. At the moment, there are no plans to switch branding.”
According to Smart CEO Annette Winkler, electric Smart will continue to offered under the current brand and will not be integrated into Daimler’s new EQ label.
motor1.com
“We see 2030 as an important year when we aim that every new car manufactured in India will be an electric vehicle.”
Indian Power Minister Piyush Goyal says that grid integration and electric mobility are on top of the priority list in the country. The goal is six to seven million electric and hybrid cars per year from 2020.
sify.com
Smart CEO Annette Winkler explains the brand’s strategy. She says that offering the city car with an electric motor gives (young) people a way to give back to their city by using carsharing and green mobility.
mercedes-benz.com
“Now at motor shows everyone’s got a concept car with a blue lead coming out of it or they’re announcing 100 electric vehicles will be coming in the next three years or something like that. So the world has changed.”
Nissan Europe Chairman Paul Willcox remembers all too well when the idea of electric cars was just smiled upon or when he was told the technology is “doomed to fail.”
autonews.com
“Personally I think it’s over.”
Nevada State Treasurer Dan Schwartz says Faraday Future’s billion dollar factory will not ever the light of day, as Chinese financier Jia Yueting is apparently “out of money.”
teslarati.com
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Smart CEO Annette Winkler is laying out the strategy for the electric Smart – finally – and hopes to increase sales beyond the USA. Especially California proves a great ground for Smart’s electric offering due to favourable policies.
automobilemag.com
“We need to make a choice – keep riding the wave or jump to something else. If you make a leap to something new, it’s a huge opportunity (…) I believe we in the auto industry can be the disruptors.”
Audi of America president Scott Keogh wants to go all in and push electrification, as he believes that “electrification of the industry to be inevitable.”
autonews.com
“We are not actively working on providing infrastructure [for the Bolt EV].”
Says CEO Mary Barra, even though the new electric car comes with the widely spread CCS charger. Time will tell if the move is wise or if GM will change its mind. After all, they want the Bolt to appeal to the masses.
greencarreports.com
Annette Winkler, head of Smart, on the discontinuation of the Smart Electric Drive. The next-gen of the small electric car will only arrive by the end of 2016. Until then, the few thousand Smart ED in stock will have to suffice.
autogazette.de (in German)
“The car industry pumps billions into electronic automobiles and the government just watches.”
Porsche CEO Matthias Müller blames the German government for the low number of electric vehicles on the Autobahn, calling for incentives and investments in charging infrastructure.
en.europeonline-magazine.eu, sueddeutsche.de (full interview in German)
“The indefinite extension of the fossil fuels era is the dumbest experiment in history.”
With the climate conference in Paris drawing near, Tesla CEO Elon Musk reissued his warning about global warming, expressing incomprehension of the ignorance of scientific facts.
autonews.com