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Aston Martin to reduce workforce by 20 percent

British luxury carmaker Aston Martin will cut its workforce by up to 20 percent, as it strives to recover from the effects of US import tariffs and weak demand in China. Aston Martin said last week that the job cuts from a total workforce of around 3,000 should deliver annualized savings of around 40 million pounds ($54 million). It did not specify when the job cuts would be implemented, but said most of the savings would be this year. The cuts include a 5 percent reduction announced in 2025. The carmaker said US tariffs had been "extremely disruptive" and demand had also been "extremely subdued" in China.

Major investment planned by Hyundai

Hyundai Motor Group plans to reveal a multibillion-dollar investment in South Korea's west coast, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday. A second source said the investment involves robotics, an AI data center and hydrogen infrastructure. A Hyundai spokesperson declined to comment. In November, Hyundai Motor Group said it will invest a total of 125.2 trillion won ($80 billion) in South Korea from 2026 to 2030, after Seoul finalized a trade deal reducing US tariffs on South Korean autos to 15 percent from 25 percent. At the time, its Executive Chair Euisun Chung pledged to pursue a "hydrogen, AI city" in the renewable-energy-rich coastal region.

Talks hope to replace European tariffs on MINI

BMW and the European Commission are in talks about a minimum pricing model that could replace European Union tariffs on the German carmaker's Chinese-made MINI electric vehicles, Germany's Handelsblatt business daily reported. This follows an agreement struck between Brussels and Volkswagen earlier in February, under which the group's SEAT and Cupra secured a tariff exemption for its all-electric Tavascan SUV coupe following months of discussions. The EC declined to comment on any ongoing talks. BMW is separately challenging the EU tariffs in a legal case with other carmakers. The EU imposed tariffs on China-made EVs at the end of October 2024 after an anti-subsidy investigation. The rate for BMW, which manufactures the electric MINI Cooper and Aceman in China, is 20.7 percent.

Money pours in during Wayve funding round

British autonomous driving startup Wayve has raised $1.2 billion in a Series D investment round, bringing its post-money valuation to $8.6 billion. The funding accelerates the company's shift from AI research leadership to scaled commercial deployment of its end-to-end AI platform. The round was led by Eclipse, Balderton and SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Microsoft, Nvidia and Uber participated in the round, reflecting support for Wayve's embodied AI as a foundational software layer for deploying autonomy at a global scale. Leading global automotive manufacturers Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Stellantis have also invested, in support of advancing Wayve's unified AI platform spanning L2+ "hands off" through L3/L4 "eyes off" driving across vehicles, brands and markets.

Shares in Toyota worth $19 billion to be sold

Toyota is planning to unwind about $19 billion of strategic shareholdings held by banks and other financial institutions, in a major boost to Japan's corporate reform efforts, Reuters reported. The value of the sale may be higher, depending on the willingness of shareholders to sell. Toyota is aiming for the sale to happen as early as this year, though the timing and scale could change, it said. The plan would mark an acceleration of Toyota's push to unwind cross shareholdings. That process, kick-started in 2024, was in response to government reforms aimed at getting large Japanese corporations to untangle their complex web of holdings to boost investor returns and encourage fair competition.

Motoring - Agencies