Volkswagen unions have been told next year will be “difficult” and the business is likely to slim down its workforce in Europe.
A slower than expected take up of electric vehicles, continuing high investment in new products and intense competition from European and Far Eastern car makers has been cited as the business faces a tough two years until its new ranges become established.
The University of Warwick has been awarded millions of pounds “to boost British production of crucial materials for electric car batteries”.
The GBP12m in funding was awarded by the Faraday Battery Challenge to the High Value Manufacturing Catapult at Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) and CPI at NETPark (North East Technology Park), in County Durham and the investment will be used to create the new Advanced Materials Battery Industrialisation Centre (AMBIC).
The Welsh Youth Parliament has called for public transport to be free for all under-25s.
Backing the move, Welsh Conservative Shadow Transport Minister, Natasha Asghar MS said, “A similar policy has been rolled out in Scotland and almost 45 million free bus journeys have been made since the Scottish Government introduced free bus travel for under 22s a year ago. Scotland benefits from the most comprehensive concessionary travel schemes in the UK. More than a third of the population, over 2.3 million people – everyone under 22, everyone over 60, and disabled people and carers are eligible and this move has helped their bus industry significantly.
Free visitor registration is now open for the Sustainable Road Transport Show – the UK’s dedicated exhibition and conference for solving commercial and passenger fleet decarbonisation.
Taking place between 15-16 May 2024 at Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre, the event, formerly ITT Hub, will showcase the latest decarbonisation technology, solutions, services and strategies.
