Company, business and industry news (other)

(ots) At the end of 2024, the University of St.Gallen and auto-schweiz signed a funding agreement to finance a chair for Mobility Management. 

(dpa) Electric cars have an acceptance problem. According to a new survey, this could be because the majority of the driving population has not yet been behind the wheel of an electric vehicle.

(dpa-AFX) The passenger car registrations in the European Union slightly increased last year. 

(dpa) The electric aircraft manufacturer Lilium is to be rescued - not all investors are known so far.

(ots) To achieve our climate goals, more electric cars would need to be sold - instead, the popularity of combustion engine cars in Germany is increasing. According to a representative survey by Deloitte, 53 percent of consumers prefer a vehicle with a combustion engine for their next car purchase. 

The taxi and rental car association is putting on pressure. Following the uncovering of a massive number of illegal rental cars in Berlin and the recent raid on Uber & Co., the TMV is finally demanding a consistent response from politics.

(dpa/lby) In the boom years of electromobility, North Rhine-Westphalia consistently ranked first in the new registration statistics. During the downturn of the past year, Bavaria fared better.

(dpa) This year, more electric cars could hit the road in Germany than in 2024, believes the ADAC. Reliable political framework conditions are important. Expert Dudenhöffer agrees.

The transport committee of the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament decided in its meeting on January 15 to introduce a proposal for the statewide implementation of the public transport taxi. The initiative was introduced by the FDP and received support from the governing factions of the CDU and the Greens. The final vote in the plenary session is considered a formality.

Fake documents, a quarter million in cash in the freezer, and a safe hastily thrown out the window - the raid against illegal driving services in several federal states almost sounds like fiction.

In light of "record sick leave" in Germany, Allianz CEO Oliver Bäte advocates for the reintroduction of the waiting day for sick notes. This would mean that employees would bear the costs for the first day of illness themselves, he told Handelsblatt. Economist Raffelhüschen demands in "Bild" that there be no wages for three days in case of illness.

(dpa) Electric or combustion engine? At least when it comes to refueling and charging, there should be no difference at VW in the future.

(dpa) After the introduction of EU tariffs on cars from China, the electric brand Polestar also intends to produce in Europe. Meanwhile, the Tesla competitor is facing a problem in the USA.

(dpa/bb) The mobility platform Free Now is focusing on the arrangement of taxi rides. Rental car trips can no longer be booked. The company is clearly siding with the taxi industry.

(ots) This makes ChargeHere, a subsidiary of EnBW, operate one of the largest charging locations in NRW.

(ots) Electric cars can do much more than "just" drive quietly and without emissions. With bidirectional charging technology, they can store electricity and feed it back into the grid. The latest study by Transport & Environment (T&E) shows that this could enable savings worth billions for Europe's energy providers and motorists.

There is currently a lot going on at the Taxi and Rental Car Association of Germany (TMV). According to Patrick Meinhardt, they have continued to network intensively – and are presenting Nico Höttges from Wuppertal as a new office manager.

In the European Gigafactory of the electric car manufacturer Tesla, production of the revised Model Y has begun. According to media reports, employees in Grünheide near Berlin were informed about the introduction the day before. The assembly of the updated model was scheduled to start on January 14, as reported by Handelsblatt.

The debate about minimum rates in the Berlin rental car traffic continues to cause tensions. While the taxi industry is pushing for binding minimum prices to create fair competition conditions, the ride-hailing service Uber warns of negative effects.

(dpa) The US government fears that electronics in Chinese cars could collect data about their owners. The outgoing president is now announcing a measure.

The taxi and rental car industry is once again sharply criticizing the stalling implementation of the "Small Expertise". In a letter to Transport Minister Dr. Volker Wissing, the German Taxi and Rental Car Association (TMV) demands the project be finally discontinued. After three and a half years without tangible results, the industry's patience is exhausted.

TAXI POLITICS LIVE for the 2025 Bundestag Election. On January 17, 2025, the BVTM political talk will take place online from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Anyone who wants to participate must register.

The use of a mobile phone while driving is clearly regulated by the German Road Traffic Act (StVO) and is generally prohibited. This applies not only while driving, but also when the vehicle is stationary – for example, at a red traffic light.

The campaign for the federal elections is underway, and the Taxi and Rental Car Association of Germany e. V. (TMV) is taking the opportunity to once again promote dialogue between the industry and prominent transport politicians.

Vimcar, provider of electronic logbooks, surprises at the beginning of the year with a new initiative: The company is launching its proven digital logbook in print format.

Taxi drivers make a significant contribution to public transportation. The PBefG and the StVO grant special rights to taxi drivers in some cases.

The German passenger car market recorded a decline of 7.1 percent in December, with a particularly sharp drop in private new registrations. Registrations of light commercial vehicles and passenger car utilities rose by 21.2 percent.

The Mercedes-Benz Group achieved its best sales quarter of the past year in the fourth quarter of 2024 with 625,800 cars and vans sold. In a challenging global market environment, 2,389,000 cars and vans were sold worldwide in 2024.

(ots) - Webfleet, one of the world's leading providers of fleet management solutions, defines the pioneering topics and trends in the digitization of fleet management for 2025: productivity, safety, compliance, and sustainability. With intelligent digital solutions, Webfleet supports fleet managers in the transformation towards more efficient and environmentally friendly fleets.

(dpa/tmn) After one of his vehicles was caught by a speed camera, the owner is required to keep a logbook for all his vehicles. Is this legal?

(dpa) Actually, the remote-controlled cars of the Berlin start-up Vay were primarily supposed to drive in Hamburg. However, due to better conditions, the rental cars are mainly operating in Las Vegas.

(dpa/bb/fn) The coalition in Berlin wants to significantly restrict the rental car industry of Uber, Bolt, and others. It is being discussed whether passengers for these services will soon have to pay a minimum fare.

(dpa) The Japanese automotive giant Toyota has an ambitious project: its own city of the future where people are to develop and test new technologies. The first phase is now complete.

(ots/PRNewswire/fn) - Moove, a global leader in innovative mobility solutions, signed a groundbreaking fleet partnership with Waymo, the world's leading company for autonomous driving, at the beginning of December. This collaboration is the first commercial partnership of its kind for the Waymo One App.

Convince the authorities of the necessity of the public transport taxi in five steps – with the new flyer, the Federal Association of Taxi and Rental Cars (BVTM) provides taxi entrepreneurs with arguments for implementation.