Jaguar Land Rover parent Tata Motors has named former Daimler executive Marc Llistosella as its new CEO. Llistosella will take over for current CEO Guenter Butschek in July.

As part of its reorganization plan, Jaguar Land Rover expects to reduce its global salaried workforce by around 2k people in the next financial year.

QuantumScape Corp announced it was able to produce multilayer battery cells. The advance is crucial to developing viable solid-state batteries.

Automotive News: How nanotech is changing cars

IHS Markit Podcast: Fuel for Thought - Market dynamics in the first year of the pandemic

Ford is planning to only sell EVs in Europe by 2030. Their first European-built all-electric vehicle will start rolling off lines, in Cologne, Germany beginning in 2023.

BorgWarner is acquiring a 59% stake in German battery maker Akasol for around $911M.

Regulatory filings reveal that Ford sold its stake in Velodyne Lidar at the end of 2020.

Bosch is teaming with Microsoft to develop a software platform to use in-vehicle prototypes by the end of 2021. It will provide wireless updates to vehicles’ control units and computers throughout their lifetime.

EV battery startup Italvolt is investing $4.9B into a new lithium-ion battery factory in Italy.

Toyota temporarily suspended production at nine factories in Japan for a few days this week due to an earthquake that hit Japan’s northeast last week. While the quake didn’t affect any of Toyota’s plants, it has affected some of the automaker’s suppliers, which has led to parts delays.

Winter storms forced local authorities to have Samsung and NXP power down their semiconductor plants in Austin, Texas.

GM canceled shifts at its plants affected by the winter storm this week, affecting 8k workers across four US assembly plants.

Ford closed down its F-150 assembly plant in Kansas City, Missouri, due to a natural gas shortage. The plant hopes to be back online by Monday.

Toyota is investing $210M into its engine plant in Buffalo, West Virginia, to increase the production of I-4 engines. The production increase will also create 100 new jobs at the plant.

Analyst firm LMC says the ongoing semiconductor shortage has cost the auto industry at least 450k units of lost production in January and February. Managing director Pete Kelly added that the deficit would linger but ultimately be unlikely to affect annual output.

Volkswagen says it is an “unintended victim” in a trade secrets battle between battery suppliers SK Innovation and LG Chem and asked the US government for a four-year reprieve that would allow them to continue buying batteries from SK Innovation.

The Center for Automotive Research reviews the Biden Administrations’ climate policies and their impact on the auto industry.

The Biden Administration will review key US supply chains in a 100-day review process. The effort will focus on manufacturing supply chains that use semiconductors, high-capacity batteries, and rare earth metals.

German COVID-19 travel restrictions at the Czech border are disrupting BMW and VW supply chains.