Volkswagen Group (VWG) has started fiscal year 2017 on a ‘strong footing’ with group sales revenue up by 10.3% in the first three months to €56.2bn. VWG posted increased operating profits of €4.4bn which ‘significantly exceeded expectations’. It claimed the results were due to volume- and mix-related factors, positive exchange rate effects and product cost [...]

Chinese technology giant, Tencent Holdings is set to open an artificial intelligence (AI) research facility in Seattle in the US, headed by former Microsoft scientist Yu Dong. Shenzhen-headquartered Tencent, which owns WeChat, is one of Asia’s most valuable companies with a market capitalisation of nearly $300bn. WeChat has more than 889 million monthly active users. [...]

Autonomous car start-up, Zoox has appointed ex-Ferrari executive Corrado Lanzone, former operations director of Ferrari SpA’s racing division. Corrado, vice president of manufacturing operations at the California-based company, has been hired to help Zoox ‘execute on our ambition to deliver autonomous mobility, without compromise.’ Corrado previously spent two-decades at Scuderia Ferrari, where he oversaw manufacturing, [...]

French startup BlaBlaCar has launched BlaBlaLines – a new short distance carpooling and daily commute app and service. BlaBlaLines will be phased in gradually and will only be available between a selection of ‘popular’ 50km commuter routes initially. BlaBlaCar co-founder Frédéric Mazzella compared the new service to a subway or bus line with drivers notified [...]

BASF has been named as a 2016 General Motors (GM) Supplier of the Year for the 12th time since 2002. The award winners were chosen by a global team of GM purchasing, engineering, quality, manufacturing, and logistics executives. Winners were selected based on performance criteria in product purchasing, indirect purchasing, logistics, customer care and aftersales. [...]