Volkswagen, China Letter, Grohmann, Ford, Polestar, BMW.

VW I.D. to cost much less than Model 3: Volkswagen’s I.D. shall swing buyers with a price 7,000 – 8,000 dollars below the price of Tesla’s Model 3, currently listed at 35,000 dollars (approx. 31,000 euros). That is at least what VW’s chief strategist Thomas Sedran said at the Automobil Forum in Munich, thus confirming what Herbert Diess, head of VW’s brand management, mentioned already a few days ago, that Volkswagen is going to stop Tesla at the 30,000 euros limit. In order to put its prices that low, the German carmaker calculates with decreasing battery costs until market entry by 2020.
automobil-produktion.de (in German)

Car lobby sends letter to China: The country’s plans for an EV sales quota are worrying the lobby. Thus, the four biggest automotive industry associations have sent a letter to Beijing, begging it to rethink the plans. Reuters quotes the German WirtschaftsWoche which published parts of the letter. In detail, the four associations from the States, Europe, Japan and South Korea demand to change some fundamental criteria of the quota and to postpone it by at least 3 years. Given however that even Chancellor Merkel failed to bring about relief, it seems unlikely that China will be particularly impressed.
reuters.com

Grohmann cancels all clients except Tesla, that had acquired the German engineering specialist that is now Tesla Grohmann Automation. Previously expected “termination talks” with up-to-now clients BMW and Daimler are almost completed. Both OEMs confirmed the upcoming end of the business relation. Meanwhile Grohmann is about to finish last preparations to supply a new production unit to Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada.
automobilwoche.de (in German, paywall)

Ford plug-in van due by 2019: Ford updates its Transit Custom van and says it will launch a plug-in hybrid, too. First trials with the PHEV model are going to take place later this year with fleet clients in London, as announced as the Transit is the UK’s best-selling commercial car.
automotiveworld.com, media.ford.com

Polestar’s 600 bhp Coupé at the IAA? Volvos performance brand will offer electrified sports cars under its own logo, we recently learnt. The first model could already go on display at the IAA in September. Most probably the audience will see a coupé equipped with a 600 bhp plug-in hybrid drive.
autocar.co.uk

42,573 electrified vehicles of BMW and Mini have been sold in the first half of 2017. That are 80 percent more than during the same period last year. Plus, with 51,725 EVs and PHEVs having been made already, Munich is confident to reach its sales target of 100,000 electrified cars in 2017.
press.bmwgroup.com