August is a typically quiet period for UK new car registrations, however, demand for electric vehicles (EVs) surged year-on-year, with plug-in hybrids proving the most popular. But while total new car registrations are up 20% on last year, the preliminary figures show they’re still 25.3% lower than the 10-year average for January-August, thanks to pandemic shortages.
Deutsche Telekom on Tuesday agreed a $7bn share-swap deal with Japan’s SoftBank Group, which will increase the German firm’s holding in the US arm of T-Mobile to 48.4%.
In return for giving up the T-Mobile shares, SoftBank will receive cash and a 4.5% direct stake in the German telecoms firm.
Shares in SoftBank rallied around 10% on the initial news, while Deutsche Telekom rose around 1%. SoftBank said the deal would diversify its telecoms exposure, and would also make it Deutsche Telekom’s second largest private shareholder.
In addition, Deutsche Telekom revealed it had sold its Dutch unit of T-Mobile Netherlands to a private equity firm for around $6.1bn, noting it would reuse some of these proceeds to fund the share-swap deal.
On Tuesday, Japanese car firm Toyota said it expects to spend more than $13.5bn by 2030 in order to develop leading electric battery technology and supply systems.
The world’s largest carmaker, known for the Prius hybrid car, is planning to deliver an all-electric line of new vehicles next year.
In a briefing, the company said it wants to cut the cost of its electric batteries by 30% or more by developing the materials and the structures.
At the same time, it also aims to improve the power consumption of its electric vehicles, starting with the Toyota bZ4X due for launch by mid-2022, which together with the newer batteries should further reduce costs by the second half of the 2020s.
