Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1117384
16.05.19 8 NEWS VOLVO Cars is hoping battery deals with Asian suppliers will help it overcome hurdles in an ambitious electrification strategy that's struggling with a shortage of components. Production has been constrained by a dearth of inverters, batteries, chargers and other equipment that go into hybrid cars, Chief Executive Officer Hakan Samuelsson said in an interview in London. About 10% of Volvo's vehicle sales are made up of hybrids, likely the highest in the in- dustry, according to the CEO. In 2017, the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.-owned carmaker declared "the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car" and an- nounced every new model launched from 2019 would have an electric motor. Volvo is pitted against larger rivals such as Volkswagen AG and BMW AG in the race to secure supply of components for electric vehicles. Earlier Wednesday, the company announced a long-term deal with China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. and South Korea's LG Chem Ltd. for bat- teries that will be used in Volvo and Pole- star-branded models over the coming dec- ade. "We are not alone in going electric, so of course this is the main thing with the deal -- we need to secure the supply," Samuelsson said. Volvo plans to unveil its first all-electric car, a version of the XC40 sport utility vehicle, in the second half of this year, and production should start in 2020, Samuelsson said. e plug-in hybrid version of the XC40, original- ly scheduled for last year, has been delayed to 2019. "We have a very high demand for hybrids right now," he said. "Within a year or so we should have capacity for around a quarter of our cars." Volvo Cars battles parts scarcity in electrification push US president Donald Trump plans in coming days to sign an executive order that would prohibit Amer- ican companies from using gear made by foreign telecommunica- tions companies that pose a securi- ty threat, according to an adminis- tration official. e official, who was granted ano- nymity to discuss a sensitive issue, said on Tuesday night that the or- der was not meant to single out any country or company. US officials have said that equipment made by Huawei, a Chinese telecommuni- cations company, could be used to spy on behalf of the Beijing govern- ment. Huawei has denied the alle- gations. e official also said that the or- der, which could be signed as soon as Wednesday, has nothing to do with the recent escalation of the trade conflict with China. e move came after Huawei said it was willing to sign no-spy agree- ments with governments, including Britain. "We are willing to sign no- spy agreements with governments, including the UK government, to commit ourselves to making our equipment meet the no-spy, no-backdoors standard," Huawei chairman Liang Hua told reporters in London via an interpreter. In January, the US administration was preparing the action, which could significantly restrict Chinese state-owned telecom companies from operating in the US over na- tional security concerns, people familiar with the matter said at the time. e order, as it was conceived earlier this year, would not outright ban US sales by the companies, but would give greater authority to the US commerce department to review products and purchases by firms connected to adversarial countries, including China, one of the people said. China's foreign ministry accused the US of "deliberately discredit- ing" Chinese companies. Neither graceful nor fair "is is neither graceful nor fair," ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a news briefing in Beijing. "We urge the US to stop citing security concerns as an excuse to unreasonably suppress Chinese companies and provide a fair and equitable and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese compa- nies to operate in the US." Huawei is pushing to take a global leadership position in 5G technol- ogy, but many American officials suspect the company's products could be used by Beijing to spy on Western governments and compa- nies. Both Huawei and ZTE have also been targeted by the US for alleged schemes to dodge American sanc- tions on Iran. Canadian authorities last Decem- ber arrested Huawei's chief finan- cial officer Meng Wanzhou at the request of the US, which seeks her extradition over allegations of vio- lating Iran sanctions. Ren Zhengfei, the company's founder and Meng's father, has de- nied espionage allegations and a link to China's government. Meng remains under house arrest in Van- couver while the legal proceedings unfold. Six months e administration official said the Commerce Department was ex- pected to take as long as six months to fashion an approach to the order, so there might not be an immediate effect. And the order might even- tually name specific companies or countries as Commerce carries out the process. e US has been trying without success to persuade other gov- ernments to exclude to exclude equipment made by Huawei from super-fast 5G mobile networks that will connect billions of devices. e administration has been urging allies to analyse risk before buying gear, Robert Strayer, deputy assistant secretary for cyber policy at the state department, told the US senate judiciary committee at a hearing on Tuesday. "We are concerned that China could compel actions by network vendors to act against the interests of US citizens and citizens of other countries around the world," Stray- er said. e US says Chinese law compels Huawei to cooperate with Beijing's espionage agencies. US officials said Huawei can build vulnerabili- ties, or backdoors, into equipment. Last week, the US federal com- munications commission barred China Mobile from the US market over national security concerns and said it was opening a review of other Chinese companies. Trump to prohibit US companies from using Huawei