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Child cobalt miners: Automakers pledge ethical minerals sourcing for EVs

BERLIN - Leading carmakers including Volkswagen and Toyota pledged on Wednesday to uphold ethical and socially responsible standards in their purchases of minerals for an expected boom in electric vehicle production. Demand for minerals such as cobalt, graphite and lithium is forecast to soar in the coming years as governments crack down on vehicle pollution and carmakers step up their investments in electric models. To cover its plans for more than 80 new models by 2025, Volkswagen alone is looking for partners in China, Europe and North America to provide battery cells and related technology worth more than 50 billion euros ($59 billion). Talks with major cobalt producers, including Glencore, at VW's Wolfsburg headquarters last week ended without a deal. More than half of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country racked by political instability and legal opacity, and where child labor is used in mines. On Wednesday, a group of 10 leading passenger-car and truck manufacturers announced an initiative to jointly identify and address ethical, environmental, human and labor rights issues in raw materials sourcing. The partnership dubbed "Drive Sustainability" consists of VW, Toyota Motor Europe, Ford, Daimler, BMW, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo Cars and truckmakers Scania and Volvo. The alliance "will assess the risks posed by the top raw materials (such as mica, cobalt, rubber and leather) in the automotive sector," said Stefan Crets of the CSR Europe business network. "This will allow Drive Sustainability to identify the most impactful activities to pursue" to address issues within the supply chain.Reporting by Andreas Cremer.Related Video: Image Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images Green BMW Ford Honda Jaguar Land Rover Mercedes-Benz Automakers Toyota Volkswagen Volvo Green Automakers Green Culture Electric Scania ethics mining

Mercedes-Maybach SUV concept headed for Beijing reveal in April

Mercedes-Benz has toyed with the idea of a Maybach SUV for at least 11 years. According to Autocar, we'll finally see a concept with production intent at the Beijing Motor Show next month, the luxury SUV slated for market release next year. As has been the rumor for at least six years, the Maybach people carrier will be based on a stretched version of the GLS, which moves to the company's new Modular High Architecture with the 2019 model. Back in 2007 when Maybach was its own brand and selling roughly 300 units per year, Car magazine reported that brand chiefs were interested in convertible versions of the Maybach 57 and 62 sedans, and an SUV. Maybach built a one-off concept based on the GL — the former GLS-Class — in 2009, but never took the idea further. The rumor popped up again in 2014, then in 2015, reaching not-if-but-when status early last year. A decade on, it's finally time to play the hand. Even though the super-luxe SUV would sit on a stretched version of what is already a three-row SUV, it's reasonable to expect the Maybach SUV will only get two rows. That would give designers plenty of extra room for seating luxury and amenities even beyond the S-Class Maybach. On the other hand, if Mercedes sticks to the rough Maybach playbook so far, a triple-row Maybach would be the only such SUV in the mid- to upper-six-figures. The S-Class 560 4Matic starts at $102,990, the S 560 4Matic Maybach starts at $168,600. Applying that spread to the $94,500 GLS 550, you'd land around $160,000 before adding the markup for a new generation. That kind of starter pricing might make a great tweener proposition. Mercedes could focus on a range of buyers who want to go upscale from the $125,300 AMG GLS 63, without needing to worry — yet — about challenging Bentley and Rolls-Royce. Power is said to come from some version of the company's oft-applied 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 that puts out 462 horsepower in the S 560, but the 3.0-liter inline-six hybrid in the S 560e is under consideration. We'll know next month, when the lightly veiled concept takes the stand in China. The full-on production version should get an introduction at this year's L.A. Auto Show. Related Video:

Daimler relocating North American headquarters to Michigan

While Mercedes-Benz is moving its American headquarters from New Jersey to Georgia, its parent company Daimler is also relocating from the Garden State. But rather than join its automotive unit down south, Daimler North America is moving to Michigan. The relocation was announced by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder while visiting the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany this week, and has been confirmed by Daimler in correspondence with Autoblog. Daimler's North American headquarters are currently located in Park Ridge, NJ, a mere five-minute drive from Montvale where Mercedes-Benz USA has been based prior to its move to Georgia. The relocation will see Daimler's North American head office move into the facility that currently houses the company's financial services division in Farmington Hills, MI. The move will bring 30 jobs to Michigan, and is slated to commence in 2016 and conclude "sometime in 2017," according to the company. Now if you're wondering why Daimler is going to Michigan while Mercedes is going to Georgia, bear in mind that a number of Daimler's facilities are already located in the Great Lakes State. In addition to the financial services office, Daimler also operates an R&D facility in Ann Arbor. It also owns Redford-based Detroit Diesel, where the photo above was taken during President Obama's visit in December 2012. Along with the Daimler facility, the governor's office also announced the opening of a new Michigan Europe Center that will seek "to promote trade and export development between the state and European markets." The center will also operate satellites in London and Berlin in order to further its mission on behalf of small- and medium-sized businesses based in Michigan, of which we can expect many will come from the automotive sector. Gov. Snyder in Germany: Daimler North America moving headquarters to Michigan State opens Michigan Europe Center to promote trade and investment Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015 FRANKFURT – Daimler North America Corporation, the holding company for all of the company's business units in the United States, will move its headquarters to Michigan from New Jersey, Gov. Rick Snyder announced as he completed an investment mission trip to Japan and Germany. "Michigan is the world's automotive leader, and Daimler's decision to increase its presence in state is another indication that we intend to hold that position for generations to come," Snyder said.