FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany has agreed in principle with eight other European nations to set up a second consortium for the production and recycling of battery cells for cars, daily Handelsblatt reported, citing economy minister Peter Altmaier.
German firms BMW (DE:BMWG), BASF (DE:BASFn), BMZ Group, Varta (DE:VAR1) are among the companies involved in the initiative that seeks to put regional players in a position to compete with dominant Asian suppliers, the paper cited sources as saying.
France and Germany in April initiated a first European battery cell consortium, including carmaker PSA (PA:PEUP) with its German subsidiary Opel and French battery maker Saft.