Alexander Galushka, Deputy Secretary of the Russian Public Chamber, stated at SPIEF that China's automotive industry has surpassed Germany and Japan, moving from being mocked for poor quality to a technological powerhouse.
Germany granted citizenship to a record 332,500 people in 2025, a 14% increase from the previous year. Syrians, Turks, and Russians were the largest groups naturalized. The German auto industry's outlook improved slightly, while Germany campaigns for a UN Security Council seat.
The 2026 Third Chengdu-Chongqing Region (Chengdu) Automotive Industry Chain Ecosystem Cooperation Conference opened on May 21st in Chengdu, focusing on "New Intelligence, Connecting the Future." The event highlights the significant collaborative development of the Chengdu-Chongqing automotive industry, which has become China's third-largest automotive industry cluster.
Uzbekistan plans to launch manufacturing plants for Volkswagen, Foton, and JAC by the end of the year, as part of efforts to boost its automotive industry. This follows a meeting with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewing proposals for sector development.
BMW i Ventures has unveiled a $300 million fund to invest in startups developing AI for robotics, autonomous vehicles, and industrial software. This third fund brings the firm's total capital under management to $1.1 billion.
Porsche AG has agreed to sell its 45% stake in Bugatti Rimac to a consortium led by New York-based HOF Capital, with BlueFive Capital as largest investor. The German automaker will also divest its 20.6% stake in Rimac Group, marking a complete exit from its investment in the Croatian electric hypercar maker. Following the transaction, Rimac Group will take full operational control of Bugatti Rimac. Porsche shares dropped 1.6% in early trading on Friday.
Hesai, the world's largest lidar sensor maker for cars, plans to design and manufacture its own chips rather than rely on third-party suppliers, CEO David Li Yifan announced at a media briefing. The company says existing chip providers cannot meet the specific needs of lidar sensor development, as no other company develops chiplets specifically for lidar makers. The announcement comes as Chinese EV manufacturers increasingly demand powerful computing capabilities to support advanced autonomous driving features, with Xpeng claiming its indigenous Turing chip outperforms Nvidia's Drive Orin X by three times.
CATL, holding over 40% global EV battery market share, announced its third-generation Shenxing battery charges from 10% to 98% in just 6 minutes 27 seconds at its Super Technology Day event in Beijing. The company claims this is the world's fastest EV charging technology, beating BYD's second-generation Blade battery which takes 9 minutes to charge from 10% to 90%. Founder Robin Zeng Yuqun emphasized focusing on innovation quality over price competition for Chinese EV expansion abroad.
Hyundai Motor and Kia are forecast to report first-quarter operating profit declines of about 23 percent year-on-year, despite relatively solid sales performance. Hyundai Motor expects 2.78 trillion won in operating profit on 45.89 trillion won in sales, while Kia projects 2.32 trillion won on 29.62 trillion won in sales. The earnings declines are attributed to U.S. tariffs that took effect in April last year and increased warranty provisions due to a weaker Korean won.
