UK car sales reached their highest May level since before Covid, with a 7% rise to 160,662 units. Chinese brands like BYD and Chery saw significant growth, alongside Tesla. Electric car sales led the surge, accounting for over 27% of the market.
European auto suppliers may benefit from Chinese EV makers' expansion into the EU, driven by demand and local protectionist measures. Vulcan Energy Resources highlights opportunities for local inputs like batteries and lithium, despite EU restrictions on foreign investment.
Profit trajectories between automotive assemblers and electric vehicle (EV) battery producers in China are set to diverge further due to lacklustre car sales and buoyant demand for energy-storage systems. Leading players, including China’s EV battery king Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL), would continue to attract buying interest in their shares, spurred by improved profitability, according to analysts. They added that flat vehicle prices, coupled with a dip in new car sales, had...
Chinese EV makers are intensifying their focus on AI features, integrating models like ByteDance's Doubao and Alibaba's Qwen, to navigate a prolonged price war. However, the rapid dissemination of technology makes differentiation challenging, pushing companies to explore 'outside-of-the-car' experiences.
Chinese EV manufacturers are increasingly pursuing global expansion to achieve profitability, with the Middle East crisis serving as a catalyst for overseas deliveries. At Auto China, the world's largest car show running April 18-May 3 in Beijing, major EV assemblers unveiled models designed for overseas markets or announced growth targets for Europe and Latin America where vehicles command higher prices. State-owned GAC Group announced plans to enter overseas markets with three models, including a hybrid SUV with 1,240km range.
Auto China 2026, the world's largest car show, showcases 1,451 models across 380,000 sq m—50% larger than 2024—with 181 global debuts. Chinese EV makers are launching premium models priced above 300,000 yuan (US$43,978), directly challenging BMW and Mercedes-Benz, signaling a watershed moment for the industry.
India is developing a lithium-ion cell manufacturing ecosystem, but EV makers should not expect immediate cost benefits. Amara Raja's Vikram Gourineni says locally produced cells will carry at least 15% price premium over imports until domestic makers achieve 8-10 GWh scale. Amara Raja targets end of 2027 for bulk production at its first 2 GWh Gigafactory, with ₹10,000 crore investment planned through 2032.
Hesai Group, the world’s largest maker of vehicle lidar sensors, introduced technology it said would raise autonomous driving features to a new level by detecting colour to improve the reliability of object identification. The Shanghai-based maker of light detection and ranging sensors said its 6D full-colour platform would deliver lidar sensors with world-leading capabilities in ranging and small-target identification. 6D refers to the sensors’ ability to detect the X, Y and Z coordinates of...
