June 22, 2026
According to German newspaper Handelsblatt, the European Commission has finalized a proposal for punitive tariffs on plug-in hybrids made in China. These bread-and-butter models could face a similar fate to their counterparts with full-electric drivelines. However, the percentages would be lower. Europe set out to punish Chinese electric cars. Instead, it created a market for […]
June 22, 2026
At the Beijing Motor Show, Smart unveiled the concept that matters most to its renaissance under new German-Chinese ownership: the #2. Will the successor make an impact just as quirky, revolutionary, and safe as the legendary original, or has modern reality overruled the formula? We find out in Rome, where the concept version hit European […]
June 19, 2026
At the annual general meeting, VW CEO Oliver Blume didn’t shy away from blunt words. Though the group is on track shedding 50,000 workforce, he stated that the “business model is no longer working today.” Volkswagen is struggling hard with the modern-day reality of car building, to the point that the question no longer is […]
June 19, 2026
In August, the first all-electric BMW X5 will roll off the production line at Spartanburg, South Carolina. The SUV is expected to weigh roughly three thousand kilograms, as it carries a battery larger than any BMW has ever fitted to a production car. That’s because it sits on a platform that was never designed to […]
June 19, 2026
For all the attention around the MG 07, the more immediate Belgian story is happening behind the scenes. On 1 July, MG Motor Europe takes direct control of MG in Belgium and Luxembourg. A press release from the UK confirms the establishment of a Belgian subsidiary and the end of the distribution arrangement under which […]
June 19, 2026
Maserati has had a rough few years. Sales are down. The brand’s EV pivot has moved more slowly than planned, and the Grecale, its core volume model, has quietly fallen behind the competition on the one metric that matters most for electric cars: range. Revised Folgore versions of the Grecale and GranTurismo must help fix […]
June 19, 2026
Dacia has given the first official glimpse of the next Spring, confirming that its smallest electric car will keep the Spring name for a second generation. The teaser does not yet reveal prices, technical specifications, or timing for Belgium, but it does confirm two important points: the new model will remain a fully electric city […]
June 18, 2026
BYD has officially released the Great Tang in China. This is not the successor of the Tang, but a more luxurious model positioned higher in the hierarchy. Its size and technology give it the allure of a limo in an SUV, though its price tells a different story. The BYD Great Tang doesn’t arrive empty-handed […]
June 18, 2026
The Porsche Taycan was the first EV to feature a two-speed gearboc. But now the German sports carmaker wants to reinvogarate the driving joy by adding fake gears, a feature that debuted on the Ioniq 5 N and which is also investigated by Toyota. The appeal for electric sports cars seems to reside in old-fashioned […]
June 17, 2026
The paper looks good, now that the American certification body has officially registered the Cybercab as the most efficient EV it has ever filed. But the streets are a completely different story for Tesla. With a shrinking fleet in place, Robotaxi rides are diminishing instead of growing Tesla has filed its official EPA documents for […]
June 17, 2026
Global electric vehicle registrations reached around 1.8 million in May, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence data reported by Reuters. That was only 3% more than in May last year, bringing the first five months of 2026 to a modest 0.9% increase. On paper, that looks like a clear slowdown after years of double-digit growth. In […]
June 16, 2026
China aims to achieve a 40% market share for electric heavy trucks by 2030. That’s almost half of the national fleet sales in less than five years from now. And if the country’s new energy cars and vans, or renewable energy policy, are anything to go by, the People’s Republic does not do half measures […]
June 15, 2026
Three months after its world premiere, series production of the all-electric VLE officially kicked off at Mercedes’ plant in Vitoria, Spain. The occasion was deemed important enough to bring the company’s CEO out on site. Ola Källenius, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, attended the production launch ceremony alongside Thomas Klein, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans. They […]
June 15, 2026
BMW chose the world’s most famous endurance race to drop the clearest preview yet of its first all-electric M car. You can call it a concept, but we all know that this is as close as it gets to the real thing. The BMW M Concept Neue Klasse celebrated its world premiere at the 24 […]
June 12, 2026
According to CarNewsChina, Dongfeng will start mass-producing its next-generation battery in the second half of this year and immediately start integrating it into vehicles. That would make it the first brand to offer solid-state at scale and could open opportunities for Peugeot, with whom the brand has strengthened its ties. But as with many battery […]
June 12, 2026
Within VW Commercial Vehicles’ range, the ID. Buzz gets most of the spotlights. But the Multivan and its motorhome sibling, the California, just got a significant cosmetic and technological update. The electrified drivetrains remained the same, however. The youngest evolution of both models brings a redesigned front end, an entirely new cockpit, and an upgraded […]
June 11, 2026
Emerging markets are tapping into the opportunity of building their own brands on the wings of electrification. After Turkey and its national marque Togg, Mexico is seizing the opportunity of launching its own car manufacturer. One of the world’s most important car-making nations finally goes it alone. Mexico is one of the world’s largest vehicle-producing […]
June 11, 2026
Renault has found a new trick for the electric age: making a sensible small SUV look as if it has just escaped to the Riviera. The Renault 4 E-Tech Electric Plein Sud is not a full convertible, and it is certainly not as bare-legged as the Renault 4 Plein Air of the sixties. But with […]
June 09, 2026
Citroën’s CEO, Xavier Chardon, confirmed in an interview with German fleet publication Autoflotte that the new 2CV will make its debut at the Paris Motor Show this October. The concept, he says, will be “very close to the production model.” Sales follow in 2028, or exactly eighty years after the original premiered at the same […]
June 09, 2026
The Volkswagen Group’s affordable EV offensive went into production. Last week, the first ID.Polo, Cupra Raval rolled off the line at the Seat plant in Martorell, near Barcelona. Skoda just confirmed production of the new Epiq has started at Volkswagen Navarra in Pamplona. These are the first two members of VW’s Electric Urban Car Family. […]
June 09, 2026
The Pentagon has put some of China’s best-known technology and mobility companies on its Section 1260H list of “Chinese military companies”, adding a new geopolitical layer to the global expansion of Chinese car brands. The updated list includes Alibaba, Baidu, BYD, Nio, and battery maker CALB, alongside firms active in lidar, robotics, solar energy, semiconductors, […]
June 08, 2026
To support Belgium’s last car factory, the Flemish government offers a subsidy package of up to €119 million to Volvo Cars. The offer was sent as an official letter to the headquarters in Gothenburg. Will this address the root of the problem, or does it just buy time? As Volvo gears up for its new […]
June 08, 2026
BMW Group Belux has signed what it calls “the largest electric corporate fleet deal ever concluded in Belgium with one car manufacturer”. Logistics group Katoen Natie will replace more than 1,000 combustion-engined company cars with electric BMW and Mini models by the end of 2027. The deal, announced at Katoen Natie’s headquarters in Antwerp, covers […]
June 05, 2026
Lotus once promised to go fully electric by 2028. That plan is dead. To spearhead the new direction, the brand is releasing the Eletre X, a range-extender version of its SUV that was originally meant to be electric-only. “The EV penetration rate was not as good as we expected”, said Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng to […]
June 04, 2026
Fiat unveiled the first official images of the Grizzly and Grizzly Fastback. Two compact SUVs that represent one family with global ambitions. These are far from niche products. This is Fiat going mainstream to every corner of the world market. Two bodies, one platform In wildlife environments, the scenario is different, but in the case […]
June 03, 2026
Despite earlier denials of the rumors, TikTok’s parent company is preparing to launch a car in its home country, China. It will be a crossover targeting the youthful audience typically active on social media platforms. The car itself will be manufactured by Seres, the Chinese automaker that’s also behind Huawei’s Aito brand. Five months ago, […]
June 02, 2026
Three months after quietly abandoning its pledge to go all-electric by 2030, Rolls-Royce is refreshing its only EV. The Spectre Series II has landed, and it is a proper update, not just a nose job. The recently appointed CEO of Rolls-Royce, Chris Brownridge, publicly stated that he had walked back the commitment his predecessor had […]
June 02, 2026
According to the data of the sector federation, Febiac, and the federal government service Mobility & Transport, 33,625 new cars were registered in May, 2.1% fewer than last year. Febiac stresses that there were two fewer working days this May than last year, which is the main cause of the regression. Overall, looking at the […]
June 02, 2026
It’s the main question hovering over the use of ADAS technology and automated driving: if the systems fail and cause an accident, who’s paying the bill? Most disclaimers say that the use must be supervised and that the driver is always responsible. Not BYD. Still, there remain some ‘buts’. At its Intelligence Strategy Launch Event […]
June 02, 2026
Vehicle-to-grid has been “just around the corner” for some years now. Many EV owners are eagerly awaiting it, as second-generation EVs almost all offer the technology as a standard feature. This week, several announcements arrived at once – in Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands – that suggest the corner has finally been turned. The latest […]
June 01, 2026
Japanese automaker Toyota has quietly killed its most technologically ambitious electric vehicle: the LF-ZC. It joins Honda, Mazda, and Subaru in retreating from their own electrification promises. When Toyota unveiled the Lexus LF-ZC at the Japan Mobility Show in October 2023, it looked, briefly, like the world’s largest carmaker had decided to stop hedging. The […]
June 01, 2026
BMW has opened the configurator for the rear-wheel-drive version of the first model in its Neue Klasse range. In Germany, customers can now order the iX3 from a starting price of €63,400, which is €7,500 less than the AWD top version iX3 50 xDrive. BMW plans to begin deliveries during the summer. With the new […]
June 01, 2026
American ride-hailing operator Waymo has brought its most ambitious vehicle yet into rotation: the purpose-built Ojai (pronounced: oh-hi), its sixth-generation robotaxi made in China. Rides are currently free, but not for long. All of Waymo’s previous autonomous vehicles were regular consumer cars converted into robotaxis: a Chrysler Pacifica minivan, the Volvo XC90, and then a […]
May 29, 2026
The Chinese car manufacturer Li Auto is coming to Europe to launch its i6 medium SUV in the second quarter of the year. The Mega electric minivan will become available in right-hand drive markets by year-end. By doing so, Li Auto is attempting to counter fierce domestic competition by expanding its overseas footprint, a move […]
May 29, 2026
Is Japan’s tightly guarded kei car market ready for a shake-up? There’s a new kid on Tokyo’s block, as the fresh brand EMTA has announced its intention to get its slice of the nation’s famous small and affordable cars. There’s a very deliberate attempt not to look Chinese, but the reality – of course – […]
May 28, 2026
The Polestar 6 is near ready. The design is finalized, and the development work is mostly concluded. All Polestar needs to do is start production, so it seems. However, don’t expect to see it on the road any time soon. Until market conditions improve, the starting lights remain firmly red. Granted, the 6 isn’t Polestar’s […]
May 27, 2026
In April 2026, year-to-date (YTD) new EU car registrations increased by 4.2%, despite ongoing geopolitical factors heightening uncertainty and downside risks, according to data from the European Car Manufacturers Association (ACEA). In April only, the market increased 5.1% (YOY). “The market continued to benefit from strong consumer demand for a range of electrified technologies, supported […]
May 27, 2026
BYD is bringing plug-in hybrid technology to the B-segment, a class that until now has been bypassed or abandoned by car makers. The Dolphin G DM-i aims squarely at Europe’s B-segment. Not only is this the first model BYD has developed specifically for overseas markets, but it is also the only PHEV currently on sale […]
May 25, 2026
In the wake of his first Investor Day as CEO, Antonio Filosa already presents two cornerstone deals of his strategic turnaround plan: one plans to build Voyah models at the French Citroën factory in Rennes, the other opens the door to a Jeep for the US, developed and built together with Land Rover. Stellantis needs […]
May 22, 2026
Stellantis unveiled a €60 billion five-year strategy at its Investor Day in Auburn Hills yesterday. The plan bets heavily on North America, demotes European brands Opel and Citroën, and leans on Chinese manufacturing partners to fill underutilized factory capacity. The markets were not convinced: the stock dropped more than 6%. After posting a net loss […]
May 20, 2026
Omoda & Jaecoo has officially confirmed that its seven-seater SUV, the 8 SHS-P, is now available in Belgium, starting at €54,900. The brand’s largest and most premium model brings a 134 km WLTP electric range, and a level of cabin technology that aims to put considerable pressure on established European rivals in the same price […]
May 20, 2026
According to new data from the International Council on Clean Transportation ICCT, zero- and low-emission architectures accounted for a quarter of all global light-duty vehicle sales in 2025. While established markets show significant variation, emerging economies — particularly in Southeast Asia — are rapidly accelerating the e-mobility transition. The global electrification of light-duty vehicles, combining […]
May 19, 2026
Stellantis is gearing up for its E-Car project and has officially announced a family of small, affordable, all-electric vehicles for multiple group brands. Production has been assigned to its Pomigliano d’Arco plant in Italy, near Naples, with a 2028 start date. For nearly a year, the E-Car has circulated as a concept: after a joint […]
May 18, 2026
Faced with contracting market share and overcapacity, Stellantis is reconfiguring its global strategy by leaning heavily on its historic Chinese partner, Dongfeng. The two automotive groups have announced a strategic agreement to produce new electrified vehicles in China for export. It shows how Western legacy automakers are increasingly relying on Chinese manufacturing efficiencies. When Peugeot-Citroën […]
May 15, 2026
Kia is eager to revive the Stinger in electric guise. Not in the least to boost its emotional and design appeal, but also to diversify its electric portfolio beyond volume-selling SUVs. However, it seems that the high engineering costs for a dedicated performance EV are currently preventing a production greenlight. Kia is actively exploring a […]
May 12, 2026
Battery cell maker Morrow has filed for bankruptcy. The collapse of another promising cell manufacturer exposes how Europe talks about industrial sovereignty but refuses to guarantee the conditions for it. Green mobility group Transport & Environment takes notice and warns that the continent could lose 34 companies the size of Northvolt if political action remains […]
May 11, 2026
Last year, the car dealer group Van Mossel became the biggest car seller in Belgium. The group overtook importer D’Ieteren, which had been the most important car seller in this country for years. According to data from dealer data analyst Aumacon, requested by De Tijd, Van Mossel recorded 32,500 new-car registrations in 2025, while D’ieteren […]
May 11, 2026
Porsche has decided to wind down three non-core divisions, resulting in the loss of over 500 jobs. The closures are part of a sweeping strategic reversal that is stripping Porsche of the electromobility ventures it spent years building. The way forward seems to be the backview mirror for the German sports car maker. Germany’s most […]
May 11, 2026
Vietnam does not usually come to mind when discussing global industrial powerhouses. Yet on the eastern outskirts of Hanoi, an empire has emerged that increasingly shapes how modern Vietnam lives, moves, studies, shops, and dreams. VinFast, the new EV brand with a whole lineup of cars and its own electric buses, is now trying to […]
May 08, 2026
Chinese brand MG (part of SAIC Motor) and the Belgian importer Astara have reached an agreement under which MG Europe will import its cars itself as of the first of July. Meanwhile, the second-largest Chinese car brand in Belgium, BYD, is considering doing the same. The distribution of MG in Belgium and Luxembourg will be […]
May 07, 2026
The half-millionth fully-electric passenger vehicle was registered in Belgium earlier this week. To celebrate this milestone, advocacy group EV Belgium held a small ceremony, handing over the keys to a new Polestar. It also reflected the positive market developments that enabled accelerated growth in EV adoption in Belgium. Three years ago, in early 2023, the […]
May 07, 2026
Mercedes has recently unveiled the first electric C-Class in its history. The model fills an important gap in the brand’s portfolio of battery-powered models, aiming at the heart of the market. Not with a range that defeats the BMW i3 Neue Klasse, but with speeds that lift the charging experience. In 10 minutes, the compact […]
May 06, 2026
The Ghent-based software builder for charging stations, Optimile, has found a new breath. To expand its operations at a European level, the company has been fully acquired by the German fuel card giant DKV Mobility. The takeover fits into a broader scenario, as the latter has been buying similar companies over the past few years […]
May 05, 2026
The sudden surge in oil prices following the Iran conflict is beginning to reshape Europe’s car market in real time, with Renault Group among the first to report a tangible shift in consumer behavior. In the UK, Renault company’s managing director, Adam Wood, described a “seismic shift upwards” in interest in electric vehicles, as drivers […]
May 05, 2026
Japan’s largest automotive supplier, Denso, is developing an inductive charging technology that could hit public roads by 2029. It could upend Japan’s charging infrastructure headache and make the charging cable and oversized battery packs relics of the past. With its highly urbanized profile, symbolized by highways on the eleventh floor of high-rise buildings, Japan is […]
May 05, 2026
According to data from the sector federation Febiac and the Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport, 37,802 new cars were registered in April 2026, 10 units fewer than in 2025. According to Febiac, the results were influenced by the strike at BPost, with delays in number plate deliveries. Noticeable fact: Registrations of individually bought cars […]
May 04, 2026
Europe’s fastest-growing Chinese EV brand is planning a second, higher-priced label for 2027. Like BYD has Denza, Leapmotor wants its own luxury brand. More out of a necessity than a technical ambition. But can a budget brand pull it off? Leapmotor, the Stellantis-backed Chinese EV maker that last year posted its first annual profit, is […]
May 04, 2026
At Volkswagen Group, underutilized and costly plants in Europe are under scrutiny. CEO Oliver Blume plans to reduce overcapacity in China and Europe while avoiding plant closures in Germany through ‘intelligent measures’. These measures can include selling plants to other industries or to (Chinese) competitors. Ex-Porsche boss and now VW Group CEO Oliver Blume describes […]
May 04, 2026
The trade deal between the US and the EU, which was agreed just last summer, is already showing cracks. President Trump signals a return to the tariff playbook and proposes imposing a 25% duty on European cars and trucks. But this time the trigger is geopolitical as much as economic. Donald Trump’s tariff menace has […]
April 29, 2026
BYD, the Shenzhen-based carmaker, reported a 55% year-on-year fall in net profit for the first quarter, confirming analyst expectations and underscoring the pressure created by an ongoing price war in China’s hypercompetitive electric vehicle market. Revenues also declined, even as sales volumes remain robust, highlighting a widening gap between growth and profitability. The sharp drop […]
