March 17, 2025
Releasing its 2024 financial results, BMW’s net profit plummeted by over a third last year. The German automaker warns of continued headwinds from trade tariffs and sluggish demand in China. The Bavarian company reported a 36.9% drop in net profit to €7.68 billion ($8.32 billion), in line with market expectations and German competitors. However, geopolitical […]
March 13, 2025
According to communications from Wanfeng to investors, Chinese concern Wanfeng wants to acquire Volocopter, the German maker of flying cabs that take off vertically. Volocopter initiated bankruptcy proceedings late last year and hoped for a relaunch with new investors. Wanfeng wants to acquire the start-up for 10 million euros. Pioneer Volocopter makes vertically rising electric […]
March 12, 2025
Tesla shares tumbled more than 15% on Monday, suffering their worst single-day drop since 2020. The electric vehicle maker is grappling with plunging sales, and its valuation has been halved since December to roughly $700 billion (€640 billion). The trend marks a dramatic reversal from the optimism that followed Donald Trump’s election victory. To help […]
March 11, 2025
Zeekr, a Chinese conglomerate Geely’s sub-brand, has revealed some winter testing photos of its upcoming flagship SUV. The Zeekr 9X will be the brand’s first ‘Super Hybrid’ after initially offering only BEVs. It will be available in two variants: the 9X and the even more luxurious 9X Grand. Zeekr first announced the arrival of its […]
March 10, 2025
Dongfeng-Honda, the Japanese manufacturer’s Chinese joint venture, has launched the ‘premium’ S7 electric SUV. The first of Honda’s next-gen electric vehicles, it aims to compete with the Tesla Model Y thanks to its 650-km range, up to 476 hp, and modern technology on board. To put it mildly, Honda has not been at the forefront […]
March 07, 2025
Chinese carmaker Xpeng has started rolling out its highly anticipated 2025 model lineup, and the latest addition is a refreshed version of its flagship SUV, the G9. This SUV, also available in Europe, is exciting as stakeholder Volkswagen intends to build derivatives of the model. The new G9’s LiDAR-based driving assistance aid swap is among […]
March 07, 2025
The world’s number one automaker, Japanese Toyota, is aiming its arrows on the world’s biggest auto market with the bZ3X electric SUV, introduced in China at 109,800 yuan or some 14,000 euros. The Chinese elbowed each other out of the way, crashing the server with more than 10,000 orders in an hour. It’s Toyota’s cheapest […]
March 05, 2025
Chinese tech giant Xiaomi’s CEO, William Lu, is currently in Spain, where he told the Chinese press Jiemian that he will tour Europe’s car markets in the coming days to prepare for the launch of its EVs on the Old Continent starting in 2027. He wants to see firsthand how Chinese EV makers are doing […]
March 04, 2025
Swedish-Chinese electric carmaker Polestar has secured a new loan of up to $450 million (€420 million) as it grapples with ongoing financial pressures and strives to turn a profit by 2026. Local Chinese media also reported that the company aims to downscale its Chinese operations and relocate production to South Korea, Europe or the US. […]
March 03, 2025
Xpeng, the Chinese electric car manufacturer founded in 2014 and with a presence in Europe, has updated its most popular G6 model. The electric SUV coupé, a rival to the Tesla Model Y, gets a refreshed design, updated technology, and new battery options with super-fast charging. The Xpeng G6 was officially launched in 2023 and, […]
March 03, 2025
Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën, the joint venture between the Chinese and French manufacturers, has launched a new-energy vehicle (NEV) brand in China: Hedmos. The new brand hopes to revive the manufacturer’s sales figures with affordable electrified models, starting with an all-electric SUV for around €15,000. Dongfeng is one of the four biggest state-owned car manufacturers in China. […]
February 26, 2025
Li Auto, the young Chinese car manufacturer that first made headlines with the Li Mega electric minivan, has unveiled its second all-electric model and its first electric SUV: the Li i8. The manufacturer has compared its newcomer to the Tesla Model Y, hinting at a three-row interior. Li Auto came into the spotlight with its […]
February 26, 2025
Lynk & Co, the Chinese-Swedish brand now majority-owned by Geely’s daughter Zeekr, is launching the 08 plugin-hybrid compact SUV in selected European markets in June, a year and a half after its release in China. The company says this version will have a 200 km WLTP pure electric range, the first to accomplish that in […]
February 25, 2025
CALB, after CATL and BYD, is China’s third-biggest battery maker. It has broken ground for a brand new factory in the Portuguese deepwater port of Sines, halfway on the Atlantic coast between Lisbon and Lagos. All three invest heavily in European battery factories, while the old continent is lagging with its own trumpeted ‘Airbus of […]
February 18, 2025
Chinese tech giant Huawei and automotive leader SAIC Motor are set to debut their first co-developed electric vehicle under the newly established brand Shangjie. According to reports from local media, the inaugural Shangjie model will be derived from SAIC’s sub-brand Roewe, specifically the ES39 project. Like Sony in Japan (with Afeela), Huawei in China is […]
February 17, 2025
BYD is joining the group of Chinese car makers unveiling their road map towards the commercialization of solid-state batteries. The company will start the demonstration phase of the technology around 2027, in line with the objectives of Toyota and MG, for instance. As for large-scale commercialization, we won’t see BYD models with revolutionary packs until […]
February 14, 2025
Chinese state-owned auto giants Dongfeng Motor and Changan Automobile have announced restructuring plans, fueling speculation that the two automakers may merge to form one of the world’s largest automotive groups. If realized, the newborn group would surpass BYD as China’s biggest carmaker and rank as the world’s fifth-largest auto manufacturer. While the automotive world had […]
February 12, 2025
Tesla has officially commenced production at its newly constructed Megafactory in Shanghai, a new milestone in its rapidly expanding energy storage division. This facility is Tesla’s second dedicated energy storage production plant and has already rolled out its first Megapack unit, with initial orders ready for shipment. While Tesla’s core automotive business has recently encountered […]
February 12, 2025
China and, by extension, the world’s largest battery maker, CATL, is lodging its filings with regulators to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Reuters says. The company aims to raise some 5 billion dollars (€4.82 billion). It will be CATL’s secondary listing, as it has been on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange since June […]
February 11, 2025
China’s most significant EV carmaker, BYD, has launched its newest advanced driver system, ‘God’s Eye’. It will be available in all its models in China, top-down, from the luxury Yangwang U9 supercar to the modest cars under 100,000 yuan (€13,278) like Dolphin or Seagull. It comes in three flavors, À-B-C, with or without LiDAR, to […]
February 07, 2025
Chinese premium EV brand NIO has set a new battery-swapping record by performing 136,748 swaps in a single day in its 3,106 swap stations in China, an average of 44 changed battery packs per station. The brand, a clear leader in swapping technology, has already performed over 65 million of these swaps. As travel peaked, […]
January 31, 2025
Great Wall Motor (GWM) is making another play for the premium segment by launching a new luxury vehicle brand, Confidence Auto. Positioned above its existing brands – Haval, WEY, Tank, and Ora – Confidence Auto is set to compete directly with BYD’s high-end Yangwang brand and Hongqi from FAW. GWM applied for the Confidence Auto […]
January 29, 2025
While 2,900 employees will lose their jobs on February 28th, 2025, when the last Audi Q8 e-tron will be made at Audi Brussels, Belgium’s only remaining car factory, Volvo Car Gent is looking for 350 new people to start building the EX30 in Europe. Volvo announced in October last year its intention to build the […]
January 29, 2025
Persistent rumors exist that Mitsubishi Motors, partly owned by Nissan, will not join the new holding Nissan-Honda. Mitsubishi seems to be planning to relaunch an EV in North America. Meanwhile, the Honda-Nissan deal faces serious problems in China. Although Nissan is still Mitsubishi Motors’ biggest shareholder, it seems the company is not ready to join […]
January 28, 2025
China superluxury brand Hongqi has unveiled the Tiangong 05, a pure electric sedan the size of a BMW i5 and the second model in its Tiangong series, which is compatible with battery swapping technology. A market launch is scheduled for later this year, but whether the model will be exported to Europe remains unconfirmed. The […]
January 28, 2025
According to a recent study by consulting company PwC, global sales of battery electric vehicles climbed to 10.4 million units in 2024, a 14% increase from the previous year. Despite this growth, regional variations highlight the uneven adoption of electric vehicles worldwide, with China firmly in the lead in absolute numbers. However, Belgium beats China […]
January 28, 2025
Rumors have it that Volkswagen could enter into a joint venture with a Chinese car manufacturer in Europe to produce the latter’s cars in its underutilized plants. Two top managers have spoken out in favor of such a move. Audi boss Gernot Döllner is apparently open to offering surplus capacity in VW plants to Chinese […]
January 27, 2025
After unveiling the Chinese version, Tesla officially introduced the new Model Y Juniper in Belgium. A series of upgrades are introduced to safeguard the SUV’s leading position in sales. Deliveries are set to begin in March, as the Grünheide factory in Germany has already commenced production. But Belgian prices show a steep 9,000 euros increase […]
January 27, 2025
Shipments of the Voyah Courage, Dongfeng Motor’s premium electric SUV, have officially kicked off. The first batch of vehicles has left China for Europe. The car is Voyah’s first global EV and will debut in Norway before launching in other European markets. The first batch of vehicles departed for Norway via the China-Europe freight train, […]
January 27, 2025
A day before the deadline, three Chinese EV makers, BYD, Geely, and SAIC, and the China Chamber of Commerce (CME), filed challenges at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg against the tariffs the EU is imposing on electric cars made in China. At the last minute, BMW and Tesla joined […]
January 23, 2025
Chinese manufacturer Segway-Ninebot, the global leader in e-scooters with more than 13 million Ninebot eKickScooters on the road, is launching its next generation of eKickScooters. Seven new models are involved. With that new generation, the quality, such as an improved suspension system and the driving range of almost every model, increases slightly again. Like all […]
January 23, 2025
According to the Chinese bus industry website Chinabuses.org, Chinese manufacturers exported more than 15,000 ‘New Energy’ buses in 2024, including electric, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen fuel cell buses. This represents an increase of 28.33% over 2023, with a sharp upswing in December 2024 alone. BYD is, like with new-energy passenger cars, the biggest manufacturer and […]
January 21, 2025
The European Union has lodged a formal complaint with the World Trade Organization against China over what it calls “unfair and illegal” practices involving intellectual property rights. The complaint escalates ongoing trade tensions between the two economic giants following disputes over electric vehicle import tariffs and Chinese investigations into European industries. At the heart of […]
January 21, 2025
Jetour, a sub-brand of Chery Automobile, has steep ambitions in its home country to mimic what Land Rover does in the UK and Jeep in the USA. A fresh teaser video of its upcoming luxury off-road vehicle series, Zongheng, shows a camouflaged vehicle sailing through the water like an amphibious car. This sets new benchmarks […]
January 21, 2025
Huawei has unveiled more images and information about its luxury saloon Maextro S800, which is set to compete with the Nio ET9 and German luxury EVs like the BMW i7 and Mercedes EQS in China. Some official, “real-life” photos and a video showing the S800 locating and connecting to a charger fully autonomously have been […]
January 20, 2025
BYD’s new flagship sedan Han L has been officially unveiled in its homecountry China, alongside its sister model, the Tang L. Equipped with a new e-motor both models share their technology and aim at top performances with 1,086 hp on tap and a 0-100 km/h sprint to rival the plaid versions of the Model S […]
January 16, 2025
Outgoing US President Joe Biden presented a farewell gift this week. He announced sweeping new restrictions, banning Chinese and Russian technology in connected vehicles over national security concerns. The new regulations will prohibit the sale, import, and use of hardware, software, and complete vehicles incorporating such technologies in the US. The White House stated that […]
January 15, 2025
The Volkswagen Group saw a challenging 2024, reporting a 2.3% decline in global deliveries across all its brands, totaling 9.03 million vehicles. While the company narrowly achieved its target of 9 million units, the drop reflects difficulties in key markets, particularly China, and slower-than-expected growth in electric vehicles. Volkswagen’s sales in China, its largest market, […]
January 14, 2025
Sports carmaker Porsche is the next German car brand to report a sharp decline in Chinese deliveries. It highlights the mounting challenges German luxury automakers face in the world’s largest car market. In 2024, Porsche delivered 56,887 vehicles in China, a staggering 28 percent drop from the 79,283 units sold in 2023. This marks the […]
January 09, 2025
Zeekr, the Swedish-Chinese sister brand of Volvo under the Geely umbrella, first appeared in April 2021 with the 001 shooting brake. Now, it is ready to show the world a second one: a ‘touring’ version called 007 GT, based on the 007 electric sedan that only sells in China for now. To avoid any confusion […]
January 08, 2025
In its latest update of the ‘Chinese military companies’ list, the US Department of Defense (DoD) mentions the Chinese battery giant CATL for the first time, along with Tencent, another Chinese giant in gaming and communications. CATL is the world’s biggest EV battery maker, with nearly 37% market share. It is way ahead of the […]
January 07, 2025
Chinese carmaker BYD is expanding its Seal model range with a new, affordable saloon, the Seal 05 DM-i. Contrary to the other Seal models, it is not available as a fully electric model: at launch, two plug-in hybrid drivetrains will be available with a starting price of under €12,000. BYD has been the world’s largest […]
January 07, 2025
Leapmotor, the Chinese electric vehicle start-up partially backed by Stellantis, is gearing up to launch its newest family member in the B-series. After unveiling the B10 SUV at the Paris Motor Show, the brand is preparing the B01 sedan for launch in mid-2025. The brand has also unveiled a longer-range version of the C16, an […]
January 07, 2025
You’ll probably not have to use it very often unless you have the habit of being chased by a police car: jump over a 3.5 cm high spike strip at 120 km per hour. But we must admit, it’s a marketing stunt that stands out for BYD’s Yangwang U9 electric sportscar to demonstrate its DiSus […]
January 07, 2025
Car manufacturers Volkswagen and Xpeng are extending their partnership. In addition to offering a joint platform for electric cars, they now want to “jointly build one of the largest super-fast charging networks in China.” The two parties have now signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), giving each other access to their respective charging networks. According […]
January 03, 2025
Chinese Chery Automotive is expanding its dealerships for its Omoda and Jaecoo brands in Belgium to Wallonia by signing up Stellantis dealer Groupe Ricco, which has footholds in Arlon, Libramont, Marche, and Rochefort and now also adding Groupe GSL. The latter covers the region of Nivelles and Charleroi. However, Chery has swallowed its EV ambitions […]
December 27, 2024
Leapmotor plans to make waves at the 101st Brussels Motor Show in January 2025 by unveiling its latest innovation: the C10 REEV (Range Extender Electric Vehicle). This marks the first introduction of Leapmotor’s REEV technology in Europe as the company seeks to expand its presence in the growing EV and hybrid markets. Leapmotor enlarges its […]
December 27, 2024
China is firmly on track to sell more ‘electric’ cars—that is, EVs and plug-in hybrids—than pure traditional gas cars with internal combustion engines (ICE) in 2025, reaching its 50% electric target a decade before the deadline the government had set by 2035. According to The Financial Times (FT) analysis, so-called New Energy Vehicle (NEV) sales […]
December 27, 2024
Construction at BYD’s highly anticipated EV manufacturing plant in Salvador, Brazil, was abruptly stopped this week following alarming allegations from Brazilian authorities. According to the Public Ministry of Labor (MPT), 163 Chinese workers were found laboring in “slavery-like conditions” at the site. The workers are not direct employees of the Chinese carmaker but belong to […]
December 27, 2024
Chinese battery maker CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd) launched a new skateboard called ‘Bedrock’ the day before Christmas that should be as hard to crush as the name suggests, the safest EV chassis so far. What’s more, is that it promises a range of over 1,000 kilometers and supports Level 3 and 4 autonomous […]
December 23, 2024
Chinese EV maker Nio has unveiled the Firefly at Nio Day 2024. It is the first model under its new budget-oriented brand, aiming to capture young buyers with its compact size, innovative features, and affordability. Priced from 148,800 yuan (approximately €19,750), the Firefly is set to compete with established players like BMW’s Mini, the BYD […]
December 23, 2024
The day before Christmas, at Nio Day 2023, the Chinese premium EV maker took off the wraps of its new ‘executive flagship sedan,’ the ET9, which has to play in the highest luxury car segment like the Mercedes-Maybach or EQS, or the BMW i7. Exactly a year later, the ET9 launches in China for 788,000 […]
December 20, 2024
According to a Chinese media outlet, Tesla will begin mass production of its refreshed Model Y at its Giga Shanghai factory next month. The updated Model Y, codenamed ‘Juniper,’ is the world’s best-selling car. It will feature a range of design and performance enhancements aimed at keeping the popular SUV ahead of the competition. The […]
December 17, 2024
MG Motor, a Chinese state-owned SAIC Motor subsidiary, has announced plans to launch an electric vehicle in 2025 powered by a semi-solid state battery. This move comes after earlier statements suggested MG would be the first to deploy a fully solid-state battery. The hybrid solution implies the car brand is backtracking on its earlier full […]
December 17, 2024
Zeekr, part of the Chinese Geely group, has launched its flagship electric SUV in Europe. The Zeekr 7X offers a range of up to 615 km, with ultra-fast charging thanks to an 800V architecture and a roomy, premium interior for a starting price of €52,990 in the Netherlands. The Zeekr 7X is the third electric […]
December 12, 2024
The facelifted version of the popular BYD Dolphin hatchback has leaked. According to registration details from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the design introduces minor tweaks, but there will be a new powertrain option. Three motor configurations, including a new 130 kW (174 hp) variant, are slated for commercialization. These changes will […]
December 11, 2024
French-Italian-American car group Stellantis is joining forces with the world’s biggest battery maker, Chinese CATL, to build a new factory at the Stellantis’ Zaragoza site in Spain to produce low-cost lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. For CATL, it will be its third battery factory in Europe. “Targeted to start production by the end of 2026, […]
December 10, 2024
Chinese tech conglomerate-turned-auto manufacturer Xiaomi has unveiled its second all-electric model: the YU7, an SUV based on the popular SU7 saloon. The model was first leaked by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), after which Xiaomi CEO shared two official images of the YU7 alongside the SU7. Apart from the MIIT’s leaks and […]
December 10, 2024
Toyota’s GAC joint venture has officially opened orders in China for its highly anticipated “new force pure electric SUV,” the bZ3X. While Toyota is slowing down on its global EV plans, the bZ3X plays a pivotal role in the company’s success in the Chinese marketplace—and it might end up in Europe. Toyota has unveiled the […]
December 10, 2024
BYD aims to stay ahead in the fierce EV battery price war with a new generation of its Blade battery that promises higher energy density, faster charging, and reduced costs. As the world’s second-largest EV battery manufacturer, BYD is gearing up to launch its second-generation Blade battery in the first half of 2025. The new […]
