Autos in Five

Episodi

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  Spain Clears a Chinese Car Plant Next Door to a Naval Base 14.08.2026 4min

  Automotive News reports Spain's Defense Ministry will approve state-owned SAIC's plan to build a car plant in Galicia, near a naval base, with reported intelligence warnings about espionage risk left unresolved and no timetable or conditions attached. Toyota is recalling more than 655,000 Camrys over a turn signal fault, according to Just Auto, with 508,354 of them 2025 and 2026 Camry Hybrids sold in the United States. Also moving: Hyundai's 26 billion dollar push into trucks, SUVs and commercial vehicles under Jose Munoz, a sixth straight month of growth in Western European passenger vehicle sales per Just Auto data, and Zoox charging fares for robotaxi rides in Las Vegas, per Automotive World.
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  GM Buys $4.5 Billion of Insurance 13.08.2026 5min

  Automotive News reports General Motors has secured up to $4.5 billion in critical parts inventory through Procura Auto Parts, a hedge against supply chain shocks that the trade is reading as a financing arrangement more than a straight purchase. Also today: Ford plans to move some Lincoln production from China to the US in 2030 as tariffs bite, per Automotive News carrying Reuters, and Porsche will pool its 2026 and 2027 CO2 emissions with Xpeng rather than the Volkswagen Group. Plus, BYD, Geely, Nissan and Isuzu commit to Nvidia's DRIVE Hyperion platform, and Kia targets 1.2 million US sales by 2030.
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  Germany's China Slide, GM's Battery Exit 12.08.2026 4min

  An Economic Times analysis argues Germany's premium brands are losing ground in China model by model, with Mercedes selling 1,153 electric CLAs against more than 80,000 Xiaomi SU7s in the first half, and BMW, Volkswagen and Porsche each down at least 30 percent in the second quarter. Just Auto reports Samsung SDI is buying out General Motors from their Indiana battery venture, and that Volkswagen is reviewing its entire United States model range with a pickup possibly added, a truck Automotive News says Ford could partner on. Also: Automotive News argues the Japanese capacity build-out in North America is driven by growth ambition rather than tariffs, Volvo plans at least 20,000 South Carolina XC60s early next year, and California's MyFirstEV instant rebates are live at up to 3,500 dollars.
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  Stellantis Opens Windsor Battery Center, UK BEVs Jump 44.5% 11.08.2026 4min

  CarBuzz reports Stellantis has opened a 2.8 billion dollar Battery Technology Center in Windsor, Ontario, a 35-engineer testing hub with 35 walk-in climatic cells, working in tandem with a companion site in Turin. Just Auto reports the UK new car market grew 11.7 percent in July while battery-electric registrations rose 44.5 percent, and Automotive News reports Hyundai and Kia both set July sales records on hybrid and crossover strength, led by a record 19,714 Tucsons. Also moving: Unifor is pressing GM to add GMC Sierra production at Oshawa, US July light-vehicle sales fell 1.4 percent, Toyota is joining the Volvo and Daimler heavy-duty fuel-cell venture per WardsAuto, and LG Energy Solution has filed an ITC complaint seeking to block imports of Chinese-made EVE batteries.
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  Unifor Opens GM Talks With Two Plants Dark 10.08.2026 4min

  Unifor and General Motors have opened contract negotiations in Canada, Automotive News reports, with GM's Ingersoll plant idle and thousands laid off, following the union's pattern-setting deal with Ford. Mercedes-Benz chief executive Ola Kallenius now expects China's pricing competition to last for years, per the same outlet, as Chinese brands spend heavily to enter the luxury segment. Also today: Schaeffler targets 1,300 German job cuts through expanded phased retirement, Toyota suspends 17 lines for a typhoon, and the UK funds 33 automotive projects through Drive35.
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  Ford's $30,000 Fathom, and London's first robotaxi licenses 07.08.2026 5min

  WardsAuto reports Ford will call its affordable electric pickup the Fathom, starting at $30,000, with pre-orders in early 2027 and deliveries later that year, while industry reaction leans skeptical that the headline price reaches buyers. Automotive News reports Uber and UK startup Wayve won licenses for supervised robotaxis in London, running up to 15 autonomous Ford Mustang Mach-E SUVs with a safety driver aboard, ahead of Waymo and Baidu. Also: Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi restarted Japanese production after the July 28 Kumamoto quake while Honda stays shut through mid-August, Ford and Dacia halted Romanian output over drought-driven power shortages, and Mercedes-Benz will build the GLC in Alabama.
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  July Slips, Kia Bets Big, GM Locks In China to 2047 06.08.2026 5min

  US light vehicle sales fell 1.4 percent year on year in July to 1.38 million units, per Just Auto's preliminary estimate, though Automotive News reports the seasonally adjusted annualized rate held at 16 million or more for a fifth straight month. Kia is committing 649 million dollars to build the EV3 in Mexico alongside a charging network, solar park and water recycling plant, while General Motors extended its SAIC joint venture by 20 years to 2047. Also covered: Honda's record 3.28 billion dollar quarterly operating profit on a weak yen that will also inflate its EV pullback costs, Lucid's 1.4 billion dollar cash-flow improvement plan, Subaru's 44 percent profit drop, Hyundai's Brazil ethanol hybrid plan, and Stellantis Canada's doubts about a revamped USMCA.
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  Toyota's 75% Profit Jump, and Hybrids Beat EVs in California 05.08.2026 5min

  Toyota's first-quarter net income rose 75.6 percent and the automaker raised full-year guidance even as operating income fell 8.8 percent to 1.06 trillion yen, per Just Auto, and Automotive News reports a next-generation low-cost lithium-ion battery entering production in Japan from 2027 to drive hybrid sales. China issued a mandatory national standard setting a safety baseline for Level 3 and Level 4 automated driving, according to Automotive World. In California, standard hybrids took 22 percent of first-half registrations against 16 percent for full electrics, breaking a four-year EV lead, per Automotive News.
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  Nissan Profits, Cuts Forecast; Chinese Brands Hit 9.5% in Europe 04.08.2026 5min

  Nissan returned to a fiscal first-quarter operating profit of 77.88 billion yen, per Just Auto, while Automotive News reports it lowered its global sales forecast on a deteriorating China business and Middle East disruption, with CEO Ivan Espinosa calling the US Rogue e-Power launch the year's most important introduction. July US sales split along powertrain lines, with Honda's Accord up 55 percent and Hyundai and Kia posting a record month while Toyota and Mazda slipped, according to Automotive News. That same reporting puts Chinese brands at 9.5 percent of the European market, up from half a percent in 2021, as Chery agreed to invest 75 million dollars in South Korea's KG Mobility through convertible bonds.
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  Japan's Quake Shutdowns Spread Across Four Automakers 03.08.2026 5min

  Automotive News reports Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Daihatsu suspended output after the July 28 earthquake disrupted suppliers including Aisin, Astemo and Renesas, erasing more than 10,000 vehicles. The Trump administration imposed 10 to 12.5 percent duties on goods from more than 80 countries, with exemptions that carry many auto parts, while Rivian's second-quarter net loss narrowed to 837 million dollars on revenue up 27 percent. Also today: NHTSA is fast-tracking the first performance standards for autonomous vehicles while clearing Zoox for driverless service, and Nissan says it cut vehicle development time by 40 percent.
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  Stellantis Profits Again, BMW Puts Numbers to the Cuts 31.07.2026 4min

  Automotive News reports Stellantis posted a second straight quarterly profit as U.S. market share rose half a point on surging Ram pickup sales, while Automotive World notes earnings still missed expectations. BMW's second-quarter profit fell thirty-three percent with a thirty percent collapse in Chinese sales, per Automotive News, as the company confirmed full-year guidance. Also covered: Amazon's Zoox won the first U.S. approval for paid robotaxi service in vehicles without human controls, Chinese suppliers now match the United States with sixteen places in the Top One Hundred global supplier ranking, and Ferrari raised its full-year guidance.
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  Every German Automaker Is Cutting At Once 30.07.2026 5min

  Automotive News reports BMW's voluntary severance cuts could reach 8,000 jobs, a figure BMW has not confirmed, with Automotive World noting Volkswagen, Mercedes and Porsche are retrenching simultaneously. Analysts cited by Automotive News have revised Chinese share projections in Europe up toward 30 percent, while Renault returned to profit on first-half revenue up 9.4 percent. Toyota extended its Lexus export-plant shutdown through July 31 after the magnitude 7.1 Japanese earthquake, with Nissan and Honda also suspending output.
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  Ford's Billion-Dollar Loss, and a Raised Outlook 29.07.2026 4min

  Ford posted a 1.3 billion dollar second-quarter net loss tied to its EV strategy pivot while raising its full-year outlook on pricing and a resilient US market, per Automotive News, and a strong earthquake in Japan's Kumamoto region has Toyota suspending Lexus output and Nissan evaluating plants. Nissan and Honda revived their software partnership to jointly develop an operating system for software-defined vehicles after their merger collapsed, and the US is moving to set new safety rules for car doors following deaths in Tesla vehicles. Mercedes-Benz cut its sales and revenue guidance on weak China demand, with trade headlines on USMCA options, Volkswagen's European plant costs, and a possible new Honda assembly plant in North America.
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  VW Wants Tariffs on Chinese Plug-In Hybrids 28.07.2026 5min

  Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume is pressing the EU for faster tariffs on Chinese plug-in hybrids, which Automotive News reports took 28 percent of Europe's PHEV market in the first half and the top three sales spots. Ford is recalling more than 565,000 US vehicles over an engine fire risk per an NHTSA notice reported by Just Auto, and President Trump defended tariffs, the end of EV incentives and the fuel economy rollback at GM's Milford Proving Ground. Also today, CATL's profit rose 42 percent on energy storage demand, BMW starts battery production at Plant Woodruff in December, and Audi cut its operating-margin guidance to as low as 5 percent.
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  Waymo Goes Direct, and a Crash-Data Milestone 27.07.2026 4min

  WebProNews reports Waymo has notified Uber it will launch its own rider app in Austin and Atlanta in January 2028, ending the exclusivity deal, and Uber's stock fell more than four percent Friday. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found Waymo's driverless vehicles were involved in sixty-eight percent fewer police-reported crashes than the average human driver, per Electrek and TechBullion, though the institute flags a higher crash rate in Austin and in dark conditions. Also moving: Hyundai's profit dropped twenty-one percent, GM lifted its guidance on forty-eight billion dollars in revenue, Volkswagen scrapped its 2026 growth forecast, Mobileye's Amnon Shashua will step down as CEO, and NHTSA ordered Waymo, Tesla and Zoox to explain how they will avoid interfering with first responders.
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  Tesla's Record Revenue, Thinner Profit 24.07.2026 4min

  Tesla posted record second-quarter deliveries and revenue of 28.2 billion dollars while net income fell 17 percent, with cash flow turning negative on accelerating AI, Optimus and robotaxi spending, per Automotive World and Just Auto. The United States imposed 50 percent tariffs on a wide range of Canadian imports under Section 338, reaching goods that qualify as duty-free under the USMCA, according to WardsAuto and Automotive News, and Ford and Geely formalized a deal to jointly build electrified vehicles at Ford's Valencia plant. Also today, Porsche plans to cut a further 5,000 jobs in Germany, Grupo Antolin was granted United States court protection, and Canada's 2035 EV target is in doubt after the mandate was scrapped.