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Automobiles
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Automobiles. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
Hongkonger Antares Au competes in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. Photo: Jurgen Tapp Photography
Formula One (F1)

Behind the scenes at Le Mans – and what it takes to win

A look at the changing face of the world’s most famous endurance race, won this year for the first time by a Chinese driver.

Toyota

Video | Japanese carmakers under fire for falsifying safety data

Video | Retirees lead China's RV boom

United States

Video | Tesla plunges off a cliff in US, all 4 passengers survive

Four passengers survive after Tesla plunges off California cliff
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Automotive industry

China gives up US$9 billion in tax to kick start stalling vehicle sales

China’s vehicle industry took a deep dive last month, as Shanghai went into a citywide lockdown, which idled car plants from General Motors to Tesla and Volkswagen.

China economy

Macroscope | As globalisation enters a new phase, companies and consumers will pay

In addition to electoral pressure in developed countries for jobs to be brought back home, supply chain disruptions and geopolitical risks mean globalisation is evolving. As companies seek to diversify supply chains, profits may well decline while consumers can expect to pay higher prices.

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Shanghai

China’s carmakers lost 1 million vehicles in production last month amid lockdowns

China’s automobiles industry lost 1 million vehicles in production last month amid severe lockdown measures introduced to contain outbreaks of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of Covid-19.

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A SAIC Motor Company assembly workshop in Shanghai. While the lockdown in Jinlin has been lifted, Shanghai has yet to publish a time frame for easing its pandemic curbs. Photo: Xinhua
Geely

Geely buys a third of Renault Korea as it sets sight on US market

For Geely, which has typically grown its business through global partnerships, the deal goes beyond selling cars in South Korea and is a way for the Chinese carmaker to export cars made in South Korea to America.

Shanghai

April deliveries at Tesla’s Chinese rivals fall as Shanghai locks down

Shrinking deliveries at Nio, Li Auto and Xpeng are dragging on their attempts to catch up with the industry’s bellwether Tesla for supremacy in the world’s largest market for automobiles and smart EVs.

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Hong Kong stock market

China car stocks drop as Covid puts brakes on production, demand

Shares of the three leading Chinese EV start-ups, Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto, have suffered losses ranging from 17 to 50 per cent in Hong Kong this year, as sales lose traction amid Covid-19 outbreaks.

Nio Inc. electric vehicles rolled off the production line during an event at the automaker’s factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. Photo: Bloomberg
Tesla

Tesla’s China factory running at half capacity, highlights hurdles Shanghai faces

Tesla’s Shanghai factory is assembling 1,000 vehicles a day – just half of its output before the city’s latest Covid-19 outbreak – after resuming work this week

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Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 in the Lingang free-trade zone. The US carmaker has incurred a loss of about 50,000 units during the 22-day hiatus in production. Photo: Reuters
Shanghai

China draws up ‘white lists’ to bolster industrial supply chains amid lockdown shocks

By allowing key producers to function as normally as possible, China is aiming to reduce the impact of strict lockdown measures.

Shanghai

Shanghai to resume some production, reports more than 24,000 new cases

Shanghai is on track to resume production at key manufacturing sites after a 16-day citywide lockdown, succumbing to pressure from foreign diplomats, business groups and multinational firms calling for an easing of anti-coronavirus control measures.

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Shanghai

‘China’s Motown’ is paralysed as Shanghai’s lockdown idles plants

Shanghai’s local authorities locked the entire city down on April 5, and confined most of the city’s 25 million residents – except emergency workers and medical staff – to their homes to contain a Covid-19 outbreak.

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Workers on an assembly line at SAIC-Volkswagen workshop in Shanghai on Oct. 30, 2018. Photo: Xinhua
Electric & new energy vehicles

China’s NEV sales drop for second straight month in February

NEV sales in China fell for a second consecutive month in February, as sales were affected by the Lunar New Year holiday and a cut in subsidies.

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A consumer checks out Tesla cars at a showroom in Shanghai. Photo: Reuters
Luxury cars

Abacus | Classic cars in Hong Kong could be an untapped treasure trove for investors

Older second-hand cars are largely shunned in Hong Kong but sought after overseas by owner-driver-investors. Could these be an astute purchase, asks Neil Newman.

Electric & new energy vehicles

Chinese electric car makers’ February sales dented by Lunar New Year

Analysts predict sales will rebound sharply in March when consumer demand and operations at Li Auto, Xpeng and NIO return to normal after the traditional low season.

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Toyota

Toyota suspends Japan factory operations after suspected cyberattack

Firm will halt work at its 14 plants in Japan on Tuesday, after parts supplier hit; Japanese government to investigate incident and whether Russia is involved.

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Toyota Motor Corporation President Akio Toyoda. Photo: Reuters
Geely

Lotus eyes IPO as it seeks to extend Chinese parent Geely’s EV empire

Lotus, the British sports car brand majority owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, is in early discussions about a stock market listing with the idea of raising fresh capital for global expansion and EV development.

Tesla

Tesla recalls 26,047 Shanghai-made electric cars to repair defects

The fixes have not dented customers’ enthusiasm for Tesla, which outsells its nearest competitor by nearly five-to-one.

Electric & new energy vehicles

Tesla’s lead in China’s EV market is whittled away by local brands

Any new model will come at the expense of the bottom line, as the unprofitable carmakers must spend heavily on marketing to prove that they can match against the market bellwether.

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Tesla’s chief executive Elon Musk in front of a screen showing a Tesla Model 3 car. Photo: Reuters.
Autonomous vehicles

Outside In | Era of self-driving cars is still far off despite Elon Musk’s big talk

Despite years of confident pronouncements from tech visionaries, the takeover of our roads by autonomous vehicles has yet to occur. High costs, technical hurdles and limited 5G roll-out are all thwarting the imminent arrival predicted by Elon Musk and other luminaries.

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The remains of a Tesla vehicle are seen after it crashed in The Woodlands, Texas, on April 17, 2021. Concerns about the safety and reliability of self-driving cars persist despite rosy pronouncements of their imminent rise to prominence. Photo: Reuters
Tesla

Tesla, who? Biden can’t bring himself to say it – and Musk has noticed

There’s no mystery behind Biden’s antipathy towards Tesla. The president has enjoyed the support of unions including the United Auto Workers (UAW), while Musk is hostile toward unions and workers aren’t organised.

Tesla

Tesla’s 12 per cent plunge wipes out US$100 billion of value in a day

During Tesla’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said that the company would not bring any new vehicles to market this year, a letdown for many.

Sri Lanka

Used cars cost more than new flat in Sri Lanka amid economic tailspin

A wide-ranging import ban to stop foreign currency from leaving the country has forced buyers to pay some of the world’s highest prices for a set of wheels.

Customers look at used cars displayed for sale at a showroom in Colombo’s Malabe, Sri Lanka. Photo: AFP
China’s carbon neutral goal

China needs more EVs at a faster rate to meet carbon neutrality goal

The findings underscore the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the world’s fastest growing market for so-called new energy vehicles (NEVs), where three of every five new cars entering China’s roads are expected to be powered by electricity by 2030.

Aerial photo of newly-produced cars covered in snow at the factory of BMW-Brilliance in Shenyang in northeastern China’s Liaoning province on November 17, 2021. Photo: AFP
Fame and celebrity

5 things to know about Sydney Sweeney, star of HBO’s Euphoria

One of 2021’s biggest breakout stars after roles in Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood and The Handmaid’s Tale, Sweeney an all-action woman with a plan and plenty of confidence

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Electric & new energy vehicles

Evergrande rolls out Hengchi 5 electric SUV after much delay in Tianjin

The roll-out of the much-delayed SUV bookmarked more than a year of anxious wait for Evergrande’s shareholders, who poured HK$30 billion (US$3.85 billion) into the company to fund founder Hui Ka-yan’s aspiration to “beat Tesla” in the world’s largest market for electric cars.

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