HEFEI, China—In a giant testing lab filled with huge spikes, Volkswagen is putting one of the new cars it has designed especially for China through its paces. A Volkswagen electric vehicle at a testing facility in Hefei, China. But the biggest test is still to come: Will Chinese drivers want to buy them? The vehicles…
Skoda will stop selling cars in China by the middle of the year. It sold only 15,000 cars in 2025. China was Skoda’s largest market for many years. Škoda’s spectacular downfall in China needs to be studied. For many years, it was the company’s largest market, but sales began to slip toward the end of…
The Ford F-150 Lightning is canceled, as is its fully electric replacement, codenamed “T3.” Meanwhile, China’s EV and PHEV options keep making inroads in cheap segments across the globe. Ford’s Universal EV Platform is still on track to launch in 2027. The F-150 Lightning will gain a gas engine. An American-made commercial electric van has…
The EU has for the first time launched a formal review of a price undertaking offer from a company seeking to avoid its tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, following a submission from Volkswagen’s Chinese joint venture. Over the course of 12 to 15 months, the European Commission will examine whether VW Anhui can replace its…
Los Angeles — A vintage blue VW bus that became an unlikely symbol of resilience after it survived a California wildfire made its public debut this week, shiny and like-new after Volkswagen spent months restoring the damaged vehicle. The bus went viral in January when an Associated Press photographer captured it looking surprisingly unharmed by…
For years, many foreign companies treated China as a vast consumer base or a low-cost manufacturing hub. Now that paradigm is shifting dramatically. China is not just where multinationals scale production or sell at volume; it is increasingly where they make strategic decisions, engage in serious research and development and innovate in ways that will…
Germany’s business leaders have seen the flashing red warning signs that relying on China is risking economic calamity. They’re just not heeding them. From autos to chemicals, the country’s biggest exporters are ignoring government pleas and pouring billions into new projects that tie their fortunes even closer to the world’s second-largest economy. German corporate investment…
Volkswagen Group is poised to launch a new electric vehicle (EV) next year that leverages Chinese technology to compete with established domestic players like BYD and Geely in the world’s largest automotive market. The German carmaker, which has seen a decline in market share in mainland China since 2020 amid a rapid adoption of EVs,…
The platform, which commenced operations on Tuesday, was jointly established by two state-owned enterprises (SOEs): China Reform Holdings, an investment vehicle focused on industries related to national security and the economy, and research institute China Automotive Technology and Research Centre. According to the firms’ joint announcement at an industry conference in Shenzhen on the same…
The Hong Kong operations would serve as a strategic base for the Beijing-based carmaker to “oversee its research and development [R&D], intellectual property management and international supply chain functions”, said InvestHK, the Hong Kong government’s investment promotion arm, in a statement on Thursday. Li Auto, one of the few profitable EV makers in mainland China,…