Automobiles

A Volkswagen dealership in Shanghai. Prices for rare metals used in EVs have fallen dramatically. (Photo by Tomoko Wakasugi)
Materials

Global key metal prices sink on sluggish Chinese auto demand

Magnesium down 75% from 2021 high on supply glut and slow EV sales

6 April 2023
Founded in 2019, Swap Energy builds charging infrastructure for two-wheeled electric vehicles. (Screenshot from Swap Energy's website) 
DealStreetAsia

Indonesian EV battery startup Swap Energy raises $7.2m

Ondine Capital leads funding round that includes SBI Kejora Orbit Fund

3 April 2023
The Mt. Marion lithium mine in the Goldfields region of Western Australia: The country is home to the second-largest reserves of lithium. (Handout photo from Ganfeng Lithium) 
Opinion

Australia and Indonesia should forge business ties in lithium

Missing ingredient for Widodo's vision for EV sector is close at hand

3 April 2023
For the first two months of the year, Great Wall Motor's Haval sold 9,859 units, a 46% increase year-on-year.
Automobiles

Great Wall Motor's Russia revenue jumps 73% as rivals recede

China's largest SUV maker has 'no plans' to acquire abandoned Western auto assets

1 April 2023
U.S. President Joe Biden drives a Cadillac electric vehicle during a visit to the 2022 Detroit Auto Show.
Automobiles

U.S. EV tax break leaves out imports in blow to Japanese, European autos

$7,500 credit limited to North American-made cars despite objections from other countries

1 April 2023
Workers monitor operations at a nickel smelter run by Vale in Indonesia's South Sulawesi province on March 30. Vale, Ford Motor and China's Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt have agreed to develop a new smelter in a neighboring region.
Automobiles

Ford signs nickel smelter deal with Vale Indonesia, Huayou

Equity investments are part of $4.5bn development of Sulawesi block

31 March 2023
Gotion's first overseas plant in Germany is due to begin operations in the second half of this year. (Photo courtesy of Gotion High-Tech)
Interview

China battery maker Gotion plugs into VW for global expansion

CEO Li Zhen maps out plans to have third of capacity overseas by 2025

31 March 2023
Shin-Tomei Expressway: Driverless cargo trucks will begin operation on major roads in Japan in 2024. 
Transportation

Tokyo-Nagoya expressway will have self-driving lane next year

Long straight section will be set aside for driverless trucks at night

30 March 2023
Indonesia's Merdeka Battery Materials plans to use IPO proceeds to partially fund a new nickel smelter amid increasing demand for the metal in electric vehicle batteries. (Photo by Ismi Damayanti)
IPO

Merdeka Battery Materials puts $1.28bn price on nickel smelter plan

Investment comes as Indonesian company aims to raise up to $580m in IPO

30 March 2023
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India expects to start production of electric two-wheelers in March 2024, President Atsushi Ogata says. (Photo by Ryosuke Hanada)
Automobiles

Honda to roll out electric 2-wheelers in India with swappable batteries

Automaker aims to scale up local capacity to 1m units a year by 2030

30 March 2023
Porsche and Honda Motor are involved in aviation, which may give them an edge in working with synthetic fuels. (Source photos by Reuters)
Automobiles

Honda, Porsche race ahead in e-fuels as EU grants exemption

Synthetic fuels seen keeping combustion engines in the running amid decarbonization

30 March 2023
Employees work inside the General Motors plant in Maharashtra, India, in this 2012 photo. The U.S. automaker has been producing cars for export at the facility in recent years.
Automobiles

China tensions open door for Hyundai to buy GM's India plant

Chinese rival Great Wall Motors had sought factory as foothold in growing market

30 March 2023
Toyota's incoming president Koji Sato, pictured at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January, is tasked with steering the world's largest automaker toward an electrically powered future. 
The Big Story

Toyota's new chief Koji Sato vows to get serious about EVs

Faced with 'once in a century' industry transformation, world's biggest carmaker may be prisoner of past success

29 March 2023
A Nio battery swap station in Shanghai. (Photo by Tomoko Wakasugi)
Electric cars in China

Chinese EV startup Nio to install 1,000 battery swap stations

Latest facilities can complete exchanges in less than 5 minutes

29 March 2023
In the first two months, passenger car sales shrank 19.8%, after recording a 12.4% expansion in the second half of 2022
Caixin

Chang'an, Chery, Dongfeng Motor join Tesla's China price war

Gasoline vs. EV battle likely to drive some automakers out of business

28 March 2023
Electric vehicle maker VinFast, owned by Vingroup, tapped Credit Suisse as one of several banks to handle a planned stock listing in the U.S. (Photo by Lien Hoang)
Finance

Vietnam's Vingroup awaits clarity on Credit Suisse after buyout

Bank bought by UBS counts EV maker VinFast, developer Novaland among Asia clients

27 March 2023
BYD Asia-Pacific general manager Liu Xueliang unveils the Thai version of its low-priced Dolphin electric hatchback, which moves the steering wheel to the right side. (Photo by Francesca Regalado)
Automobiles

EV price war in Thailand heats up as Bangkok Motor Show commences

BYD and Hyundai push new models as kingdom's auto sales decline

23 March 2023
The Toyota Camry has sold over 21 million units worldwide since it debuted in 1980. (Photo by Yuki Nakao)
Automobiles

Toyota to end Camry sales in Japan, ending 43-year history

Domestic market accounts for only 1% of model's global sales

23 March 2023
 Volvo CEO Jim Rowan says sales of all-electric vehicles will outstrip gasoline cars by 2026. (Photo by Yutaka Miyaguchi)
Interview

Volvo to export all-new compact EV from China: CEO

Sharing platform with parent Geely to help bring down costs

23 March 2023
Vietnamese ride-hailer Be Group will go electric with VinFast scooters and cars in a fast-growing economy struggling to ditch fossil fuels. (Photo by Lien Hoang)
Automobiles

Vietnam's VinFast EVs enter ride-hailing with Grab rival Be Group

Vingroup chair finds new use for vehicles amid low deliveries in U.S., Vietnam

22 March 2023
A Lynk & Co 09 Captain SUV at a launch ceremony in Shanghai in October 2021.
Automobiles

Geely CEO pans his performance despite first profit rise in 4 years

Fellow exec calls recent car price war the start of 'competition for elimination'

22 March 2023
Prospective buyers check a Tesla Model 3 car at a showroom of the U.S. electric vehicle maker in Beijing.
Caixin

China's automaker price war threatens profitability: analysts

Slumping car sales, new emission rules result in deep discounts for buyers

20 March 2023
Masahiro Moro, Mazda's Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer, will take over as the automaker's new president in June. (Photo by Kotaro Abe)
Automobiles

Mazda to appoint Masahiro Moro as new president and CEO

Moro gained overseas experience as head of automaker's North American operations

17 March 2023
Port workers check a copper shipment bound for Asia, at Valparaiso port in Chile.
Commodities

Nickel, copper prices sink on worries about China's economy

Speculators spurn nonferrous metals, seeing little stimulus from Beijing

16 March 2023
Honda will transform its Marysville factory in Ohio so that it can make electric vehicles in the future. (Photo courtesy of the company)
Automobiles

Honda to convert existing U.S. factories to make EVs

Automaker reshuffles resources to form a fully integrated production chain

15 March 2023