Business News

Tesla Gigafactory Mexico

The latest plan for the completion and production of Tesla Gigafactory in Nuevo León, Mexico is scheduled for the first quarter of 2025, which is 1-2 quarters later than market expectations. Tesla has aligned the new timeline with its component suppliers. Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, predicted at the 2023 World Artificial Intelligence Conference that full self-driving would be achieved by the end of this year.

Volkswagen Group (China)

Volkswagen Group (China) has announced that, in order to further accelerate the deployment of its charging network in China, the company will collaborate with FAW-Volkswagen to jointly increase capital investment in CAMS by approximately 800 million RMB. Additionally, Volkswagen and CAMS will partner with State Grid EV Service Co., Ltd. to carry out a pilot project for orderly charging (V1G) in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Another piece of news is that Volkswagen (China) Technology Co., Ltd. will establish a brand-new research, innovation, and procurement center for electric intelligent connected vehicles. The headquarters will be located in Hefei, Anhui Province, with a total investment of 1 billion euros.

Audi FAW

Construction of the Audi FAW New Energy Vehicle Supporting Industrial Park and the Audi PPE Supporting Project has commenced in Changchun, Jilin Province, with a total investment exceeding 600 million dollars.

Porsche 20 billion euros plan

Porsche CEO Oliver Blume announced at the company’s first annual shareholders’ meeting that it would invest over 20 billion euros (approximately 21.9 billion US dollars) in the next few years to equip its planned electric models, such as the all-electric version of Cayenne SUV, with cutting-edge electric and digital technologies.

Samsung & Tesla

Samsung Electronics will produce the next-generation FSD chip for Tesla, which is expected to support Level 5 autonomous driving capabilities. Tesla plans to mass-produce the HW5.0 platform on a large scale within the next 3-4 years.

Apple

Apple has once again expanded its autonomous driving testing team, with the number of personnel reaching 152 as of July 7th, 2023.

Regional News

Malaysia

According to media reports, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar has announced that Geely plans to invest $10 billion in transforming Tanjung Malim, Perak into the largest automotive hub in the region. Additionally, Geely holds a 49.9% stake in the Malaysian automaker Proton.

Thailand

The Board of Investment (BOI) of Thailand has announced that Chery Automobile is planning to enter the Thai market in early 2024.

India

According to the Times of India, Tesla has initiated discussions with the Indian government regarding an investment proposal to establish a manufacturing plant in the country. Once completed, this facility will have an annual production capacity of up to 500,000 vehicles.

US

The US government agencies plan to purchase 9,500 electric vehicles in the fiscal year of 2023, which is almost three times higher than the target set in the previous budget year.

German

The German Ministry of Transport has announced that the country will allocate up to 900 million euros (equivalent to 983 million US dollars) in subsidies to increase the number of electric vehicle charging stations for households and businesses.

EU

According to a report released by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) on Monday, Europe is at risk of losing the competition to become a global battery powerhouse due to increasing costs, intense competition, and the ongoing challenge of securing raw materials.

Japan and America

Japanese and American automakers are increasing their research and development efforts in new energy commercial vehicles, with several companies announcing the release of new models. Isuzu Motors has announced the launch of a pure electric (EV) truck in the first quarter of this year. Toyota and Daimler have also recently reached a technology sharing agreement focused on heavy-duty trucks.