Today's Automotive Pulse
BYD's Brazil shipments top 148,000 units in first four months of 2026
From January to April 2026 BYD exported 148,310 passenger vehicles to Brazil, its largest overseas market, including 78,913 battery‑electric and 69,397 plug‑in hybrid models. European destinations such as the UK, Belgium, Germany and Spain each received between 11,000 and 26,000 units, forming the next tier of BYD's export geography.
Also developing:
The Automotive Update: Hope for Europe’s New and Used-Car Markets?
The latest JD Power webinar predicts Europe’s new‑car market will grow modestly in 2026, with 40% of participants expecting a 0‑2% year‑on‑year increase and overall light‑vehicle sales rising just 0.1%. EV adoption remains uneven, but price gaps are narrowing as small electric models gain traction. Meanwhile, JD Power’s used‑car outlook foresees slight residual‑value declines across most markets through 2028, following pandemic‑driven inflation. Supply‑demand metrics show growing volumes for 24‑48‑month‑old vehicles, hinting at continued pressure on used‑car pricing.
Avant Car to Launch Electric Car Sharing Service in Ljubljana
Ljubljana has signed a 20‑year agreement with Avant Car to launch a public electric car‑sharing service. The municipality will contribute roughly $12.3 million to build 400 parking spaces, while Avant Car is investing about $20.2 million to provide 400 EVs and 160...
MAN Launches Lion’s City E Production in Ankara
MAN Truck & Bus has begun series production of its fully electric Lion’s City E bus at the Ankara plant, adding a third global e‑bus manufacturing site after Poland and South Africa. The model, with about 3,300 units already delivered across...
Power Corner: Analog Devices’ Etienne Moulin on the Convergence of Robotics and Automotive Power Requirements
Analog Devices’ high‑performance power team, led by Etienne Moulin, highlights the growing overlap between robotics and automotive power architectures, especially the shift to 48‑V systems. The company’s Silent Switcher technology delivers LDO‑level regulation with buck‑regulator efficiency, achieving up to 96%...
Rivian Shares Production and Delivery Numbers Ahead of Full Q1 2026 Financial Results
Rivian reported producing 10,236 electric vehicles and delivering 10,365 units in Q1 2026, slightly above its Q4 2025 output. The figures align with the company’s reaffirmed 2026 delivery guidance of 62,000‑67,000 vehicles. Rivian also highlighted a strategic partnership with Uber that could...
Gulf Countries Roll Out More Autonomous Taxis
Uber and Chinese partner WeRide added a fully driverless route in Riyadh, linking Hayat Mall and Riyadh Gallery after more than 1,700 trial trips. The duo also launched completely autonomous services in Dubai’s Jumeirah and Umm Suqeim districts, operating without onboard...
Improving Recycling Rates for Cell-to-Pack Battery Systems
The Fraunhofer IPA‑led ‘Difference’ project targets the low recyclability of Cell‑to‑Pack (CTP) battery designs, which replace traditional modules with directly integrated cells. By focusing on robot‑assisted, laser‑based disassembly, the consortium aims to separate adhesives, foams and metals efficiently. The initiative,...
GM’s US Sales Decline in Q1, Toyota Held Flat by RAV4 Change
General Motors reported a 9.7% year‑on‑year drop in U.S. sales for Q1 2026, moving to 626,429 units. Toyota’s U.S. sales slipped only 0.1% to 569,420 units, narrowly missing the chance to overtake GM as the top‑volume OEM. Analysts note that a...
Stellantis Explores Chinese EV Production in Canada with Leapmotor – Report
Stellantis is in early talks with Chinese EV maker Leapmotor to revive its underused Brampton, Ontario plant, which has left about 3,000 union workers idle after U.S. tariffs forced a Jeep SUV shift to the United States. The discussions follow...
Uber Expands $4,000 Grants For Drivers Who Switch To EVs
Uber has broadened its $4,000 "Go Electric" grant to every driver in the United States, extending a program that was previously limited to New York, California, Massachusetts and Colorado. The incentive applies to Platinum and Diamond drivers who switch to...
Osprey Opens New Midlands Ultra-Rapid EV Charging Hub
Osprey Charging has opened a new ultra‑rapid EV charging hub at Twyford Services near Evesham, featuring 16 Kempower chargers capable of 300 kW output. The site can potentially serve up to 32 vehicles at once and offers a range of payment...
E-Bus Radar 2026: Germany Operates 600+ Hydrogen Buses in 2026
PwC’s E‑Bus Radar 2026 shows Germany added 1,397 new electric city buses in 2025, a 79% jump over the previous two years, pushing the total zero‑emission fleet to 4,752 vehicles. Battery‑electric buses dominate with 4,034 units, while fuel‑cell buses surged...
GM to Invest over $150m in Saginaw Casting Facility in US
General Motors announced a $150 million investment in its Saginaw Metal Casting Operations to equip the plant for sixth‑generation V‑8 engine block and head production. The upgrade will run alongside existing fifth‑generation V‑8 output, with the new engines slated for launch...
AVs vs Humans: Safety Comparisons Need a Standard
Autonomous‑vehicle firms are publishing safety data, but comparisons to human drivers lack a universal baseline. Waymo claims its driver has ten times fewer serious‑injury crashes and 88% fewer property‑damage claims than average motorists, yet the definition of an "average driver"...
Mercedes-Benz Brings Steer-by-Wire to Production EQS
Mercedes‑Benz will equip the refreshed EQS luxury electric sedan with steer‑by‑wire, making it the first German automaker to launch the technology in a production vehicle. The system replaces the mechanical link between steering wheel and front wheels with electronic signals...
VinFast Adds Seven-Seat VF MPV 7 to India EV Lineup
VinFast has opened bookings for its seven‑seat VF MPV 7 in India, with a booking fee of INR 21,000 (about $250). Bookings begin on 2 April and the official launch with full pricing is set for 15 April 2026. The MPV features a 60.13 kWh battery...
“Tipping Point:” Tesla Sales Surge, EV Registrations up Sharply as Australian Drivers Go Electric
Tesla’s Australian sales jumped to 3,485 units in March, a 22% year‑over‑year increase and the highest since September, driven by a sharp rise in Model Y demand. The company’s quarterly volume rose 40% to 7,260 vehicles despite supply bottlenecks that have...
Honda Cuts Prologue EV Prices by $7,500 While It’s Still Available
Honda announced a $7,500 price reduction for the 2026 Prologue electric SUV, bringing the entry‑level EX FWD price down to $39,900. The move follows a steep 65% sales decline in the first quarter of 2026, after the federal EV tax...
Republican Senator Calls Chinese Cars A ‘Cancer,’ Vowing Stricter Ban
Republican Senator Bernie Moreno announced plans to broaden the U.S. ban on Chinese electric vehicles, targeting not only the cars themselves but also associated software, components, and joint‑venture partnerships. The proposal would reinforce the existing 100% tariff regime and aim...
The Hyundai IONIQ 5 EV Is Red-Hot After Another Record Sales Month in March
Hyundai’s IONIQ 5 recorded a second straight record month in March 2026, moving 4,425 units – a 13% increase over the same period last year. The model’s cumulative Q1 sales hit 9,790, up 14% year‑over‑year, helping Hyundai post its strongest first‑quarter...
Europe’s Auto Forecast 2026: Technology, Policy and EV Adoption
A JD Power‑Autovista24 webinar revealed that Europe’s 2026 new‑car outlook has been trimmed to a modest 0.1% growth, down from a 1.7% rise projected months earlier. The downgrade reflects slower GDP growth in the EU, the US and China, and potential...
Xiaomi Hires Tesla’s Former Head of Sales in China to Lead Its Auto Retail Push
Xiaomi has hired Kong Yanshuang, former Tesla China general manager, to head its automotive sales division. The move aims to professionalize Xiaomi’s retail operations as it targets 550,000 EV deliveries in 2026. Xiaomi’s refreshed SU7 sedan starts at ¥229,900 (about...
Subaru Electrifies New York with 2027 Forester Wilderness Hybrid, Getaway EV Debut
Subaru unveiled its 2027 lineup in New York, introducing the Forester Wilderness Hybrid and the all‑new Getaway EV. The Forester Hybrid delivers a 25% fuel‑economy boost and 194 hp using an optimized 2.5‑liter Boxer engine paired with a lithium‑ion battery. The...
Subaru Unveils Getaway, a 420hp 3-Row EV SUV, and We Got a Sneak Preview
Subaru unveiled the Getaway, a 420‑horsepower three‑row electric SUV slated for an October launch. Built alongside Toyota’s Highlander EV at Toyota’s Kentucky plant, the Getaway features a 95.8 kWh usable battery delivering more than 300 miles of range and 150 kW fast‑charging via...
How Will London’s Driver Market Respond to Autonomous Vehicles?
London is poised to become the next major robotaxi market as Waymo, Wayve and China’s Apollo Go plan trials this year, targeting over 146 million annual taxi and private‑hire trips. The UK’s Automated Vehicles Act 2024 fast‑tracks driverless licensing to spring 2026,...
Kia Unveils Bigger, Roomier Seltos at New York Auto Show
At the New York Auto Show, Kia unveiled the 2027 Seltos, a larger, wider version of its compact SUV that shares design cues with the Telluride and Sorento. The model introduces a new hybrid powertrain exclusive to the X‑Line trim,...
Ford’s CEO Says An Affordable Tesla Model 3, Model Y Rival Is Coming
Ford CEO Jim Farley announced that the automaker will launch an all‑electric, affordable vehicle to compete directly with Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y. The new models will sit on Ford’s Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) platform, the same architecture slated for a...
Europe’s Battery Supply Chain: From Permits to Progress
Europe's battery supply chain is gaining momentum as several key projects move from planning to construction. In France, Orano and XTC New Energy broke ground on a cathode material plant in Dunkirk slated for 2028, while Germany's Vulcan Energy secured...
India: Energy In Motion Bags Order for 66 Electric Heavy-Duty Trucks
Energy In Motion (EIM) secured a contract to supply 66 electric 55‑tonne heavy‑duty trucks, branded as Ashwa, to Transvolt Mobility for operations at Kandla Port in Gujarat and Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra. The trucks feature a 282 kWh lithium‑iron‑phosphate battery...
Curved Video Screen to Replace Conventional Auto Windshield — and More
A working group proposes replacing traditional laminated glass windshields with a large, curved video screen that can display forward‑view video, side‑mirror feeds, and dynamic data tiles. The screen would switch to a transparent mode or be manually shattered if electronics...
Urgency Sensors Enable Reliability as a Service for EVs
Urgency‑sensing circuits (USCs), once common in 1970s office equipment, are being revived for electric vehicles. A partnership between BOTCH and YoYo Dyne has produced programmable, single‑chip USCs with CAN‑bus and OTA capabilities, allowing automakers to modulate reliability on demand. BMW...
Norway Registers 17,400 New Battery-Electric Cars in March
Norway registered 17,406 battery‑electric cars in March, representing 98.4% of all new passenger‑vehicle registrations – a new monthly record. The total market volume reached 17,685 units, a sharp rebound from the 7,272 registrations in February and the 2,218 in January....
Monthly Market Update: Balanced Used Car Supply and Demand in Europe?
The March 2026 Autovista24 market update shows a growing equilibrium between used‑car supply and demand across major European markets. Sales‑volume index (SVI) and active‑market volume index (AMVI) rose in most countries, with Germany, Spain and the UK posting double‑digit gains,...
REDSEL Project Targets Elimination of 12-Volt Battery in Electric Vehicles
The REDSEL research project, a collaboration between Silicon Austria Labs, Infineon Technologies Austria, and AVL List, has created a new vehicle electrical architecture that eliminates the conventional 12‑volt battery in electric cars. The design leverages two high‑voltage batteries with active...
JD Power Holds Its 2026 US Light Vehicle Sales Forecast at 16.3m Units
JD Power reaffirmed its 2026 U.S. light‑vehicle sales outlook at 16.3 million units, despite geopolitical tension in the Middle East and rising fuel costs. Demand remains solid, reflected in March 2026 retail sales of 1.12 million vehicles, the year’s highest month. The...
Nissan Urges that Low-Cost US Cars Can only Be Made in Mexico
Nissan Americas Chairman Christian Meunier told an industry forum that entry‑level cars cannot be built profitably in the United States without tariff relief, citing margins eroded by a $2,500‑$3,000 per‑vehicle duty. The automaker has already discontinued the Versa, leaving the...
A Simple Rule for Level 2++ Safety Accountability
The U.S. regulatory gap lets automakers market Level 2+ (or Level 2++) driver‑assistance systems without dedicated safety oversight, despite their robotaxi‑like capabilities. A proposed liability rule would presume any crash caused by non‑malicious driver inattention to be a product defect, shifting the...
Milan: ATM Launches Tender for 110 Electric Buses
ATM, Milan’s public transport operator, has issued a tender exceeding €100 million (≈$108 million) for 110 electric buses. The order comprises 80 low‑floor city buses with three doors and 30 intercity variants with two doors, plus a ten‑year full‑service maintenance agreement beginning...
Leapmotor Launches A10 (B03X) in China
Leapmotor, the Stellantis China joint venture, unveiled the A10 (global B03X) as the first model on its new A‑platform, targeting mainstream markets with premium features. The SUV boasts a 505 km CLTC range, dual Qualcomm 8295/8650 chips, LiDAR‑enabled ADAS and a...
char.gy to Deploy 1,500 Chargepoints on Isle of Wight
Char.gy has secured a contract with the Isle of Wight Council to install more than 1,500 public electric‑vehicle chargepoints across the island. The rollout is funded by £1.625 million of public money—about $2.05 million—and private investment, with no direct cost to the...
Vauxhall's Grandland Plug-In Hybrid Is Here and It's only a Tempting £915 More than the Normal Hybrid
Vauxhall has launched a plug‑in hybrid version of its Grandland SUV, priced between £36,615 and £39,740, roughly £915 more than the conventional hybrid. The PHEV uses the same 1.6‑litre turbo engine and 21 kWh battery as the Peugeot 3008 but delivers...
Macron Courts Asian Battery Makers on East Asia Tour
French President Emmanuel Macron is on a diplomatic tour of Japan and South Korea to persuade Asian battery makers to set up production in France. The effort already yielded a $1.75 billion subsidy for Taiwanese solid‑state battery leader ProLogium, which broke...
Autonomous Driving in Switzerland: Regulation, Pilots, and Why Chinese Players Chose Swiss Roads
In this episode of Autonomy Insiders, Oliver Nahon, Director of Operations at the Swiss Association for Autonomous Mobility (SAM), explains why autonomous vehicles are a strategic priority for Switzerland’s saturated transport system and outlines the country’s pioneering regulatory framework that...
Rivian Sees “a Ton of Opportunity” In Digital Key Tech
Rivian has migrated its proprietary digital‑key system to the Connected Car Consortium (CCC) standard, completing an 18‑month integration that culminated in a December 2025 rollout. Early user surveys show markedly higher satisfaction, positioning Rivian’s solution as a benchmark for reliability...
German Operator MVG Deploys 20 eCitaro Buses in Lüdenscheid, with Five More Due in 2026
Märkische Verkehrsgesellschaft (MVG) has introduced 20 Mercedes‑eCitaro electric buses into its Lüdenscheid depot, with five more slated for delivery in 2026. The fleet will operate across roughly 131 routes and 2,300 stops, supported by 21 charging points at Lüdenscheid and...
Mercedes-Benz Trucks Plans New Czech Assembly Plant
Mercedes‑Benz Trucks announced a new assembly plant in Cheb, Czech Republic, slated to begin construction in 2027 with production starting by the end of the decade. The facility will add roughly 25,000 trucks per year, handling both conventional and electric...
Volvo Trucks Begins Road Testing Hydrogen Combustion Trucks
Volvo Trucks has begun on‑road testing of heavy trucks powered by hydrogen combustion engines using High Pressure Direct Injection (HPDI) technology. The HPDI system injects a small amount of ignition fuel before hydrogen, delivering higher efficiency and power than conventional...
Renault Megane E-Tech Price Slash: Highly-Rated Electric Hatch Is Now Around $10,000 More Affordable.
Renault Australia slashed the drive‑away price of its Megane E‑Tech hatch to $49,990 AUD (about $33,000 USD), a $10,000 AUD (≈$6,600 USD) discount from the previous $54,990 AUD list. This is the second price reduction since the model’s 2024 launch, which originally cost $64,990 AUD. The...
Volvo Cars Set to Become Lynk & Co’s Sole Importer in Europe
Volvo Cars and Geely Auto have signed a memorandum of understanding that would make Volvo the exclusive importer of Lynk & Co vehicles in Europe. The deal would see Lynk & Co sold and serviced through Volvo’s existing dealer network,...
New BMW iX3 Gets Cheaper with ‘40’ Trim Added, and It’ll Still Go 395 Miles
BMW unveiled the iX3 40, an entry‑level electric SUV priced at £53,250, £5,525 less than the 50xDrive. It uses a smaller 82.6 kWh battery, delivering a still‑competitive 395‑mile WLTP range. Powered by a single rear‑mounted motor, it produces 315 bhp and 0‑62 mph in...