Carmaker’s third-quarter losses bigger than expected at £112m, with weak demand in China also a factor Business live – latest updates Aston Martin has slashed £300m from its investment plans after the British carmaker reported a bigger than expected loss in the third quarter because of Donald Trump’s tariffs and weak demand in China. The company said on Wednesday that losses before tax were £112m in the third quarter of 2025, a ninefold increase from £12m a year earlier. Continue reading… The Guardian
Tag: Manufacturing sector
Volvo and VW say Dutch takeover of Chinese chipmaker could halt car factories
Car companies across Europe and Japan including Volvo, Honda and Nissan, have warned that the Dutch takeover of a Chinese-owned chip manufacturer could hit production at factories. Last week’s decision by the Netherlands government to take control of Nexperia has sent shock waves around the auto industry, which is already facing potential shortages in products such as magnets amid China’s latest restrictions on rare earths exports. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, whose members include Nissan, Toyota, Honda and Mazda, said on Thursday it had received a warning from Nexperia that…
US raised concerns about Chinese boss of chipmaker before Dutch takeover
US authorities had raised concerns about the boss of a China-owned chipmaker before it was taken over by the Dutch government this week, according to court papers. The documents show US officials warned the Netherlands in June that Nexperia may not be able to export to the US if its Chinese chief executive, Zhang Xuezheng, remained in post. Late on Sunday the Dutch government said it had invoked a cold war-era law to effectively take control of the company, citing “major shortcomings that could jeopardise security of supply” of chips…
Tesla sales in Europe slump 40% as BYD new car registrations more than triple
Tesla sales slumped 40% across Europe in July compared with a year earlier as Elon Musk’s electric car company faces increasingly tough competition from its Chinese rival BYD. There were 8,837 sales of Tesla cars last month across the EU, the European Free Trade Association and the UK, according to figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). That compared with 14,769 at the same point last year. New car registrations for BYD across Europe rose to 13,503 last month, compared with 4,151 a year earlier. BYD now has 1.2%…
Why Peak China may finally have arrived | George Magnus
Proclamations about the inevitability of China’s dominance of the global economic system, or the so-called Chinese century, were made long before Donald Trump’s attempts to stymie its trade with the US. Common concerns about coercive politics and human rights aside, some notions of China as an unstoppable economic, technological and military behemoth sit alongside others focused more on an increasingly sclerotic, over- centralised political economy, that depends on wasteful economic stimulus, and features poor governance and institutions. The fusion of these notions suggests that we may already have reached “peak…
China’s overcapacity is creating instability at home and abroad | George Magnus
China’s astounding technological success in mass-producing quality electric vehicles (EVs) sits alongside a serious flaw in its industrial model: overcapacity. It has the capacity to produce about three times as many units as it can sell at home. The consequences so far have included widespread price cutting, large losses, misallocation of capital, and surging low-cost EV exports leading to trade conflict. The bigger problem, though, is that EVs are just a part of a broader overcapacity problem involving a myriad of sectors and products. At home, Chinese overcapacity lies at…
Chinese carmakers led by BYD report big rises in UK sales in July
Chinese carmakers led by BYD reported big jumps in UK sales last month, despite a declining overall car market, including a 59% slump in sales from their electric vehicle rival Tesla. BYD sales quadrupled year on year to reach 3,200 in July, even as overall sales of all types of car declined by 5% to 140,000, according to data published on Tuesday by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a lobby group. The car industry has said it is struggling with a weak economy, which is holding back…
China warns EV makers to stop price-cutting to protect the economy
China is urging its electric vehicle industry to stop cutting prices and rein in production amid fears that persistent deflation is imperilling economic growth. In recent months Chinese officials have talked repeatedly of the need to combat “involution” in sectors suffering from overcapacity, such as EVs, referring to the phenomenon of investing more effort and money for diminishing returns. Xi Jinping has spoken of the problem directly. In an unusually blunt speech this month, China’s president criticised provincial governments for blindly overinvesting in artificial intelligence, in computing power and in…
Lotus plans to end UK sportscar production, putting 1,300 jobs at risk
Lotus is planning to end production of its sportscars in the UK and shift it to the US, a move that would put 1,300 jobs at risk and represent a major blow to the British car industry. The carmaker’s Chinese owner, Geely, is looking at options including manufacturing its Emira sportscar in the US, and permanently stopping production at its factory in Hethel, Norfolk, according to a person with knowledge of the company’s thinking. No final decision has been made. Workers at the factory, in a former second world war…
Chinese carmaker Chery Auto ‘actively considering’ building UK factory
The Chinese carmaker Chery Auto is considering building its second European factory in Britain. After launching two brands, Omoda and Jaecoo, in the UK in September, Chery’s UK director, Victor Zhang, said the company is making inroads in the British market with the appetite growing for Chinese cars. He was speaking at the annual conference of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, where the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, admitted that there was “still a lot of work” to do in negotiating away all of Donald Trump’s tariffs against the…