+++ BYD ’s high-end brand, Fang Cheng Bao (FCB), announced in August it is building 100 stores in 60 cities in China. Recently, pictures of nearly finished FCB’s showrooms started to pop out on Chinese social networks, pointing out that many took over the space from premium automakers. Before Fang Cheng Bao, Mercedes-Benz had its store and service center at Boutique Street in Jiaxing. Chinese media outlet Zaker reported that the new Fang Cheng Bao showroom on Boutique Street in Jiaxing, about 1 hour drive from Shanghai, is a former store and service center of Mercedes-Benz. Another FCB’s store is nearly finished on Jingsi Road in Jinan, a former Aston Martin flagship showroom. Italian brands are not spared: another Fang Cheng Bao store is under construction in the Shunde district, about an hour’s drive from Guangzhou city center. Before, it was the store and service center of Maserati. Aside from taking over stores and service centers of legacy automakers, Fang Cheng Bao is building many showrooms in shopping malls; a trendy move among new EV brands in China. If you visit a mall in any tier 1 or tier 2 Chinese city, you will be surprised how many showcased cars you find on-site. Some showrooms are also built on former BMW spaces. Fang Cheng Bao Bao 5 is 1 of 3 new premium brands under BYD. It is positioned under YangWang and above Denza. +++
+++ CHINA warned on Thursday a probe by the European Union into Beijing’s subsidies for electric cars would have a negative impact on its trade relations with the bloc, which it accused of “naked protectionism”. The investigation, announced on Wednesday, could see the EU impose duties on cars it believes are unfairly sold at a lower price, undercutting European competitors. China “believes that the EU’s proposed investigative measures are to protect its own industry in the name of ‘fair competition’… and will have a negative impact on China-EU economic and trade relations”, a commerce ministry statement said. It said the investigation was “naked protectionist behavior that will seriously disrupt and distort the global automotive industry supply chain, including the EU”. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced the anti-subsidy investigation on Wednesday, vowing to protect the bloc against unfair competition. The move was hailed as a “positive signal” by European automakers and by EU member states. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said during a visit to Berlin the probe was a “very good decision”, while Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck said it showed the “right attitude” and was about tackling “unfair competition”. Beijing has already hit back against the probe, with Wang Lutong, director-general of the Chinese foreign ministry’s department of European affairs, saying “many EU members subsidise their electric vehicle industries”. “In what position is the commission to launch anti-subsidy investigation into electric vehicles from China?” he said. But there have long been concerns across Europe about how much the continent relies on Chinese products, especially those needed for the EU’s focus on clean energy. The EU’s internal market chief Thierry Breton warned last week about a trend emerging where Europe was “being relegated to net imports of electric vehicles or solar panels”. China could overtake Japan to become the world’s largest car manufacturer this year, according to some experts. European manufacturers have also to contend with state subsidies for electric vehicles across the Atlantic. Beijing called on the EU on Thursday “to carry out dialogue and consultation with the Chinese side, create a fair, non-discriminatory and predictable market environment for the joint development of the China-EU electric vehicle industry”. China “will pay close attention to the protectionist tendency and follow-up actions of the European side, and firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises”. +++
+++ In India, CITROEN has announced the nationwide opening of bookings for the upcoming C3 Aircross. This SUV model lineup offers 3 distinct trims: You, Plus and Max, with the choice of 2 seating configurations: 5-seater and 7-seater. All variants are powered by a 1.2 liter turbo petrol engine delivering a robust 110 hp and 190 Nm of torque, mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox. The Citroën C3 Aircross presents buyers with a wide range of color options, including Polar White, Platinum Grey, Steel Grey, Cosmo Blue, Polar White with Cosmo Blue roof, Steel Grey with Cosmo Blue roof, Steel Grey with Polar White roof, Cosmo Blue with Polar White roof, Platinum Grey with Polar White roof, and Polar White with Platinum Grey roof. Built on the CMP modular platform, the Citroen C3 Aircross measures 4.3 meters in length and boasts a wheelbase of 2.671 mm, which is longer than that of the Creta. The design and styling of this new Citroen SUV closely resemble the C3. At the front, it features Citroen’s signature grille with a dual-layer design and piano black inserts, halogen headlamps with Y-shaped DRLs, a tall front bumper, dedicated air intake vents surrounded by round fog lamp enclosures, and a prominent chin finished in brushed aluminum. The higher variants come equipped with dual-tone 17-inch alloy wheels with an X-shaped design. The rear of the vehicle is adorned with squarish taillamps, a tall bumper with cladding, and a spacious tailgate. The 5-seater C3 Aircross offers a 5+2 seating layout and provides a boot space of 444 liters. In contrast, the 7-seater version comes with a foldable third row and offers a cargo space of 511 liters. Notable features include a 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system, an all-digital instrument cluster, electrically adjustable wing mirrors, leatherette upholstery, connected car technology, keyless entry, and manual height adjustment for the driver’s seat. However, it lacks ventilated seats, climate control, wireless charging, and a sunroof. +++
+++ A hotly anticipated biography of Elon MUSK describes the turbulent tycoon as a man driven by childhood demons, obsessed with bringing human life to Mars and who demands that staff be “hardcore”. ‘Elon Musk’ is written by star biographer Walter Isaacson, a former editor in chief of Time Magazine who is best known for his best-selling portrayal of Apple founder Steve Jobs as well as his looks into the lives of science focused men such as Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci. Some U.S. media outlets got early access to the more-than-600-page book ahead of its official global release Tuesday, and several excerpts were also published in recent days. Hours before its release on Amazon, advance orders had made ‘Elon Musk’ the second best-selling book in the United States, behind a self-help title co-written by Oprah Winfrey. Much of Musk’s early life is already publicly well known, with attention focused on his abusive father Errol Musk, who Musk despises. Many of the account’s previously unknown nuggets come from a more recent period, when Isaacson shadowed his subject with fly-on-the-wall access into his everyday life. A widely reported passage recounts how Musk personally scuttled a plan by the Ukrainian military to carry out a major operation in Crimea by denying Starlink internet access, drawing a furious response from Kyiv. But Isaacson was forced to walk back his description of the episode after Musk tweeted that the Starlink access was not yet up and running in Crimea at the time of his decision. Musk’s chaotic and impulse-driven takeover of Twitter (now renamed X) also gets a lot of attention, with the billionaire seen as struggling to recognize that technology and willpower will not be enough to reverse the platform’s fortunes. Also a recurring theme in Isaacson’s telling is Musk’s vindictive tendencies toward doubters and critics. After acquiring Twitter late last year, Musk and his closest lieutenants combed through email and social media and fired dozens of employees who had criticized the new owner. In another episode, Musk defied the warnings of executives and with the help of a small team moved critical servers out of a Sacramento data center to cut costs, which led to a series of major outages. He also refused to join forces with Bill Gates on charity endeavors because the Microsoft founder had bet against the success of Tesla on the stock market. The book also says that Musk, who frets about depopulation, now has 10 children, including a previously unknown child with on- and off-again partner Grimes. Reviews have been mixed, with the Washington Post praising the reporting but disappointed that Isaacson “prioritized revealing anecdotes and behind-the-scenes reportage over a sophisticated critical lens”. Influential U.S. tech pundit and Musk critic Kara Swisher said the book told the story of a “sad and smart son who slowly morphs into the mentally abusive father he abhors. Often right, sometimes wrong, petty jerk always”, she said of Musk’s portrayal in the book. +++
+++ Geely and Volvo‘s car brand, POLESTAR , applied for sales of its coupe in China, the ‘4’. The electric car was first revealed in April during the Shanghai Auto Show and started receiving orders last month at the Chengdu Auto Show. The electric vehicle will be sold for about €64.000 to €94.000 in the Netherlands. Based on the photos released by the Ministry of the Industry and Information Technology in charge of the sales permits, the elements from the car maker’s Precept concept can be seen in the design of the Polestar 4, such as split lights and minimalist design. The Precept is the concept vehicle that was supposed to debut in 2020 at the Geneva Motor Show, but due to the global health crisis, the debut was canceled. The Precept should start production next year as the Polestar 5. The car measures 4.845 x 2.008 x 1.544 mm and sits on a 2.999 mm wheelbase. Its curb weight is 2.170 kg, while its mass is 2.625 kg. The maximum speed is set at 200 km/h. The powertrain comprises a 275 hp electric motor manufactured by VREMT. The new model will also offer a dual-motor version with a total power output set at 550 hp. Based on the previously published information, the electric vehicle (EV) will offer 2 battery packs to choose from: 88 kWh and 102 kWh. The packs, manufactured by Sunwoda, will enable CLTC ranges of 628 and 709 km, while the dual motor version will allow 631 km CLTC range (note: CLTC is more optimistic than WLTP). Polestar is a Swedish automotive brand established in 1996 as Flash Engineering. It was later rebranded Polestar Racing, then acquired in 2015 by Volvo Cars. Its headquarters is in Torslanda outside Gothenburg, Sweden. Its vehicles are produced in China, home to Volvo’s corporate parent Geely. +++
+++ In SOUTH KOREA , the slow economy and rising interest rates have worked a small seismic shift on the car market, where the only subcompacts currently available amid the sea of SUVs (the Kia Ray plus Morning (Picanto) and the Hyundai Casper) all rose to the top 10. This trend did not happen overnight. After peaking at 216.221 cars in 2012, subcompact sales fell for 9 straight years until they halved to 98.781 by 2021. But as post-COovid economic woes struck, 134.294 subcompacts were sold last year as many took part-time delivery and other jobs to make ends meet. Unusually, subcompact sales rose in August, bucking the previous trend of increasing in February and March when young Koreans enter university or start jobs. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, subcompact registrations rose 3.7 percent last month to 10.278. That contrasts with an overall decline of 11.6 percent in car sales the same month, and they were the only type whose sales rose. The Ray rose to 6th place overall with 3.793 cars sold, while the Casper ranked 7th with 3.692 and the Morning 10th with 2.763. Analysts credit a combination of factors, but mainly the low price and low running costs. According to market tracker Carisyou, consumers in their 40s, rather than students or young professionals, were the biggest purchasers of subcompacts in the first 8 months of this year with 10.270 vehicles, followed by buyers in their 50s with 9.041 units and only then buyers in their 30s (6.712) and 20s (1.991). That means middle-aged consumers accounted for 51.6 percent of all subcompact purchasers. Often they are part-time workers delivering parcels and packages. According to job search portal Alba, the number of people in their 40s applying for part-time jobs in the first quarter of this year rose 294.3 percent on-year to 1.42 million and in their 50s by 100.3 percent to 428.202. The Ray and Casper are particularly popular for delivery because of their relatively large luggage capacity and low fuel consumption. One delivery driver in his 50s said, “I had no choice but to buy a subcompact due to high interest rates and rising fuel prices”. Previously the Damas and Labo subcompact van and truck, teetering on their distinctive little wheels, were the mainstay for delivery drivers, but they are no longer produced because they do not meet tightened safety specs. But subcompacts are also popular among people heading outdoors. Folding down the back seats creates enough space for 2 people to lie down and a tent can be fitted on the back just as with a SUV. One dealer in a Kia showroom in Seoul said: “More people are buying subcompacts as their second cars”. The increasing availability of electric vehicles is also promoting subcompact car sales, which consume less electricity than SUVs. Kia is developing the EV3 and EV4, while Hyundai plans to produce an electric version of the Casper next year. Foreign automakers are also developing electric subcompacts, which are no source of shame in advanced countries and offer environmental kudos. GM said it is essential to lower the price of EVs to below $30.000 to boost their sales, so it is producing the Equinox EV in Mexico to lower costs and keep the price tag at around $30,000. Kim Pil-soo at Daelim University said, “The popularity of subcompacts will continue for the time being due to the slow economy, rising fuel prices and decreased subsidies for EV purchases”. +++
+++ SUBARU is close to deciding where to build its electric vehicle plant in the United States, an initiative that’s a key element of its electrification strategy, the carmaker’s president has said. While the current base of Indiana is a top candidate, the company is considering the location based on the procurement of onboard batteries and incentives from state governments, Atsushi Osaki said in a group interview. “The time is approaching for us to finally make a decision”, he said. Subaru’s EV production is scheduled to begin as early as 2027 in the U.S., where sales of electrified vehicles are expanding, especially in California. In August, Subaru said battery EVs will account for 50% of global sales (or 600.000 units) by 2030. +++