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• Musk says Tesla charger network will grow, days after layoffs

  "Just to reiterate: Tesla will spend well over USD 500mn expanding our Supercharger network to create thousands of NEW chargers this year," Elon said on X.

  

• Mercedes workers in Alabama to vote whether to join US union

  The US auto workers union's drive to organize auto plants in the southern United States faces a second test this week at Mercedes-Benz in Alabama following a triumph last month. Some 5,200 workers at the Mercedes auto manufacturing plant and battery complex near Tuscaloosa, Alabama will decide whether to join the United Auto Workers in a federally-administered election that runs from Monday through Friday.

  

• Musk says Tesla charger network will grow, days after layoffs

  Tesla boss Elon Musk said Friday the electric vehicle manufacturer would invest over USD 500 million this year to install new superchargers, just days after a report of massive layoffs in this branch of the company. " Tesla will spend well over USD 500mn expanding our Supercharger network to create thousands of NEW chargers this year," Elon said on X. "That's just on new sites and expansions, not counting operations costs, which are much higher," he added.

  

• Mitsubishi Motors told to pay USD 1 bn over US car crash

  Japan's Mitsubishi Motors said Thursday it had been told by a US court to pay USD 1.01 billion in damages over a 2017 car accident in the United States, adding that it will appeal. "We do not accept the above judgement and MMNA (Mitsubishi Motors North America) plans to appeal to the higher court," Mitsubishi Motors said.

  

• China issues draft guidelines to rein in lithium battery industry

  China has released draft guidelines aimed at reining in the country's lithium battery industry, which has been in Western crosshairs over fears subsidised overproduction could flood global markets with cut-price exports. Foreign officials have warned that with Chinese government support creating more production capacity than global markets can absorb, a flood of cheap exports in key sectors including renewable energy and lithium batteries could hurt industries elsewhere.

  

• Nissan annual net profit nearly doubles on-year

  Nissan said Thursday it nearly doubled its full-year net profit in 2023-24 but forecast a dip of around 10% for the current financial year. Thursday's results struck a different tone to an announcement last month when Nissan trimmed its sales and profit outlook for 2023-24, predicting a more modest net profit of 390 billion.

  

• Japanese auto giant Toyota posts record net profit

  Toyota reported record annual net profit of more than USD 30 billion on Wednesday but the world's largest automaker by sales warned that the current year would be less spectacular. For this year it expects net profit of 3.57 trillion yen, down 27.8%, because of investments in "growth areas" such as electric and hydrogen cars, as well as in "human capital".

  

• German car sales rise in April but electric lag persists

  Additional working days boosted new-car sales in Germany in April, but demand for electric vehicles cooled further in the wake of the phaseout of government subsidies. The jump was mainly down to three additional working days compared with April 2023.

  

• EU election could force sharp turn in electric car policy

  A change at the top of European institutions could herald a change in the 2035 target to phase out sales of internal combustion engine cars even though the automotive industry is already well down the road towards transitioning to electric vehicles. The two German parties in the group, the CDU and CSU, want to scrap the 2035 deadline to continue to benefit from "state-of-the-art German internal combustion engine technology".

  

• Europe's auto suppliers reach the end of the road

  Emrullah Karaca has made brakes for the past 20 years, but he is now learning to assemble heat pumps instead, as the Continental factory where he works in northern Germany is slated to close. "Brakes or heat pumps, it's all the same to me," said Karaca, whose two parents both worked for Continental at the factory.

  

• EV automakers get reprieve in US tax credit rules

  The US government gave automakers a reprieve Friday when finalizing electric vehicle tax credit rules, by letting cars that contain Chinese graphite qualify for the consumer credits through 2026. Starting this year, new rules came into effect restricting Chinese content in batteries if they were to qualify for EV tax credits of up to USD 7,500.