A peek under the hood of the global automotive industry.
Autoliv makes the airbags, seatbelts, and safety systems that keep you alive in a car crash. They're the biggest safety supplier in the world. Every major automaker uses its technology.
By Mark Lim 4 months ago in Wheel
Chery Automobile Company officially opened a manufacturing plant in Rosslyn, Pretoria, South Africa. The ceremony was attended by South Africa's Deputy President Paul Mashatile, the Gauteng Premier, the Chinese Ambassador, and 350 other guests.
Volkswagen is thinking about selling Ducati. The Financial Times reported it. RideApart asked VW directly. And VW's response was notable not for what it said, but for what it didn't say.
The suggestion that Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD could one day acquire Volkswagen is not based on any formal proposal or negotiation, but its appearance in public discourse reveals the depth of anxiety gripping the European automotive sector. Moritz Schularick, head of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and a senior German economist, raised the possibility in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung . When asked whether Volkswagen might go bankrupt, Schularick offered a stark alternative: "VW will probably be bought up by a Chinese car manufacturer. BYD, for example.
On Friday, July 3, 2026, thousands of German autoworkers did something their parents' generation rarely had to do: protest for the right to keep their jobs.
The automotive industry is about to transform in a way most people haven't considered. You think the big shift is electric vehicles. Or autonomous driving. Or Chinese competition. And those are all part of it.
You probably don't think about the Strait of Hormuz when you're shopping for a car. You should. The Strait of Hormuz is a 21-mile-wide passage of water between Iran and Oman. It's one of the most strategically important waterways on Earth. And right now, it's choking.
Lucid Motors is in triage mode. On Thursday, July 2, the company announced that CFO Taoufiq Boussaid is leaving. At the same time, they announced they're hiring five new executives to replace the ones they fired or who are leaving "to remain closer to their families and communities" (which is corporate speak for "we pushed them out").
Malaysia has a problem it's not equipped to solve. In April 2026, BYD — one of the world's largest EV manufacturers — was considering a major investment in Tanjung Malim, Perak. A plant. Assembly facility. Jobs. Technology transfer. Real economic impact.
Toyota built a supercar. Not a concept. Not a design study. A real, production supercar with a 560-horsepower V10 that cost over $370,000 when it launched in 2010.
Many people in the market for a new car tend to look for models among established car brands with recognisable names, such as Toyota or Ford, the two best-selling car makers in Australia over the past couple of years. And while legacy brands have become a permanent mainstay at the top of Australia's new car market, a wave of Chinese car brands is looking to take a bite out of their monopoly.
Nissan has reached a significant manufacturing landmark at its Canton, Mississippi assembly plant, which recently produced its one-millionth Frontier pickup truck . This achievement represents nearly half of the more than two million Frontiers assembled in the United States since production began at Nissan's Smyrna, Tennessee, facility in 1998. The Frontier's U.S. production history stretches back even further, with Nissan having assembled pickups in America since 1983.
