Pandemic rebound sees exports boom

Shanghai's automobile exports have picked up as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes and local car manufacturing rebounds, statistics showed. China's exports of passenger cars reached 226,000 units in July, up 76 percent from the same period last year, according to an analysis report released by the China Passenger Car Association on Tuesday. Shanghai automakers' exports account for some 20 percent of the national total, the association noted, adding that the city's much-improved pandemic situation has driven a significant upturn in the country's auto exports. In July, Shanghai-based major Chinese automaker SAIC Motor exported around 98,000 vehicles, up 91.3 percent year-on-year and setting a monthly record. The figures highlight a trend of robust automobile exports extending from the first half in Shanghai. Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory exported 97,182 automobiles in H1, more than double the figure for the same period last year, according to Tesla China.

Honda profits slide amid global setbacks

Honda's fiscal first quarter profit fell 33 percent from last year as a global computer chip shortage, a pandemic-related lockdown in China and the rising costs of raw materials hurt the Japanese automaker. Tokyo-based Honda Motor reported on Wednesday that its profit totaled 149.2 billion yen ($1.1 billion) in the April-June quarter, down from 222.5 billion yen a year earlier. Quarterly sales slipped 7 percent to 3.8 trillion yen. Honda kept its profit forecast for the full fiscal year through March 2023 unchanged at 710 billion yen. The semiconductor shortage has hurt all the world's automakers, including Honda, despite strong demand, and the manufacturers have been scrambling to secure alternative suppliers. Honda sold about 815,000 vehicles last quarter, down from 998,000 vehicles the same period a year earlier. Auto sales dropped in almost all regions around the world, including Japan, the United States and Europe.

New SAIC EV begins production in Indonesia

SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW), a major Chinese automobile manufacturer, through its local unit in Indonesia, launched production of the Wuling Air EV last week. The Air EV is the newest version of battery-based electric vehicles manufactured by SGMW for sale around the world, and Indonesia has become the first station. The production capacity of Wuling Air EV at the factory is targeted to reach 10,000 units per year for both the domestic market and export, according to the company. SGMW invested $1 billion in 2015 to build a 60-hectare automotive industrial park in Bekasi in Indonesia as an automotive production base for the Indonesian and Southeast Asian markets. Wuling had 140 local dealers in Indonesia, with a total of six types of vehicles produced and sold locally by June.

Musk sells up to prepare for Twitter court battle

Elon Musk has sold nearly $7 billion worth of shares in Tesla as the billionaire gets his finances in order ahead of his court battle with Twitter. Musk disclosed in a series of regulatory filings that he unloaded about 8 million shares of his company Tesla in recent days. "In the (hopefully unlikely) event that Twitter forces this deal to close and some equity partners don't come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock," Musk tweeted late on Tuesday. Musk is by far the largest individual shareholder in both Tesla and Twitter. Musk counter-sued Twitter earlier this month, accusing the company of fraud over his aborted $44 billion acquisition. He claimed that Twitter held back critical information and misled his team about the size of its user base. Musk offered to buy Twitter earlier this year, before attempting to back out of the deal.

Rivian losses almost triple to $1.7 billion

The United States' electric vehicle startup Rivian said on Thursday its losses had nearly tripled to $1.7 billion in the second quarter, but that it is on track to meeting production goals. The carmaker of electric trucks, SUVs, and delivery vans said that it delivered 4,467 vehicles during the quarter, generating revenue of $364 million compared to zero revenue in the same period a year earlier. Rivian said it produced 6,954 vehicles in the first half of this year and is aiming to make a total of 25,000 vehicles by year's end. The company ended June with a backlog of approximately 98,000 preorders from customers in Canada and the US. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives saw the rise in Rivian preorders as an encouraging sign, and felt the company was smoothing out vehicle production after a "bumpy" start.