Chinese automakers are stepping up luxury car business. Geely Automobile introduced the luxury brand “Lynk & Co” in October 2016, and Great Wall Motor announced the luxury SUV brand “WEY” in November 2016. Both private automakers began commercial production of their respective brand in the following year. Looking at state-owned automakers, BAIC Group has launched the ArcFox brand exclusively for BEVs. Similarly, GAC Group and Dongfeng Motor have put forth their own premium BEV brands the Aion and Voyah respectively. It has been also reported that SAIC GrRead more...

In September 2020, electric (HEV / PHEV / BEV / FCEV) passenger vehicle sales dropped 13% compared to the same period of 2019 to 100,000 units. ・The share of electric vehicles (HEV / PHEV / BEV / FCEV) in the passenger vehicle market (light automobiles with a 660cc or smaller engine displacement are not included) increased 1.3pp from the same month of the previous year to 39.5%, going to for the first time in 13 months. ・BEVs declined 27.2% to 1,887 units. The Nissan Leaf dropped 52.1% to 1,082 units. On the other hand, the “Others” category which inclRead more...

The Indian automobile industry has been sluggish for more than two years due to the sharp slowdown of economic growth from the latter half of 2018, and the outbreak of the new coronavirus at the beginning of 2020 when signs of recovery began to appear. In response to the prolonged severe business environment in India, the Indian government has decided to introduce large-scale support measures for automobile and parts manufacturers. On November 11, 2020, the Government of India decided to add the automobile and parts industries to the policy “ProductioRead more...

AAPICO Hitech, a major Thai auto parts supplier, is enhancing its operations by strengthening its overseas activities and joint ventures with foreign suppliers. The company’s automobile parts business accounts for 70% of all sales. AAPICO has been focusing on supplying automakers in Thailand; however, the company began supplying VinFast, an emerging local automaker in Vietnam, and made Sakthi Global Auto Holdings (SGAH), a UK-based automobile parts supplier, its wholly-owned subsidiary in 2019, revealing that AAPICO is stepping up overseas operations. ThRead more...