China’s vehicle industry took a deep dive last month, as Shanghai went into a citywide lockdown, which idled car plants from General Motors to Tesla and Volkswagen.

China’s automobiles industry lost 1 million vehicles in production last month amid severe lockdown measures introduced to contain outbreaks of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of Covid-19.

For Geely, which has typically grown its business through global partnerships, the deal goes beyond selling cars in South Korea and is a way for the Chinese carmaker to export cars made in South Korea to America.

Shrinking deliveries at Nio, Li Auto and Xpeng are dragging on their attempts to catch up with the industry’s bellwether Tesla for supremacy in the world’s largest market for automobiles and smart EVs.

Shares of the three leading Chinese EV start-ups, Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto, have suffered losses ranging from 17 to 50 per cent in Hong Kong this year, as sales lose traction amid Covid-19 outbreaks.

Tesla’s Shanghai factory is assembling 1,000 vehicles a day – just half of its output before the city’s latest Covid-19 outbreak – after resuming work this week

By allowing key producers to function as normally as possible, China is aiming to reduce the impact of strict lockdown measures.

Shanghai is on track to resume production at key manufacturing sites after a 16-day citywide lockdown, succumbing to pressure from foreign diplomats, business groups and multinational firms calling for an easing of anti-coronavirus control measures.

Shanghai’s local authorities locked the entire city down on April 5, and confined most of the city’s 25 million residents – except emergency workers and medical staff – to their homes to contain a Covid-19 outbreak.

NEV sales in China fell for a second consecutive month in February, as sales were affected by the Lunar New Year holiday and a cut in subsidies.

Analysts predict sales will rebound sharply in March when consumer demand and operations at Li Auto, Xpeng and NIO return to normal after the traditional low season.

Firm will halt work at its 14 plants in Japan on Tuesday, after parts supplier hit; Japanese government to investigate incident and whether Russia is involved.

Lotus, the British sports car brand majority owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, is in early discussions about a stock market listing with the idea of raising fresh capital for global expansion and EV development.

The fixes have not dented customers’ enthusiasm for Tesla, which outsells its nearest competitor by nearly five-to-one.

Any new model will come at the expense of the bottom line, as the unprofitable carmakers must spend heavily on marketing to prove that they can match against the market bellwether.

There’s no mystery behind Biden’s antipathy towards Tesla. The president has enjoyed the support of unions including the United Auto Workers (UAW), while Musk is hostile toward unions and workers aren’t organised.

During Tesla’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said that the company would not bring any new vehicles to market this year, a letdown for many.

A wide-ranging import ban to stop foreign currency from leaving the country has forced buyers to pay some of the world’s highest prices for a set of wheels.

The findings underscore the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the world’s fastest growing market for so-called new energy vehicles (NEVs), where three of every five new cars entering China’s roads are expected to be powered by electricity by 2030.

One of 2021’s biggest breakout stars after roles in Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood and The Handmaid’s Tale, Sweeney an all-action woman with a plan and plenty of confidence

The roll-out of the much-delayed SUV bookmarked more than a year of anxious wait for Evergrande’s shareholders, who poured HK$30 billion (US$3.85 billion) into the company to fund founder Hui Ka-yan’s aspiration to “beat Tesla” in the world’s largest market for electric cars.

The Chinese AI giant’s electric vehicle being developed by its carmaking arm, Jidu Automotive, will have level 4 autonomous driving capability.

To retake its leadership position, GM will have to return to something closer to the 2.5 million vehicles the company delivered in 2020.

BYD is enjoying the success of its Dolphin car model in China, as the Warren Buffett-backed carmaker hit the 10,000 delivery mark for the first time last month.