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VW Group shored up sales in China for the second-straight month in November, solidifying its position as the country’s largest carmaker. Groupwide deliveries totaled 419,700, a rise of 5.1 percent from a year earlier, behind a double-digit gain at the Audi brand. 

Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., helped by hybrid demand, continued to post higher sales increases in China last month, but Nissan Motor Co. deliveries remained bearish. 

GAC Motor Co. started selling vehicles in Russia after suspending plans to enter the North American market in 2018 over concerns with the trade dispute between China and the United States.

Malaysian carmaker Proton Holdings launched mass production of the first vehicle developed by its Chinese shareholder, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. The Proton X70, a rebadged, right-hand-drive version of Geely’s Boyue compact crossover, is slated to go on sale in the first quarter of 2020.

Northvolt, the Swedish challenger to China’s domination of the electric-vehicle battery market, plans to build a large-scale recycling plant to recover supplies of precious metals needed for production.

Like most automotive suppliers looking toward the future, China-owned Nexteer is pivoting its expertise in core technologies to prepare for major industry disruptions.

Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, previews the 2020 CES and weighs in on the prickly trade relationship between the United States and China.

The German automaker has been exploring several options to strengthen its control of Beijing Benz Automotive Co., its joint venture with BAIC Group, including a plan to raise its stake to 75 percent from the current 49 percent, Reuters reported.

Daimler's main Chinese partner, BAIC, is reportedly mulling doubling its stake in the German automaker to about 10 percent. The move has raised additional concerns in Germany about the economic and security implications of increasingly fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers, especially in areas of traditional German strength such as the auto industry. 

The announcement comes a day after the companies said Dongfeng would reduce its 12.2 percent stake in PSA, a move that could smooth U.S. regulatory approval of the French automaker's merger with Fiat Chrysler.

China FAW Group Corp. expects deliveries at its premium Hongqi brand to double to 200,000 in 2020, driven by all-new light trucks.  

Tesla aims to lower the cost of building the Model 3 at a new Shanghai plant by using more local components, allowing the EV maker to import fewer parts and avoid tariffs, Bloomberg reported.

Used-vehicle sales in China will increase 5.6 percent to some 14.6 million in 2019 as demand accelerates at year end, the China Automobile Dealers Association predicts. 

With its first European plant, CATL is hoping to capitalize on a push by automakers toward electrification.

Nvidia said ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing adopted its chips for developing self-driving vehicles as well as back-end data centers. The California supplier also plans tools that will let participating automakers from Germany, China and North America learn from each others' training data without having to share data directly -- a system called "federated" learning.

Private Chinese conglomerate Baoneng Investment Group is on track to purchase PSA’s underutilized assembly plant in the south China city of Shenzhen, where the French automaker builds Citroen DS models.

Audi’s China deliveries rose 4.2 percent to a record 688,888 last year, according to Volkswagen Group’s joint venture with China FAW Group Corp., easily outpacing a market on track to decline for a second straight year.  

The Model 3 sedan built at the automaker's new Shanghai plant is priced at 355,800 yuan ($50,000) before subsidies.

The funding from local banks comes as the automaker's Shanghai factory prepares to begin Model 3 deliveries. 

Nio said third-quarter deliveries improved 35 percent, but the company does not have adequate cash for "continuous operation in the next 12 months." It said it was looking to obtain external financing.

While the EV startup has slashed jobs and started to scale back marketing expenditures, its finances remain critically strained. China’s EV market is slowing as the government reduces subsidies, and competition is about to get tougher.

In penalizing Toyota Motor Corp. 87.6 million yuan ($12.5 million), China's State Administration for Market Regulation said that between 2015 and 2018, the carmaker set a minimum sale and resale price for Lexus models in coastal Jiangsu province, depriving dealers of pricing autonomy and harming consumer rights.

Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln luxury brand began taking orders for its first locally produced model, the Corsair crossover, launching a renewed, multiyear plan to boost flagging sales by building vehicles in China more tailored to the country's consumers.

Beijing has been slowly rolling back a generous 5-year incentive program for electric vehicles, hybrids and other green vehicles, saying it plans to phase out subsidies after 2020, amid criticism that some companies have become overly reliant on the funds.

All three major Germany luxury-car brands bucked the downturn in China’s new-vehicle market in 2019, but Audi was dethroned as the country’s top-selling luxury marque after more than two decades on top. Both Mercedes-Benz and BMW, albeit narrowly, topped Audi in annual sales in the largest market for each brand. 

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. posted strong sales increases in China last year despite a protracted contraction in the overall new-vehicle market. Toyota Motor delivered roughly 1.62 million vehicles under the Toyota and Lexus brands in China last year, an increase of 9 percent, the company’s China office said. 

BYD Co., facing a slumping market for EVs as Beijing dials back on consumer incentives, recruited Kevin Wale, the former head of General Motors’ China operations, as a senior adviser to company chairman Wang Chuanfu.

The automaker recorded its third straight yearly decline in China, where it has been trying to revive sales after its business began slumping in late 2017.

Jaguar Land Rover's vehicle sales were hit by the weakening Chinese market and falling European demand for diesels.

Aston Martin is reportedly holding more talks with potential investors as it comes under growing financial pressure. Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, China supplier Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. and Geely Holding are among the suitors, reports said.

Beijing Automotive Group Co., China’s fourth-largest carmaker, hopes to sell at least the same amount of vehicles this year as 2019's tally, 2.26 million, as it battles “brutal” competition and a prolonged market slowdown at home.

Honda Motor Co. maintained sales growth in China in 2019 but Mazda Motor Corp.’s deliveries fell for the second consecutive year. 

The automaker is stepping up efforts to lure customers in a competitive EV market ahead of its planned Tuesday delivery of China-built Model 3 sedans to the public.

The EV maker ends 2019 with momentum as it attempts to expand in China and the U.S. in 2020. Challenges include increased EV competition in the U.S. and growth in China.

A Volvo manager said there were initial talks with Daimler, but no concrete plans, while a company spokesman said it was too early to talk about firm projects, according to Automobilwoche, an affiliate of Automotive News in Germany. 

The electric vehicle startup also announced its first major partnerships as an auto manufacturer.

Lexus maintained sales growth of more than 20 percent in China for the third straight year in 2019 on strong demand for hybrid models. Toyota Motor Corp.'s luxury brand delivered 200,521 vehicles in China last year, a jump of 25 percent from 2018.

Tough decisions at Jaguar Land Rover, notably in China, are paying off as the luxury brand moves aggressively to restore profits. Company officials simplified product lineups, reduced costs and cut output rather than embrace incentives to buy market share in a relatively young but down market.

The automaker is scheduled to deliver the first cars made at its Shanghai plant to the public on Tuesday and Musk plans to attend a ceremony to mark the occasion, Bloomberg reported.

The EV maker confidentially filed in December for the public offering, which could take place as early as the first half of the year, Reuters reported.

GM and its partners sold 3.09 million vehicles in China last year, a 15 percent decline from 2018. The automaker said it expects challenging market conditions to continue. 

Sales at BYD Co., China’s largest electrified-vehicle maker, slumped for the sixth straight month in December after Beijing slashed subsidies for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids in June.

After delivering the first China-built Model 3 sedans to the public, CEO Elon Musk said the automaker will make the Model Y crossover at its Shanghai plant.

Geely's Tong Xiangbei, a former Ford executive, will head the automaker's joint venture with Mercedes-Benz to build Smart cars for global markets in China.

Volvo Car Corp.’s China sales jumped nearly 19 percent in 2019 as demand for luxury vehicles remained robust despite a protracted market downturn. Volvo delivered 154,961 cars and light trucks in China last year, accounting for roughly 22 percent of the brand’s global volume. 

Red Flag, the car of choice for Chairman Mao Zedong six decades ago, has evolved with the times and is now planning for an electrified future. The brand will introduce 21 new models over the next five years, 18 of them electric. Red Flag wants to double sales this year to 200,000, and wants annual deliveries to reach 1 million in 2030.

Chinese automotive glass manufacturer and supplier Fuyao is spending $46 million to expand production and r&d at a factory in Ohio, adding 100 jobs.