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The CPCA expects China’s May NEV retail sales to rise 12.0% month-on-month, with the penetration rate hitting a record 62.5%. Showroom traffic and orders for traditional ICE vehicles drop significantly, exacerbating divergence with the NEV market. (A Smart #1 on display at the Beijing Auto Show in April 2026. Image credit: CnEVPost) China’s retail sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) are estimated at 950,000 units in May, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said in a report on Friday. That represents a 12.0% increase from the previous month, with the NEV penetration rate expected to reach about 62.5%, surpassing the…

The Mandalorian and Grogu was quite literally an afterthought, and it shows. It was pitched after the 2023 Hollywood writer’s strike delayed production of The Mandalorian’s fourth season, even though director and writer Jon Favreau had already completed the scripts for that season. So Favreau had to go back to the drawing board to create a whole new adventure for his two characters, one that didn’t lean too much on prior knowledge of the TV series, and that could tell a self-contained story in a few hours. The result is a space adventure that feels surprisingly low-stakes for a Star…

Hyundai has just issued a recall for more than 420,000 SUVs and pickups over a problem with the collision avoidance system. The issue affects the Hyundai Tucson and Santa Cruz over model years 2025 and 2026, and the problem is that they can brake to avoid a potential crash that isn’t even there. System Might Be A Little Too Eager To Avoid Some Collisions 2022 – 2025 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid 4th Gen (NX4) SUVHyundai In documents filed with the NHTSA, Hyundai described the issue. It said that in some situations the Forward Collision Avoidance system “may exhibit increased sensitivity to…

It seems like just about everything in the luxury segment has all-wheel drive these days. Most drivers seem to prefer it, whether for the real benefits or the perceived ones, and the sophistication of all-weather capability is an image boost for these vehicles on its own. But for the many people that live in places that don’t see snow, all-wheel drive is an unnecessary drag that hurts fuel economy and is mostly a waste other than in those dynamic scenarios that luxury car buyers rarely find themselves in. Many luxury automakers recognize this and embrace front-wheel drive, especially on their…

We’re closing out this week’s Green Deals led by two EV sales. Ride1Up has added all three versions of its VORSA Modular Multi-Use e-bikes to its Memorial Day Sale lineup at their lowest prices starting from $1,395, while Navee’s Memorial Day Sale has restocked the newest UT5 Ultra X Electric SuperScooter at $2,300, with tons of other models starting from $150. We also rounded up a bunch of EcoFlow’s under-1,024Wh power stations, like the 960Wh DELTA 3 1000 Air Power Station at a new $299 low, as well as the expanded 858Wh RIVER 3 Max Plus Power Station at a…

The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short—the latest car news headlines from around the globe organized for your quick-glance convenience. Here are the automotive industry and culture stories worth having on your radar as we spin up this Thursday, May 21. 🫡 Ford is talking to the US and other governments to start making military vehicles based on the Ranger and Super Duty platforms. CEO Jim Farley told analysts last month the automaker is in “early…

Major automakers have spent decades trying to perfect the art of building their vehicles. In doing so, they’ve had to balance producing distinctive cars or trucks that one-up their competitors with the huge costs of sophisticated production lines, all while doing their best to maximize their revenues. A pivot to electrification was always going to upset that apple cart and create projection problems for these OEMs. They’d need to invest a lot of upfront money simply to get the idea underway, and before they could think about calculating individual profits for each vehicle. But with many years of electrification now…

The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. For every Audi enthusiast asking themselves when the advanced lighting systems available in Europe will finally come to America the answer has arrived: later this year. On Thursday, Audi announced its next-generation adaptive Matrix LED headlights will come to the U.S. on the upcoming Q9 three-row crossover SUV. It will mark the first time the tech is available in the U.S. on an Audi and actually be enabled from the factory. Let me explain. Some Audi models…

Attachment is a phenomenon that Autocar road testers habitually have to keep at arm’s length.Because cars that are objectively good — that show careful consideration in design and execution, have strengths in all the right areas and are therefore easy to recognise and recommend — aren’t always the cars that appeal to one personally. Because there’s an important difference between rating a car and simply liking it. We’re all human, but we reviewers have to be careful to keep tabs on our own preferences and prioritise those of the particular target customer in question.

Cupra will put its radical Tindaya sports SUV concept into production in the coming years as a new flagship EV which will go toe to toe with the BMW iX3 and Volvo EX60. The Tindaya was revealed at the Munich motor show last year as a futuristic, rakish SUV that previewed the next evolution of Cupra’s design language and emphasised the brand’s focus on driver engagement, while hinting at a potential new range-topping model to sit above the Tavascan and Terramar.  Cupra had previously not confirmed plans to put the 4.72m-long Tindaya into showrooms, instead touting the show car as…