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EV car maker Aptera shuts down

Automotive startup company Aptera Motors, promoter of the weirdly styled, three-wheeled 2e electric car, shut down on Friday, saying it was out of money. The company said it was unable to raise funds from private investors that would have kept it going until it received a $150 million loan from the Department of Energy's Advance Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program. "This is a difficult time for everyone connected with our company because we have never been closer to realizing our vision," CEO Paul Wilbur said in a statement.

Faurecia opens new Shanghai Technical Center

Faurecia has opened a new technical center in Shanghai, China, which will also serve as its Chinese headquarters. The automotive equipment supplier wants to reinforce its research and development capabilities and engineering localization in the world's largest automotive market. The new 18,000 square meter Faurecia China Tech Center is made up of the Training Center and the Tech Center, which includes an industrial design facility, two showrooms and various prototype workshops alongside five labs for testing, acoustics, airbag, complete seat and quality inspection.

India turns the screw on luxury car makers

Land Rover will still be sending CKD to India despite the rise in import duty India’s economy is growing almost exponentially, as a result of which it has a big, rising middle-class with much the same aspirations as the middle-class in the West. Those aspirations include the accumulation of status symbols considered worthy of representing their success and new wealth, none more so than a good set of wheels. So it’s no surprise that the mainstream luxury car makers – Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes, Audi and BMW – are ready, willing and able to provide exactly what India’s middles classes are looking for.