Less than three years ago, Nissan said it would spend close to $1.5 billion to build electric versions of existing models at the Japanese automaker’s UK plant, including its European top seller, the Qashqai.

But Reuters colleagues Daniel Leussink and Maki Shiraki report that Nissan has quietly halted development of the electric Qashqai as part of the company’s global dash to conserve cash. And if Nissan decides to resurrect the electric Qashqai plan, it would not come to market until the early 2030s.

You can read all about it here.

Conserving cash by ditching excess capacity as Nissan has done by selling its South African factory to China’s Chery, makes sense. As does talking to Chery about renting half of its Sunderland factory in the UK or lobbying the British government to push back its EV sales mandate.

Nissan needs to save money. But ditching investment in a key future product at a time when EVs are part of Europe’s competitive environment – with more electric models arriving all the time – is a striking choice.

If EVs remain anywhere near their current trajectory, possibly launching an electric Qashqai in the early 2030s could be too little too late.

BMW has problems in China - REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov.

Investors are unhappy with BMW after it slashed its profit outlook for 2026, which it blamed on an accelerated downturn in China and the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

This is not the first time BMW has blamed a profit warning on China and something else. In 2024, for instance, the German premium automaker blamed a supplier problem.

This time, the shine is off for BMW, which Deutsche Bank analysts said has had a reputation as being "steady Eddy" versus its peers.

While the company’s chairman insists BMW is on the “right track” with its Neue Klasse electric models that have yet to hit the Chinese market, shareholders disagree.

BMW’s shares are now down 35% year to date.

The true scale of the problem German automakers face in China is only now coming into focus.

Under fresh pressure to cut costs, BMW and staff representatives are now readying for talks.

Lucid is cutting its U.S. workforce, again - REUTERS/Caitlin O'Hara. 

Lucid is cutting staff, again.

This time, the EV maker is cutting around one in five of its U.S. staff, following a 12% reduction just four months ago to conserve cash. Lucid also cut the second shift at its main EV factory.

We may have mentioned this once or twice before on the Auto File, but getting to scale and profitability in the car industry is tough and phenomenally expensive – especially for EV makers in the U.S. market that killed subsidies for electric cars last year.

It is a fair assumption that Lucid would have been far likelier to join fellow EV startups like Fisker, Arrival and Lordstown in bankruptcy were it not for Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF, which has pumped billions into the company and owns more than 45% of the EV maker.

If Lucid is to succeed, PIF’s continued support is vital.

While German rival BMW issued a profit warning, Porsche says it is on target to hit its financial goals this year.

This will come as somewhat of a relief to investors after Porsche’s 1.1% profit margin last year.