Canada and its Five Eyes Alliance partners are working on put forward a response to tackle the price manipulation of critical metals, Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Tuesday…The U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have what is called the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network and the finance ministers from these countries met last Thursday for the spring session of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington…Freeland said that she and her counterparts from the Five Eyes Alliance discussed last week on how these countries could "friendshore" their critical minerals supply chain to fight the dumping of critical minerals in the international market by large producing countries, such as China and Indonesia…Freeland said Canada and its allies believe that nickel and other rare earth minerals are intentionally flooded in the market with the purpose of driving Canadian and companies from allied countries out of business…Canada has listed 31 metals as critical minerals, which are necessary towards future energy and technology transition.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada and its allies are weighing taking trade action against China and Indonesia in the nickel market, as the two Asian countries tighten their collective grip in the critical mineral…Indonesia has gone from supplying 7 per cent of the global output of nickel to 55 per cent in the past decade, with much of that new production controlled by China-based mining companies with ties to the authoritarian Beijing government…“It is our belief that that behaviour can be intentional, can be happening with the purpose of driving companies in our country, [and] in those of our allies, out of business,” said Ms. Freeland…Ms. Freeland said the importance of insulating Western supply chains in critical minerals against unfriendly countries was a topic of discussion in a meeting she had last week with fellow finance ministers from the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States and Britain…China and Indonesia’s rise in nickel production has come at a great environmental cost…Aside from nickel, China has already locked up a dominant position in other critical minerals, such as lithium, cobalt and graphite, all of which are key materials used in electric vehicle batteries and other forms of lower-carbon energy sources.

A made-in-China electric vehicle will hit U.S. dealers this summer offering power and efficiency similar to the Tesla Model Y, the world's best-selling EV, but for about $8,000 less…The EX30 from Volvo Cars , the Swedish luxury brand owned by China's Geely , foreshadows the fierce competitive threat U.S. automakers could face from Chinese EV manufacturers that have surged far ahead of global rivals, especially on affordability…The $35,000 window sticker of Volvo's compact SUV hits a sweet spot in the U.S. market, where most buyers cannot afford most EVs. The competitive price reflects an unusual combination of Geely's China-specific cost advantages and Volvo's ability to skirt U.S. tariffs on Chinese cars because it also has U.S. manufacturing operations, according to interviews with four sources familiar with Volvo and Geely strategy and several U.S. trade policy experts…Chinese EV makers can undercut global competitors largely because of the nation's domination of battery minerals mining and refining, as well as its long-standing commitment to EV development, including heavy government subsidies…China's EV dominance will be on display this week at the nation's premier auto show in Beijing. In the China market, the world's largest, dozens of domestic EV brands are fighting it out in a price war while foreign automakers have steadily lost market share. The intense competition has driven China's biggest EV makers, led by BYD, to accelerate exporting of EVs that can capture higher prices and profits in less competitive overseas markets…The U.S. Internal Revenue Service later determined, however, that leased EVs qualify as commercial vehicles and are eligible for a similar $7,500 subsidy with no China-content restrictions…That could bring a leased EX30's effective price to $27,500 - a compelling offer for a five-seater electric SUV that Volvo has said will have a 275-mile driving range and a five-second 0-60 mph time…The EX30's price and the buzz it's generating help explain U.S. automakers' rising fears of having to compete with low-cost Chinese EV imports…Industry trade group the Alliance for American Manufacturing said in February that cheap Chinese EVs could cause an "extinction-level event" for U.S. automakers. It warned that Chinese manufacturers could also avoid U.S. tariffs by setting up plants in Mexico, inside the North American free trade zone, then exporting vehicles to the United States.

As auto giant Volkswagen AG races to catch up with upstart Chinese competitors, it has drivers like 26-year-old Ren Yiling in mind…She is young and wants to play video games in her car. The digital features of her Zeekr 001, a European-designed electric car from China’s Geely Holding Group, appeal to her. She uses her smartphone to help her parents adjust their seats and tells an animated voice assistant to open the window or play music…Foreign automakers have been caught flat-footed in China by an electric vehicle boom that has shaken up the market, the world’s largest, over the last three years…EV sales in China, encouraged by green energy subsidies and tax breaks, jumped from 900,000 units in 2020 to 5.1 million last year, accounting for 24% of new car sales, according to the China Passenger Car Association, an industry group…The battle is not only about digital gadgetry. Chinese EV makers have driven down battery and production costs and flooded the market with choices, depressing prices to levels that are likely unsustainable…Volkswagen’s response has been to shift to developing cars in China from the ground up, rather than adapting European models to the local market. The company announced earlier this month that it would invest 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) to expand research and development and production in the city of Hefei, where it has teamed up with Chinese EV maker XPENG Motors to develop two midsize VW models to launch in 2026…The company is developing a new EV platform, which includes the chassis and battery packs, just for China to try to bring down costs by 40%...Volkswagen still has a ways to go. It sold only 41,000 EVs in China in the first three months of the year…

Volkswagen Group Canada Inc. plans to eventually manufacture solid-state batteries at its planned gigafactory in St. Thomas, Ont., says chief executive Vito Paladino…Paladino made his comments in response to a question about consumer sentiment around EVs, saying climate change makes it necessary to move away from internal combustion engine vehicles. At the same time, he said “affordability” is still an issue for many people when it comes to EVs…“The battery plant that we have in Canada will be solid-state batteries,” he said. “These batteries will have a cost benefit, but they’ll also have way more range and performance.”…Powerco Canada Inc. — VW’s battery manufacturing subsidiary — said in December that the site was ready for groundbreaking and that construction of the $7-billion St. Thomas gigafactory would begin this year with a goal of producing batteries by 2027...VW made headlines in Canada when it announced the plant in 2023. It marked the first time in years that Canada attracted a new automaker to build out its supply chain here…The town of St. Thomas has historically been an auto industry town and VW’s decision to build a battery factory approximately the size of 210 football fields marks a revival of sorts.

Tesla said on Tuesday it would introduce "new models" by early 2025 using its current platforms and production lines as it retreated from more ambitious plans to produce an all-new model that had been expected to cost $25,000…The talk of new offerings on a faster timeline sent Tesla shares soaring in after-hours trading, a much-needed boost, after months of decline during which Tesla has struggled with fierce competition and falling sales…Chief Executive Elon Musk declined to provide details of the new vehicles but said they would include more-affordable models that would start production by early 2025. That's just before the target Musk previously set for launching the all-new low-cost model widely known as the Model 2…The new models would be built on Tesla's current manufacturing lines and use "aspects" of its current platform and a next-generation platform, Tesla said. It cautioned that this plan may "result in achieving less cost reduction than previously expected," suggesting that the vehicles may cost consumers more than the Model 2's anticipated $25,000 price…Tesla also mentioned a "purpose-built robotaxi product" that it planned to build with a "revolutionary" manufacturing process, without offering a timeline for its release…Musk devoted much of the call with analysts to outlining ambitious visions for diversifying Tesla's business into artificial intelligence, humanoid robots and operating a fleet of millions of autonomous vehicles - all based on software and hardware products the automaker has not yet fully developed…Tesla "should be thought of as an AI robotics company," not a car maker, Musk said.

General Motors reported noticeable progress regarding its Ultium EV platform on Tuesday, as production increases, battery costs decrease and profitability improves. The company's long-promised, much delayed EV assault may finally begin en masse…According to GM, battery module production—once a bottleneck—has increased by 300% over the last six months. The growth is accompanied by "very good" quality results, according to the report. The company expects to double production again before the end of the summer…With more battery modules available, GM will be able to produce more Ultium EVs.