Australia's ruling centre-left Labor government on Thursday pledged an initial investment of A$1.2 billion ($763 million) to set up a strategic reserve of critical minerals as it looks to create a separate supply chain in a market dominated by China…"We need to do more with the natural resources the world needs, and that Australia can provide," Albanese said in a statement…The push comes after China placed export restrictions on several minerals, vital to make everything from smartphones and EV batteries to infrared missiles, squeezing supply to the West, after President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods…Albanese said the government would buy critical minerals from commercial projects or set up an option to buy at a given price, holding security over the assets. The government will also establish stockpiles of some minerals produced under offtake agreements…Minerals held by the strategic reserve would be made available to domestic industries and key international partners.

Sales of electric vehicles climbed to 294,000 in the first quarter of the year, a 10.6 per cent increase compared with the year-earlier period. January through March is a relatively slow time for car sales, nevertheless EVs moved off the lot much more frequently than cars and trucks in general. (Total United States auto sales were nearly flat in the first quarter)…EV adoption is cruising along in the United States, despite a backlash against the industry’s largest player and the Trump administration’s push to wind back clean energy incentives and emissions regulations. Interest is spreading from early-adopters to mainstream consumers, from EV evangelists to the EV-curious…The gains came in spite of (and in some cases because of) struggles at Tesla, the country’s market-leader for battery-powered vehicles. Tesla sold 1.3 million cars in the quarter, a nine per cent decline from the year-earlier period. Sales of rival brands, meanwhile, collectively notched a gain of 32 per cent…However, there is also a crowd of EV converts that aren’t so much put off by Musk as they are attracted to a parade of newer products. Of the 63 or so fully electric cars and trucks on the U.S. market, one quarter weren’t available a year ago. The product blitz includes the first EV offerings from Acura, Dodge and Jeep, second models from Mini and Porsche and two more battery-powered machines each from Cadillac and Volvo…Many of the new EVs are relatively affordable. Cox estimates the price spread between EVs broadly and internal combustion cars and trucks has shrunk to just US$5,000. General Motors, meanwhile, plans to resurrect its Chevrolet Bolt later this year with a price point around US$30,000…“We’re about giving customers a choice,” chief executive Mary Barra told Bloomberg. “Over the long term, we think EV demand will grow.”…Globally, EV sales are only expected to accelerate. BloombergNEF expects drivers to buy 22 million battery-powered vehicles this year, a 30 per cent increase from 2024. In the U.S., it forecasts slightly more bullish demand, a sales increase of 31.5 per cent…However, tariffs could broadside EV-curious shoppers. Factories from the Rust Belt to the Deep South stamp out gas-powered engines with ease, but U.S. plants are still spooling up slowly on batteries, leaving EVs far more exposed to tariffs. Nearly 70 per cent of lithium-ion batteries in the U.S. come from China and now face tariffs of up to 73 per cent…Of the 1.5 million EVs purchased in the U.S. last year, slightly more than one third were imported…Two of the most popular (and most affordable) EVs on the market – Ford’s Mustang Mach-E and the Chevrolet Equinox EV — are both bolted together in Mexico. Meanwhile, the Chrysler Pacifica hybrid is made in Windsor, Ontario just across the Detroit River from the c-suites of Motown.

Foreign automakers in China face an increasingly urgent challenge at this year's Shanghai auto show - winning back Chinese buyers while their domestic rivals churn out slick, affordable electric vehicles at a relentless pace…The world's biggest automakers have steadily lost market share in recent years as Chinese-brand sales have soared. The destruction of legacy-brand equity is spreading fast from low- and mid-priced segments to luxury automakers now struggling to match Chinese rivals with superior EV drivetrains and a dizzying array of high-tech interior features…Germany's Porsche - among the world's most powerful premium brands for decades - has become the new poster child for legacy automaker decline in China. Its sales in the country plunged 42% in the first quarter, an acceleration of previous losses since the legendary sports-car maker hit record China annual sales of 95,671 just four years ago - nearly a third of its 2021 global total…Chinese customers aren't buying it. Instead, they're buying increasing futuristic luxury and sport substitutes from domestic competitors including BYD's Yangwang brand and Xiaomi an electronics and appliances giant that only entered the car business last year. Xiaomi's first car, the electric SU7 sport sedan, caused a sensation with Porsche-inspired styling at a much lower price…When Xiaomi introduced an absurdly fast, 1,548-horsepower SU7 Ultra variant in February priced from 529,900 yuan ($72,591), it said it racked up about 10,000 pre-orders in two hours - slightly more than the first-quarter China sales of all Porsche models. The least expensive Porsche 911 sells for 1.468 million yuan, or $201,170, in China and has 394 horsepower, according to Porsche's website…The Chinese automakers that are increasingly moving into high-end segments do care about sales volumes…Xiaomi sold 137,000 SU7s last year, more than double Porsche's total full-year China sales of just under 57,000, out of global sales of 310,718. Last month, Xiaomi raised its vehicle-sales target for 2025 to 350,000…The rapid growth of China's industry has translated directly to steep sales declines for foreign automakers across all segments.