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Europe's car industry is confronting an awkward proposition. The Chinese manufacturer best placed to fill its idle factories is also the one its trade defences were built to keep out. BYD, China's largest electric-vehicle maker, has been in talks with Stellantis and other European producers about taking over underused plants rather than building from scratch, a strategy that would let it sidestep the provisional tariffs of up to 35 per cent that Brussels imposed on Chinese-bu

Siemens Mobility is recasting its workhorse locomotive as a connected digital platform, a wager that the next phase of competition in European rail will be fought over software rather than horsepower. At a launch ceremony at its newly expanded Munich-Allach plant on 10 June, the German manufacturer unveiled the Vectron X, the latest iteration of a family that has sold close to 3,000 units across the continent. Every Vectron delivered from the middle of this month will be an X

Europe's most ambitious defence venture is in ruins. The Future Combat Air System, the sixth-generation fighter programme that was meant to anchor the continent's air superiority into the second half of the century, was formally abandoned on 8 June after Berlin and Paris concluded that their industrial champions could not be reconciled. The roughly €100 billion project to develop a fully European next-generation fighter jet has been scrapped, ending an initiative launched wit

European shipowners and fuel suppliers are bracing for a decisive autumn at the International Maritime Organization, where member states will reconvene in October to attempt, for a second time, to adopt the Net-Zero Framework that would impose the world's first legally binding carbon price across an entire industry. The stakes for Europe are considerable. The framework, approved in principle at the regulator's London headquarters in April 2025, pairs a global fuel standard wi

Ford has dropped the exclusively electric focus of its high-performance "Demonstrator" programme, the latest signal that the industry's retreat from battery power is broadening from the showroom to the racetrack, with implications for a European market already wrestling with softening EV demand. Ford Racing will continue developing the technology testbeds, which have included the Supervan 4.2, an F-150 Lightning Supertruck and a Mustang Cobra Jet, but will no longer confine t

A coalition of European Union transport ministers has urged the European Commission to draw up a dedicated industrial strategy for the bloc's rail supply sector, sharpening the contest over how Brussels protects strategic manufacturing from foreign competition. The initiative, led by Austria and backed by Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Romania, was tabled during this week's Transport Council. Ministers called for a comprehensive Euro

Germany and France have scrapped the joint manned fighter at the heart of the Future Combat Air System, ending nine years of cooperation on what was meant to be Europe's flagship sixth-generation combat aircraft and dealing a blow to the continent's ambitions for strategic autonomy. Chancellor Friedrich Merz informed President Emmanuel Macron that the two countries would not proceed with a shared aircraft, conveying the decision on the sidelines of the EU Western Balkans summ

European importers are confronting a fresh squeeze on supply chains as container freight rates from Asia spike at the fastest pace in a year, driven by the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz and an unusually early start to the peak shipping season. The spot rate for a 40-foot container to northern Europe from Asia reached $3,649 in the week to 5 June, a 27 per cent jump on the previous week, according to Oslo-based freight platform Xeneta. Charges on Europe-bound boxes

Europe's carmakers are betting that a new wave of cut-price electric vehicles can blunt the advance of Chinese rivals, but the economics of the affordable EV remain stubbornly unforgiving. Stellantis and Renault are both pushing toward a roughly €15,000 battery-electric price point, with Stellantis planning to build affordable EVs in Italy by 2028. The Franco-Italian group has teased a full-electric revival of the Citroen 2CV among its planned entry-level E-Cars, framing nost

Germany's flagship railway renovation strategy is colliding with the industry it was meant to serve, with steelmakers warning of disrupted raw-material supplies just as Deutsche Bahn prepares to reopen one of its busiest corridors. The Hamburg to Berlin main line, shut since August 2025 for a sweeping overhaul, returns to full service on 14 June after a frost-driven six-week delay pushed completion beyond its original late-April target. DB InfraGO has renewed 165 kilometres o

Tesla has mounted a striking recovery across Europe's largest electric-vehicle markets, with May registration figures pointing to a turnaround that complicates the picture for the region's own manufacturers as they scramble to defend share in a fast-electrifying market. The headline numbers were dramatic. New registrations rose 71% to 858 vehicles in Sweden, 136% to 1,750 in Denmark and 113% to 1,690 in Spain, according to data from Mobility Sweden, bilstatistik.dk and ANFAC

Switzerland may be compelled to keep Cold War-era jets aloft well into the next decade, as cost overruns on its Lockheed Martin F-35A programme threaten to open a gap in the protection of Alpine airspace, a predicament being watched closely by Europe's own combat-aircraft makers. Lawmakers are pushing a measure that would task the government with examining a temporary continuation of F-5 Tiger operations until the end of 2030 and an extended service life for the F/A-18 fleet