• BMW is getting crushed in China as rivals like BYD squeeze out foreign carmakers.
• The German giant is fighting to turn things around, but now has a brewing trade war to contend with.
• The CEO said the trade conflict sparked by President Donald Trump could cost BMW up to $1 billion this year.

BMW is still getting crushed in China — and now has a brewing trade war to worry about too.

The German carmaker reported on Friday that net profits had collapsed by more than a third last year, and warned that 2025 is likely to be challenging thanks to the ongoing tariff face-off between the US, China, and Europe.

BMW stock fell as much as 4.5% on Friday. As with many of its European rivals, the main source of the automaker's woes is China.

Despite BMW Group's sales rising slightly in the US and Europe, they collapsed 13.4% in the world's largest car market last year.

BMW has found itself increasingly squeezed by China's insurgent local EV makers, who are taking market share from their foreign competitors with their high-tech, affordable electric vehicles.

Fellow German carmakers VW and Porsche have also reported double-digit sales drops in China, even as the likes of BYD and Xiaomi enjoy a sales surge.

BMW plans to roll out a new lineup of next-generation EVs, dubbed the "Neue Klasse," starting later this year in an attempt to boost sales.

It faces the additional headwinds of a brewing global trade war sparked by America's on-again-off-again tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

BMW CEO Oliver Zipse told Bloomberg the automaker expects trade conflicts between the US, China, and Europe to cost it about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) this year.

However, he expects much of the disruption to be short-lived. "We don't think that all these tariffs will last very long, though some of them might last longer," Zipse said.

Other European automakers are also sounding the alarm about President Donald Trump's tariff barrage. The boss of VW brand Skoda warned on Friday that US tariffs would raise costs, and could push Chinese carmakers to accelerate their expansion into Europe.

BMW did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• Tesla sales are slumping across the globe, including in the US.
• According to industry data, new US Tesla registrations fell 11% in January, even as rivals' sales surged.
• Sales have plummeted in Europe and China, and Tesla faces protests over CEO Elon Musk in the US.

As the backlash against Elon Musk grows, the US has joined the long list of places where Tesla's sales are plummeting.

New Tesla registrations in the US fell 11% in January from a year earlier, according to data from S&P Global Mobility — even as the company's EV rivals surged.

Ford's electric vehicle registrations rose 54% from a year earlier, while other legacy carmakers like Chevrolet and VW also saw big jumps in sales.

Tesla remains the dominant player in the US market, accounting for 42% of total EV sales and selling 35,000 more EVs than second-place Ford in the first month of the year.

But the automaker is facing a difficult period as sales slump worldwide and the backlash against CEO Musk builds.

Tesla's European sales almost halved in January, with Musk being heavily criticized across the continent for his attacks on European leaders and endorsement of German far-right party AfD.

The billionaire's work cutting the federal workforce with DOGE has also sparked protests across the US, and Tesla has become a target.

The "Tesla Takedown" movement has held protests outside the company's showrooms in multiple US cities, and the discontent over Musk's actions has pushed some Tesla owners to sell up.

In some states, Tesla vehicles and dealerships have also been hit by vandalism and arson. In Oregon, police are investigating after a dealership in a Portland suburb was hit with gunfire for the second time in a week.

In China, meanwhile, sales of Teslas manufactured in the country fell by 49% in February, per industry data, as local EV rivals such as BYD continue to put the US automaker under serious pressure.

Tesla's share price has dropped by more than 50% since mid-December, with investors expressing concern over the worrying sales figures and the amount of time Musk is spending working on DOGE.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• Backlash against Elon Musk and DOGE has hit Tesla, with the brand becoming a target for protests and vandalism.
• Business Insider spoke to four Tesla owners about why they decided to sell their EVs.
• They said Musk's work with DOGE and fear of being harassed were the main reasons for selling.

Things might be tricky for Tesla, but at least it has one new customer — President Donald Trump, who said Tuesday he'd buy a Tesla in a show of support for CEO Elon Musk.

Away from the White House, some longtime Tesla owners have had enough.

Business Insider spoke to four people who recently sold their vehicles in response to Musk's work gutting the federal government with DOGE.

It comes as backlash against Tesla mounts, with showrooms and vehicles becoming targets for protests.

"I sold my Tesla because I found it no longer reflects my values. I was embarrassed to be seen driving it," Scott Oran, a real estate developer who lives near Boston, told Business Insider.

Oran said he was initially drawn to his 2018 Model 3 because of the company's environmental credentials and promise to address the climate crisis "in a constructive manner."

Despite his Model 3 being a "very good car," Musk's work directing government layoffs with DOGE was too much for Oran.

"I saw its sale as a protest against Elon Musk and his work at DOGE. Musk was not elected. He's gutting our American government," he said.

"He's illegally firing federal workers. He's illegally dismantling federal agencies. He's spreading conspiracy theories, and he's empowering extremists. In short, he's sowing chaos and confusion. And I felt that we need to send a message to him and others like him that that is not American democracy," Oran added.

While the majority of car buyers tend to be swayed more by price and performance than politics, Tesla and other EV brands have traditionally appealed to customers who care about environmentalism — the demographic likely to object to Musk's newfound interest in far-right politics.

The second former Tesla owner, who did not want to be named to avoid potential retaliation, said: "What attracted me the most initially was trying to get away from fossil fuels."

While his 2021 Model 3 performance variant had issues including battery and computer problems, he said he was "blown away" by its performance.

The former owner described the controversial gesture Musk made at a Trump inauguration rally as "the straw that broke the camel's back," prompting him to trade in the Tesla late last month at a valuation of $22,000, according to a purchase contract viewed by BI.

"Every tweet that he's written since then has just added more nails to the coffin in my mind," they said.

Protests and harassment

As the backlash to Musk and the widespread government layoffs enacted by DOGE has grown, Tesla has increasingly borne the brunt of public ire.

High-profile owners including singer Sheryl Crow have sold their cars in response to Musk's actions, and a nationwide protest movement, "Tesla Takedown," has staged protests at Tesla showrooms across the country.

Cybertrucks and other Tesla vehicles have also been vandalized, and police in Oregon are investigating after shots were fired at a Tesla showroom.

For some Tesla owners, fear of being harassed has played a part in the decision to sell.

"I've been having instances where drivers would brake-check me or do rolling roadblocks, and I've had a few people flip me off for no apparent reason," said the former Model 3 performance owner.

"This made my decision all more clear — I have a newborn baby and even though I know I could be defensive in my driving, I'm not comfortable having my son in the car and having to deal with the harassment."

Oran said he hadn't experienced any backlash, but had seen Tesla drivers being heckled while attending a peaceful Tesla Takedown protest at a Boston dealership. "I imagined myself being in that situation, and I just wouldn't want to have that happen."

Rivals look to overtake

Tesla's waning fortunes appear to be benefiting its EV rivals.

Two former owners who spoke to BI said they've swapped their Teslas for a Polestar. The Swedish EV brand has been aggressively targeting Tesla customers in recent weeks.

The third former owner, who had a Model Y, said they were initially skeptical about rival vehicles, but were won over by the Polestar 3. "The build quality is fantastic, it drives much better than a Tesla and the interior feels like a real car and not a cheap toy."

Oran, who sold his Tesla for about $18,000 and now drives a Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV, said: "Although Tesla did create the market for electric vehicles, there are now a number of really good alternatives."

Tesla owners who do decide to sell will find the used car market saturated with pre-owned Model 3s and Ys, with resale values plunging in recent years.

The fourth former owner, who had a Model 3, said his decision to sell was partly motivated by fear that resale values could drop even further due to Musk's conduct.

"I wasn't offended enough by his political behavior to sell the car, but I didn't want the value of my car to be tied to his political behavior," said the owner, who traded in his 2018 Model 3 for about $17,000.

"Elon Musk is getting a lot of flack for his behavior around the government, but this isn't necessarily the bottom. His behavior could get far worse … who's going to buy his car then?" the person, who now owns a Genesis EV, added.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

• Some Tesla owners are considering selling their cars as backlash against Elon Musk and DOGE grows.
• They may have to take a serious haircut, with prices for used Teslas plummeting in recent years.
• The average price of a pre-owned Tesla is now $30,000, nearly $10,000 less than a non-Tesla EV, per CarGurus data.

Tesla owners selling up amid backlash against Elon Musk should be prepared to take a big loss.

Tesla resale values have collapsed in recent years, with the average price of a used Tesla now $10,000 less than that of a non-Tesla electric car, according to data from dealership website CarGurus.

Used Tesla prices have been in freefall since 2022, dropping from a high of over $70,000 to hit $30,000 in February, per CarGurus data. Prices have dropped around 10% since August 2024, when the average Tesla resale price was over $33,000.

The cheapest new Tesla on sale in 2025 is the Model 3, which costs over $40,000 after estimated taxes and fees, according to Tesla's website.

Fresh evidence of falling resale prices comes as CEO Elon Musk's cost-cutting efforts at DOGE have sparked a backlash against the billionaire's car company, with some owners vowing to get rid of their cars as Tesla showrooms and vehicles become targets for protests and vandalism.

Singer Sheryl Crow said she was selling her Tesla last month and donating the proceeds to NPR in a protest against Musk.

Angel investor Joanne Wilson, meanwhile, told Business Insider she was ditching her Model S and floated the idea of letting members of the public smash it with hammers.

Scott Oran, a real estate developer who lives near Boston, told BI he decided to sell his Model 3 after Musk's political moves left him "embarrassed" to be seen driving it.

Oran said he wanted to sell his Tesla as quickly as possible, adding he was concerned that the number of Tesla owners flocking to sell their cars and the high-profile vandalism cases could see the resale value drop even further.

"I think, unfortunately, through Elon Musk's actions, he's probably irrevocably damaged the Tesla brand," said Oran.

Lackluster resale values have been a headache for Tesla owners for a while. Tesla owner and investor Ross Gerber told BI he was struggling to sell his car at anything like fair market value last July.

Used EVs have become more affordable as a growing number of new electric models have hit the market.

Having led the way in selling EVs, Teslas are now by far the most common vehicle on the used electric market, per CarGurus' data. Rental giant Hertz listed over 30,000 Tesla vehicles from its fleet for sale last year.

Demand for used Teslas has also been hit by the company cutting prices on its brand-new models as it tries to drive sales.

Tesla's share price has plummeted in recent months, dropping more than 50% since December, having surged in the weeks after Donald Trump's election victory. On Monday alone, the stock dropped 15%, cutting Musk's net worth by $29 billion in a single day.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Do you own a Tesla or have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at [email protected] or Signal at tcarter.41. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• The US has a new robotaxi capital.
• Waymo and Tesla are going head-to-head in Austin, lured by Texas' hands-off approach to regulation.
• The number of robots on the road is growing, and local residents, law enforcement, and Uber drivers are concerned.

Move over San Francisco; Austin is the new American robotaxi capital.

Waymo made its debut in the city last week. The Google-backed startup is partnering with Uber to offer robotaxis on the app for the first time.

Soon, it could be sharing the road with Tesla. CEO Elon Musk has said the automaker will launch its first paid robotaxi service in Austin in June, as he bets Tesla's future on self-driving vehicles.

The two companies join a crowded playing field of autonomous vehicle firms battling it out in the city, including Amazon-backed Zoox and ventures funded by automakers VW and Hyundai.

Texas' lax approach to autonomous vehicle regulation has made it an attractive place for companies to test and deploy robotaxis — despite residents, law enforcement, and road safety groups all raising concerns.

'This is the individual responsibility state'

In Texas, autonomous vehicles are required to have insurance and be able to obey traffic laws but face few other barriers to entry.

By contrast, California, where many driverless vehicle startups are headquartered, has tougher rules.

"California has a multi-step permitting process; you need a permit for testing with a driver, one for testing without a driver, and one for carrying passengers," Phil Koopman, Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon University and an autonomous vehicle safety expert, told Business Insider.

"Texas, you show up, you do the paperwork, you're good to go," he added.

Musk said last October that Tesla will have fully autonomous vehicles on the road in Texas and California by 2025.

The Austin launch remains set for June 2025, but the company's plans for a similar service in California remain unclear.

Tesla has not yet secured a permit to offer driverless rides in California, and didn't report any autonomous miles driven last year to its DMV, compared to the nearly 3 million miles reported by Waymo.

"In California, my understanding is there is an expectation, although not a requirement, that you'll report a few million testing miles before they give you the next permit," said Koopman.

Despite Texas' low barriers to entry, the state's rules are tougher in one area. Unlike in California, police can ticket autonomous vehicles.

With more robotaxi companies setting up shop in the state, lawmakers are now looking to fill gaps in Texas' regulations with new legislation.

State Senator Robert Nichols, who chairs the senate's Transportation Committee, told BI new rules would target companies transporting passengers and goods in autonomous vehicles without a safety driver.

Under the new legislation, robotaxi firms would be required to register their fleets with the state's DMV to operate without a driver.

When "very serious" incidents occur, Nichols said, operators will have the option of shutting down their fleets or putting safety drivers back in vehicles until they can prove to the Texas Department of Public Safety they are safe to operate without them.

Nichols said the new legislation, which is still being finalized, would address concerns around the technology while also preserving the state's appeal to robotaxi companies.

The new rules would apply to commercial operations like Waymo and Uber but not to privately owned robotaxis such as Tesla vehicles equipped with Full Self-Driving.

"You have insurance, and you take the risk. This is an individual responsibility state," Nichols added.

On the road

Waymo began testing its Jaguar I-Pace vehicles in Austin in 2023, and has been offering select members of the public the opportunity to ride its robotaxis for free in recent months.

Ethan McKanna, an Austin resident who has taken over 80 trips since getting access in October, told BI his experience had been largely positive.

McKanna said Waymos' cars are comfortable and drive safely, but will often take longer routes to avoid construction and, on rare occasions, become confused by obstructions and require assistance from remote support workers.

"Combined with the fact that the car never goes over the speed limit and won't take freeways, it means you have to budget in more time if you're taking a Waymo," McKanna said.

McKanna added that Waymo's small service area — just 37 square miles of Austin — is frustrating, and said he was disappointed by the decision to only offer robotaxis on the Uber app as it means users will not be able to guarantee getting a Waymo.

The strangest, and often most unwelcome, thing with Waymo is the attention it attracts, McKanna said.

"A lot of people are excited and take pictures but also some are aggressive toward the car and will cut it off or walk out in front of the car," he said.

Not everyone is thrilled when Waymo rolls into town.

Uber drivers in the company's other stomping grounds previously told BI the driverless taxis are hurting their earnings — and in Austin, they now face the prospect of competing with robotaxis on the same platform.

One Austin Uber driver, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his business, told BI that he isn't yet worried about Waymo's impact.

He said Waymo's small operating area and inability to travel on freeways means the robotaxis will mostly take unprofitable downtown rides, leaving more lucrative, longer journeys, like to the airport, to human counterparts.

Waymo and its rivals are unlikely to be satisfied with small parcels of the city for long.

Waymo is already offering thousands of journeys a week to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and is in discussions about expanding to airports in LA and San Francisco. It has also begun testing its technology on freeways in LA and Phoenix.

The Uber driver, who said he drives for the app part-time in addition to a full-time job, told BI he thinks Austin's robotaxi boom will make it more difficult to earn a living off the apps in coming years.

"For the people that do Uber or Lyft full time, I do fear for their income in the future."

Robot on robot

While firms like Waymo have released data they say shows their vehicles are safer than human drivers, some high-profile accidents have plagued the robotaxi revolution.

Cruise, which began testing in Austin in 2022, recalled its entire driverless fleet last year after one of its vehicles dragged a pedestrian 20 feet along the road after hitting her. The startup never recovered from the accident and has since been shuttered by investor GM.

The proliferation of robotaxis in Austin has seen an influx of complaints from residents and emergency responders.

Documents obtained by BI via public records requests show that 80 complaints concerning autonomous vehicles have been filed to Austin's Department of Transportation and Public Works since July 2023.

The 26 incidents reported over the past year include multiple cases in which Waymo robotaxis failed to heed directions from police and fire officers, drove through roadblocks and security checkpoints, and blocked traffic.

One resident reported that they had to swerve to avoid a head-on collision with a Waymo in February after it turned too wide and encroached into their lane.

Others complained about Waymo vehicles parking outside their houses with lights flashing and motors running "day and night."

Some of the complaints featured robotaxi-on-robotaxi action, with two residents saying they had witnessed Zoox vehicles cutting off Waymos.

"These self-driving cars should not be allowed in Austin until they work out these kinks," read one complaint from December, which reported that a Waymo blocking traffic on a busy street.

"Somebody's going to get killed. I can't believe that y'all are allowing potentially deadly technology to be tested on the citizens of this city," it said.

Zoox did not respond to a request for comment in response to these complaints. A Waymo spokesperson said the company would keep working with first responders and community partners in Austin to refine its technology, and added that Waymo engages proactively with local law enforcement and community groups in all the areas it operates.

"Waymo's safety data is available to the public. Over tens of millions of fully autonomous miles traveled, the record shows that the Waymo Driver is making roads safer where we operate," they said.

Adam Greenfield, director of advocacy at road safety group Safe Streets Austin, told BI that while self-driving cars show promise in cutting deaths from drunken driving and reckless driving, the lack of regulation in Texas was concerning.

"We need to be very careful in thinking through the possible ramifications of this technology," Greenfield said.

"As a society have a pretty consistent track record of letting technology wash over us, and then trying to deal with the consequences later when we're very much on the back foot," he added.

• VW unveiled a $21,500 EV on Wednesday, but don't expect it to come to the US anytime soon.
• The compact ID.EVERY1 will be the first car to incorporate software from EV startup Rivian.
• The two companies struck a $5 billion partnership last year, and both face their own looming challenges.

Volkswagen and Rivian are teaming up on an ultra-cheap EV, and once again, Americans can only stare across the Atlantic in envy.

After several months of teasing, Volkswagen unveiled the ID.EVERY1 on Wednesday, with a version of the compact electric car set to go on sale for 20,000 euros ($21,500) in Europe by 2027.

The 13-foot long, four-seater EV packs a lot into a small package, including 155 miles of range and a customizable dashboard — but the most interesting thing about it is what's going on behind the scenes.

The production version of the ID.EVERY1 will be the first vehicle to include software developed with EV startup Rivian, a Volkswagen spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider.

The two companies announced a deal last year that would see the German car giant invest over $5 billion in Rivian and form a joint venture to develop next-generation software and EV technology.

That deal has quickly become a vital part of Volkswagen's strategy to turn its crisis-stricken car business around.

The nearly century-old automaker has seen sales collapse in Europe and China, its two most important markets, thanks to weaker-than-expected demand for EVs in the former and brutal competition from local rivals in the latter.

VW also weathered a bruising fight with worker's unions over restructuring plans last year and has vowed to cut 35,000 jobs by 2030.

The company now faces the prospect of its Chinese competitors selling their affordable EVs in its backyard, with the likes of BYD and Xpeng eyeing ambitious expansion plans in Europe.

Just as VW faces many of the same problems as other legacy automakers, Rivian's challenges have the same flavor as those of other fledgling EV firms.

The startup, known for its sporty electric trucks and SUVs, plans to release cheaper EVs in the coming years but is still losing nearly $40,000 on every vehicle it sells.

Rivian also faces the looming disruption of Trump ending federal support for EVs, and is battling a slowdown in electric vehicle sales growth which has seen several electric vehicle startups that went public around the same time file for bankruptcy in recent months.

The deal with VW gives Rivian a crucial financial lifeline as it scales up production.

For VW, it allows the German automaker to incorporate Rivian's electric vehicle and software know-how into its lineup of affordable EVs, starting with the ID.EVERY1, which will compete against the coming wave of affordable Chinese EVs packed with advanced technology in Europe.

Other European automakers such as Renault and Stellantis are also rolling out their own affordable electric vehicles — but there is no sign of the wave of cheap EVs reaching the US just yet.

While a production version of the ID.EVERY1 is set to launch in Europe in 2027, VW did not provide any details about a US launch.

That means the ID.EVERY1 is likely to join the growing number of affordable EVs that are available in Europe but not the US. With the prospect of tariffs on European cars and the end of government subsidies for EVs being floated by the Trump administration, that is unlikely to change anytime soon.

• Trump's tariffs on Mexico and Canada are now live, and it's bad news for the Detroit "Big Three."
• Barclays analysts said the levies could wipe out "effectively all" of Ford, GM, and Stellantis' profits.
• All three have factories in Mexico, which is a major hub for the US auto industry.

Trump's tariffs are now a reality, and that is bad news for the Detroit automakers.

The 25% levies on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico, which went into effect yesterday, could have a devastating impact on the Detroit "Big Three" of Ford, GM, and Stellantis, analysts at Barclays have warned.

"In short, without any adjustment from automakers (i.e. no price increase, no adjustment in production plans), we estimate it could wipe out effectively all profits for the Detroit Three," Barclays analysts Dan Levy and Josh Cho wrote in a note on Tuesday.

The US auto industry is heavily entangled with its neighbors to the north and south, with car components often crossing the border multiple times during production.

As such, the tariffs enacted by President Donald Trump — which are now finally live after being paused for a month in February — will impact all automakers.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents nearly every major US automaker, warned on Tuesday that the import taxes could see car prices rise by as much as 25%, while data forecaster S&P Global estimated that a third of vehicle production in North America could be cut by next week.

Shares in Ford, GM, and Stellantis all fell on Tuesday amid broader market turmoil on the tariff news.

Barclays analysts said that while no automaker will emerge unscathed from the tariffs, Ford, GM, and Stellantis — which includes brands such as Jeep and Chrysler — were the most exposed.

All three have factories in Mexico, which has become a hub for automakers thanks to its low labor costs, and produce key models for the US market in the country.

The analysts estimated the tariffs would add around $3,000 to the cost of a vehicle with half its parts produced in Mexico or Canada. They warned that moving production to the US would be difficult due to high labor costs and long lead times on capacity adjustment.

Ford, GM, and Stellantis did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

• Tesla is offering some Cybertruck buyers free Supercharging as it grapples with stagnant demand.
• The offer applies to new Foundation Series Cybertrucks and covers the entire period of ownership.
• It's the latest incentive Tesla has given amid underwhelming sales of the electric truck.

Tesla is offering some Cybertruck buyers free Supercharging as it grapples with sluggish demand for Elon Musk's electric pickup.

The offer applies to Foundation Series Cybertrucks — which start at about $95,000 — ordered on or after February 28 and is valid for the entire period of ownership, per a notice on Tesla's website.

The incentive cannot be transferred to other vehicles or owners and applies only to Tesla-branded Superchargers. The EV maker also says it reserves the right to revoke free Supercharging in the event of "excessive charging."

Tesla's website didn't elaborate on what would be excessive, though it separately said the offer excluded vehicles used for commercial purposes such as ride-hailing. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment, sent outside normal working hours.

There's no standardized cost for charging a Cybertruck, as prices vary between chargers across the US. Regardless, free lifetime charging would represent a significant cost saving for any Tesla user.

The incentive is the latest Tesla has introduced as it tries to drive demand for the Cybertruck.

The company began offering up to $1,600 off new Cybertrucks and a $2,600 discount on used vehicles in January and slashed leasing prices to $750 a month in recent weeks.

Tesla moved some workers off its Cybertruck production lines at its Austin factory at the start of the year, employees told Business Insider.

Sales of the electric truck, which had a torturous production ramp and launched at a higher price tag than expected, have been broadly underwhelming.

Tesla sold 38,965 Cybertrucks last year, according to data from Cox Automotive.

That was enough to make the stainless steel-clad EV the best-selling electric pickup truck in the US, but it was well below analyst expectations in late 2023 that Tesla would ship 48,500 units in 2024.

Demand also slowed toward the end of the year, with Tesla delivering 12,991 Cybertrucks in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared with 16,692 in the previous quarter.

The offer of free Supercharging for some Cybertruck owners has come as Tesla faces challenges on numerous fronts.

The automaker has seen sales collapse in Europe and is dealing with a high-profile backlash against Musk, its CEO, who has taken a prominent role in cutting the federal workforce via the White House DOGE office.

That backlash has made the Cybertruck, which is hardly inconspicuous at the best of times, a target, with some owners complaining that their vehicles have been vandalized and defaced with slogans criticizing Musk.

• BYD unveiled a new vehicle-mounted drone for its EVs on Sunday.
• The Lingyuan drone takes off from a retractable hanger and travels up to 33 miles an hour.
• Chinese EV makers are locked in a tech arms race as they try to win customers with futuristic features.

BYD's latest trick for taking on Tesla in China's brutally competitive auto market is built-in drones.

The Chinese EV giant unveiled a vehicle-mounted drone system on Sunday, allowing drivers to take sweeping panoramic videos.

The Lingyuan drone system, which BYD developed with Chinese drone maker DJI, will be offered on models as a 16,000 yuan ($2,200) optional extra.

The drones are housed in a roof compartment, can take off and land from a moving car and follow the vehicle at speeds of up to 33 miles an hour.

BYD's premium Yangwang U8 SUV, which costs about $150,000, already includes an onboard drone, but Lingyuan will add the feature to more affordable vehicles.

The first models to get the system include BYD's $27,000 Sealion 07 DM-i hybrid and $40,000 Tang L electric SUV.

Drones are the latest high-tech extra offered by a Chinese automaker to make their cars stand out in the country's intensely competitive auto industry.

While its rivals have offered features such as AI-assisted parking and the ability to voice-control household appliances, BYD has led the way when it comes to smart features.

The company recently showed off a supercar that can "jump" over potholes, and last month announced that it would install advanced "God's Eye" self-driving technology in all its EVs, including the $9,500 Seagull, at no extra cost.

Weeks later, Tesla rolled out its own self-driving tech to some drivers in China. Elon Musk's automaker, which is battling BYD for global EV dominance, offers Chinese drivers self-driving features for $8,800 extra — only slightly less than the cost of BYD's Seagull.

BYD sales are booming following strong demand for its affordable EVs and hybrids. It sold 318,000 vehicles in February, up 161% on the same month last year, with a record 67,000 sales outside China.

• Nearly half the team regulating self-driving cars was fired in the layoff of federal workers last month.
• One terminated NHTSA employee said the firings would slow down companies trying to deploy robotaxis, including Tesla.
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk is leading efforts to slash the federal workforce with DOGE.

Job cuts imposed by Elon Musk's DOGE will slow down the deployment of self-driving vehicles on US roads, a terminated federal worker told Business Insider.

The Office of Automation Safety, which develops regulations for autonomous vehicles, lost three of its seven employees during a Valentine's Day cull of government workers, a person with knowledge of the cuts said.

The office is part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which regulates vehicle safety and lost about 4% of its workers in the February 14 layoffs.

"There was a massive push in the government over the past year to hire people from the actual autonomous vehicle industry to assist in regulating and understanding it. Since the government fired all recently hired employees, almost all of that private sector knowledge is now gone," the terminated worker said.

They said the cuts had left the office "extremely understaffed" with less specialized knowledge about the autonomous vehicle sector.

BI has viewed the person's termination letter. They did not want to be named for fear of affecting their future employment prospects.

The Washington Post previously reported on the firings. They were part of a wider push that saw thousands of probationary federal workers lose their jobs. They had typically been in their roles for less than two years.

It comes as DOGE moves forward with its efforts to cut the size of the government, despite legal opposition and concern that Musk's efficiency efforts are targeting agencies that regulate Tesla, SpaceX, and his other companies.

Robotaxi roadblock

Companies building autonomous vehicles face a daunting patchwork of state and federal regulations.

Those wanting to deploy fully driverless vehicles that lack traditional controls such as steering wheels or pedals, such as Tesla's Cybercab or the now-scrapped Cruise Origin vehicle, need to apply for an exemption to federal regulations.

The exemption process, which is handled by the Office of Automation Safety, can be lengthy. Cruise waited two years for permission to deploy the Origin before ultimately scrapping it.

Musk has called for an overhaul of federal autonomous vehicle regulations, telling investors last October he would "try to help make that happen" through his role at DOGE.

In November, Bloomberg reported that easing rules around self-driving cars was a major priority for the incoming Trump administration.

Tesla is gearing up to deploy fully driverless vehicles for the first time in June with a robotaxi service in Austin.

Musk's automaker is also facing NHTSA investigations into its Full Self-Driving and Autopilot assisted driving tech, although those investigations are handled by a separate department to the Office of Automation Safety.

The job losses risk ceding the initiative on robotaxis to China, which is also heavily invested in developing autonomous vehicles, the terminated NHTSA employee said.

"When they do stuff like this, where they claim that it's a regulatory goal to further the deployment of autonomous vehicles, but then they fire the team that's responsible for that — that's just going to let China get further ahead," the individual said.

An NHTSA spokesperson said despite the layoffs, the agency's workforce remained "considerably" larger than it was at the start of the Biden administration.

"We have retained positions critical to the mission of saving lives, preventing injuries, and reducing economic costs due to road traffic crashes. We will continue to enforce the law on all manufacturers of motor vehicles and equipment, in accordance with the Vehicle Safety Act and our data-driven, risk-based investigative process," they told BI.

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• Tesla's European sales plunged in January, falling 45% compared with the same month in 2024.
• The decline came despite a rise in EV sales in Europe, with Tesla falling behind China's SAIC Motor.
• Elon Musk has waded into European politics in recent months, backing far right-wing German party AfD.

Tesla sales in Europe plunged in January, falling 45% compared with the same month last year, while overall sales of electric vehicles increased.

Elon Musk's automaker sold 9,945 vehicles last month in the European Union and UK, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, figures from the European Automotive Manufacturers' Association showed. There were 18,161 sales in January 2024.

In December, Tesla sold 44,697 vehicles across the same markets.

Tesla had a 1% market share in January, down from 1.8% in the same month last year.

That decline put it behind China's SAIC Motor, whose sales grew 37% to nearly 17,000 vehicles in January under brands including MG. The company had a 2.3% market share, up from 1.7%. It sells petrol and hybrid cars as well as EVs.

Chinese EV giant BYD also outsold Tesla in the UK for the first time in January, according to separate industry data, as China's EV makers continue to put Musk's company under pressure.

Tesla's shares were down as much as 8% on Tuesday, taking its market capitalization below the $1 trillion mark.

The EV giant, which recorded its first annual fall in sales last year, is changing over assembly lines at its factory near Berlin as it prepares to start building the revamped Model Y this year.

Overall sales of battery electric vehicles jumped 34% to 124,341 in Europe last month, giving the category a 15% market share, up from 10.9% in January 2024.

Tesla's declines follow Musk's decision to wade into European politics in recent months, and he endorsed Germany's far-right AfD party ahead of last Sunday's elections.

The AfD won the second-highest share in the election, but seems unlikely to form part of the next government.

The billionaire spoke virtually at campaign events for the anti-immigrant and anti-European Union party. AfD leader Alice Weidel said Musk called to congratulate her after the party's historic election performance.

Musk's involvement in European politics has sparked public backlash, protests, and isolated acts of vandalism.

Last month, activists projected an image of a controversial gesture the Tesla CEO made at an event marking President Donald Trump's inauguration, which some interpreted as a fascist salute, onto the company's Berlin factory. A Tesla showroom in the Netherlands was also vandalized with spray-painted swastikas, Politico reported.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• The agency responsible for regulating vehicle safety has cut 4% of its workforce.
• The NHTSA has multiple investigations into Tesla including two about its self-driving tech.
• The firings come as Elon Musk's DOGE makes sweeping cuts across the federal government.

The agency responsible for regulating vehicle safety and is investigating Tesla has cut staff as Elon Musk's DOGE continues to make sweeping changes to the federal workforce.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration fired 4% of its workers on February 14, an individual with knowledge of the cuts told Business Insider.

The agency, which is responsible for ensuring vehicle safety in the US, has three active investigations into Tesla.

These include an investigation into Tesla's Actually Smart Summon (ASS) feature, which allows drivers to fetch their cars remotely using their smartphone, and investigations into the Full-Self Driving and Autopilot technology.

Cuts to the NHTSA, which is part of the Department of Transportation, come as the Trump administration continues efforts to slash the federal workforce, with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency leading the charge.

The new administration fired thousands of probationary federal employees, who have typically been in their roles for less than two years, across multiple agencies on February 13.

Musk's DOGE, meanwhile, has made broad cuts across multiple departments as it seeks to eliminate what it says is government waste.

On Saturday, Musk sent out an email to federal employees asking them to list what work they accomplished in the past week, with the Tesla CEO posting on X that failure to respond would be taken as a resignation.

It is not clear whether the NHTSA layoffs affected teams specifically involved in regulating Tesla. A review of LinkedIn profiles by BI suggests that some of the federal workers let go by the NHTSA had been in their roles for less than a year.

An NHTSA spokesperson told BI that despite the job cuts, the agency remained larger than it was at the start of Joe Biden's presidency and had grown 30% during his administration.

"We have retained positions critical to the mission of saving lives, preventing injuries, and reducing economic costs due to road traffic crashes. We will continue to enforce the law on all manufacturers of motor vehicles and equipment," the spokesperson said.

NHTSA is responsible for overseeing vehicle recalls for automakers.

It issued 932 safety recalls, affecting almost 31 million vehicles in 2022 per the agency's website. Over the past year, Tesla has issued multiple recalls for its Cybertruck, Model Y, and Model 3 vehicles.

The NHTSA, which has between 500 and 1,000 employees according to its LinkedIn page, also sets rules on autonomous vehicles and robotaxis.

The Washington Post reported that the small team overseeing self-driving vehicles within NHTSA has been cut in half as a result of the layoffs. The agency declined to comment to the outlet about that point.

Tesla is set to enter the robotaxi market this year. Musk told investors that the EV maker plans to launch an autonomous ride-hailing vehicle service in Austin in June.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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• Nissan's shares jumped after a report said Tesla was being courted as an investor.
• The Financial Times said a consortium of high-profile figures in Japan were involved.
• Musk quickly rejected the idea, and Tesla's focus on robotaxis means it's an unlikely Nissan savior.

Nissan is looking for a savior, but despite what some investors hope, it won't be Elon Musk, he indicated.

Shares in the beleaguered Japanese carmaker surged 9.5% on Friday amid reports that Tesla was being courted as an investor, even though Musk quickly poured cold water on the idea.

The Financial Times said a consortium of Japanese investors and former politicians planned to approach Tesla to discuss an investment, based on the belief that the US automaker was interested in buying Nissan's factories in the US.

While Tesla has its own extensive manufacturing operations in the US, acquiring Nissan's factories in Tennessee and Mississippi would allow it to boost domestic production as the Trump administration proposes a new round of tariffs on imported cars.

But the suggestion that Tesla might be interested in Nissan's factories was quickly shot down by Musk.

"The Tesla factory IS the product," he wrote on X in response to the Financial Times report.

"The Cybercab production line is like nothing else in the automotive industry," Musk added, referencing Tesla's coming steering-wheel-less robotaxi.

In a post on X, Hiro Mizuno, a former Tesla board member and one of the figures named in the FT's article, denied being involved. Mizuno said he doubted Tesla would be interested in Nissan's factories as Tesla's factory design is so "unique."

The report on an attempt to get Tesla to invest is a sign of how desperate things have become for Nissan.

The ratings agency Moody's downgraded the Japanese auto giant's credit rating to junk status on Friday, a week after a proposed $50 billion merger with Nissan's rival Honda fell through.

Nissan's sales have plunged in China and the US thanks to fierce competition from Chinese EV companies and a lackluster hybrid lineup, and the automaker is in dire financial straits.

The company's profits have crash, and it projected an annual loss of 80 billion yen, or about $519 million, in its earnings report last week.

Its disastrous financials have left it looking for investment, with the iPhone manufacturer Foxconn a prospective suitor.

Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida, who has pledged to turn things around by cutting 9,000 jobs globally and slashing global vehicle production, said Nissan would explore all options "without taboos" to ensure the company's future.

As it stands, Tesla seems like an unlikely savior.

Tesla's production lines heavily use advanced manufacturing techniques, such as gigacasting, in which giant presses create large sections of vehicles. So converting Nissan's factories would likely be difficult and expensive.

Musk has also pivoted the company away from mass-produced electric vehicles and toward autonomous vehicles and robotics, such as the self-driving Cybercab and Tesla's Optimus robots.

In May, Tesla quietly dropped its goal of building 20 million cars annually. And Reuters reported in April that the company scrapped plans to build a $25,000 EV, though Musk has said more affordable models are still coming this year.

The automaker has its own headwinds, with Tesla recording its first-ever annual sales decline last year and facing an uncertain EV landscape in the US thanks to Trump's rollback of federal support for electric vehicles.

Nissan declined to comment. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• Affordable Chinese electric vehicles are flooding into global markets — but not the US.
• Tesla rivals BYD and Xpeng are bringing their ultra-smart EVs to a host of new countries.
• High tariffs have locked them out of the US, meaning American drivers may be cut off from cheap EVs.

Tesla's China headache might be about to become a global one.

Elon Musk's automaker has come under increasing pressure in the world's largest car market from local EV giant BYD and its rivals, who are now competitive with the Model Y manufacturer on both price and technology.

In January, BYD sold nearly double the number of EVs as Tesla, with the US carmaker's sales slumping by 11% from the previous year.

BYD increased the heat last week with its announcement that "God's Eye" self-driving tech would be offered in nearly all its vehicles, including the $9,500 Seagull. Tesla is still waiting for regulatory approval for its rival FSD system in China.

The most concerning thing about BYD's sales for Tesla — and other Western automakers — is where they're coming from.

BYD sold 66,000 vehicles outside China in January, a record figure that suggests the company's efforts to become a global powerhouse are bearing fruit.

The EV maker, which once received backing from Warren Buffett, beat Toyota to become Singapore's top-selling car brand last month, and overtook Tesla's sales in the UK for the first time.

With BYD's affordable electric and hybrid offerings gaining traction overseas, other Chinese EV players are beginning to follow their lead — a move that analysts and industry execs fear could export the so-called "hypercompetition" of China's home market globally.

European offensive

The debut of Chinese EV startup Xpeng in the UK was no ordinary car launch.

Tech executives and delegates from the Chinese embassy swanned through a grand hall within sight of Tower Bridge that was once a historic fish market, munching canapes and mingling around Xpeng's X2 flying car on display alongside its electric sedans and SUVs.

It's a sign of the tech company ethos that Xpeng's executives were keen to highlight as they announced the company's first UK launch: the G6 SUV, priced about £6,000 ($7,500) less than Tesla's Model Y.

The UK is Xpeng's newest market. It has also launched in France, Germany, and Italy in recent months. President Brian Gu said the company plans to expand its presence to more than 60 countries and regions in 2025.

"Our ambition is to be the No. 1 Chinese premium electric vehicle brand overseas," said Gu, adding that he defined "premium" EVs as costing more than $41,000.

For brands like Xpeng, which still records big losses and lags well behind BYD in China's highly competitive EV market, international expansion may be a necessity rather than a luxury.

"The China market is ultra-competitive, so it's going to be really difficult for them to carve out huge market share gains in the short-term because of the price war," Tu Le, managing director of Sino Auto Insights, told Business Insider.

While the UK has not imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, making it a tempting target for expansion, the European Union followed the US last year in imposing import taxes of up to 35% on EVs made in China.

That has not stopped brands like Nio and Leapmotor, which has a partnership with Jeep-owner Stellantis, from joining BYD and Xpeng in moving into the continent.

Their expansion has put local automakers on notice. Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan told BI that he doesn't believe EU tariffs will stop Chinese EV companies from becoming major players in Europe.

The boss of the Swedish carmaker said the influx of Chinese vehicles into Europe, alongside brutal competition in China, will force local automakers to up their game.

"As the non-Chinese brands lose market share in China, they're going to have to find market share somewhere else. That means they're going to become more competitive in their home markets and global markets around the world," Rowan said.

US risks being left behind

One market that China's EV champions are unlikely to target anytime soon is the US, thanks to 100% tariffs on imported Chinese vehicles introduced by the Biden administration.

These import levies mean the US has had to watch as other regions like Europe get access to affordable electric models like the $32,000 BYD Dolphin, and local brands like Renault launch their own mass-market EVs to compete.

The absence of this trend has helped keep US electric vehicle prices high, with customers paying around $8,000 more on average for an EV compared to Europe. This raises fears that US consumers could be cut off from accessing affordable electric models.

"On the current trajectory, the US is going to get cut off. There are 95 countries outside China where you can buy BYD cars, and we can't," said Tu Le.

Legacy US automakers have been slow to shift to electric vehicles, with companies like Ford and General Motors rolling back ambitious EV strategies over the past year.

President Donald Trump has also vowed to remove emissions targets and scrap federal support for electric vehicles, a move that will likely slow the transition to electric vehicles.

Tu Le warned that a lackluster EV industry in the US risked making the American auto industry less globally competitive, hurting the ability of the likes of Ford and General Motors to compete with their Chinese rivals overseas.

"I'm hopeful we can change the culture and bring products to market that are competitive globally, not just in the United States. As things are, it feels like the Detroit two are effectively on their way to becoming single-market companies," he said.

• Nikola, an electric-truck startup, was once worth more than Ford but recently filed for bankruptcy.
• The truck maker faced a high-profile fraud scandal and eventually ran out of money.
• Nikola is the latest formerly buzzy EV startup to collapse.

Another would-be Tesla rival has filed for bankruptcy, in the latest sign of how difficult it is to make money off electric vehicles.

Nikola, which makes electric and hydrogen trucks, on Wednesday said it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and would sell its assets amid a cash crunch.

Nikola rode a wave of enthusiasm for electric transportation when it went public in 2020 and at one point was worth in excess of $30 billion — more than Ford at that time.

Nikola struck a major deal with General Motors but was engulfed in crisis after its founder, Trevor Milton, was accused of misleading investors about Nikola's business and technology.

In 2020, the short-seller Hindenburg Research revealed a substantial short position in Nikola and published a scathing 15,000-word report saying it believed the EV maker was "an intricate fraud built on dozens of lies."

"We have never seen this level of deception at a public company, especially of this size," the report said.

It detailed a litany of allegations, including that a publicity video purporting to show a prototype of Nikola's electric truck driving along a road was actually shot by rolling the truck down a hill.

Milton resigned and was later sentenced to four years in prison. The Securities and Exchange Commission fined Nikola $125 million in 2021.

Nikola recovered somewhat, striking a deal last year to sell 100 trucks to a California logistics company and announcing in January that its updated battery-electric trucks had driven 1 million miles.

But the startup, which recalled its entire fleet of big rigs in 2023 after several battery fires, ultimately failed to commercialize its technology.

Nikola lost more than $200 million in the third quarter of 2024. In October, the company said it had only enough cash to last until the first quarter of this year.

"The transition EVs has been slower than all manufacturers anticipated, and when it comes to commercial vehicles, that's a really tough segment to break into," Sam Fiorani, an industry analyst at AutoForecast Solutions, told Business Insider.

Fiorani said heavy-duty trucks and semis of the kind Nikola was building have specific needs, including quick refueling and long ranges, making them a difficult product to bring to market.

EV startups run out of charge

Nikola is the latest once promising EV startup to run out of money as EV sales growth has slowed over the past year.

Fisker, once worth as much as $8 billion, filed for bankruptcy last June after its Ocean SUV was plagued by production delays and software problems.

Canoo, an electric-van company that went public in 2020 through a special-purpose acquisition company, went the same way last month despite high-profile deals with NASA, Walmart, and the US Postal Service.

"Every investor 10 years ago was looking for the next Tesla," Fiorani said. "Venture capitalists were jumping into any EV startup and expecting them to pay off in five or 10 years."

Fiorani added that the arrival of higher interest rates shut off that supply of easy money.

"Keeping these companies financed takes more than just wishful thinking that someday they'll make money," Fiorani said.

Their failures show just how difficult — and expensive — it is to build a viable EV business from scratch, with companies spending enormous sums to build up production.

Only Tesla — which nearly went bankrupt several times over a period that its CEO, Elon Musk, has described as "production hell" — has been able to become profitable through selling EVs.

Musk's company now has the advantage of scale; Tesla was responsible for nearly half of EV sales in the US last year.

'Valley of death'

Even legacy automakers have struggled to make money on EVs. Ford lost $5 billion on its EV business last year, and the Detroit carmaker told investors it's likely to lose another $5 billion this year.

Other startups remain mired in what has been termed the EV "valley of death."

Rivian went public in 2021 at a valuation of $86 billion, but it lost about $39,000 on each vehicle it sold last quarter. As it burns through cash, it has sought funding from Volkswagen and the federal government.

Losses at Lucid Motors widened to nearly $1 billion in the third quarter. It has relied on funding injections from its largest shareholder, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

"It's a measure of how hard it is to make money and turn a successful business out of an automotive company, EV or otherwise," Fiorani said.

"In North America, we've seen one successful vehicle startup since World War II. Tesla is the only one that has turned a profit."

• Elon Musk's tunneling firm has announced plans to build a 10.5-mile tunnel network in Dubai.
• The Boring Company has already built a "loop" in Las Vegas, which ferries people through tunnels in Teslas.
• Boring's loops are still a long way from the futuristic "hyperloop" proposed by Musk in 2013.

Elon Musk's Boring Company wants to set up its Tesla-carrying tunnel network in Dubai.

The tunneling company announced on Thursday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Dubai's roads and transport authority to build a 10.5-mile tunnel system in the Gulf city-state.

The initial pilot project will have 11 stations and transport around 20,000 passengers an hour, the Boring Company said, with plans to eventually expand the transit system to carry 100,000 passengers an hour.

The company called it "a landmark collaboration poised to set the standard for urban mobility."

The company didn't give a timeline for the Dubai project, which would be the Boring Company's second location.

Musk's tunneling firm's only operational loop is under the Las Vegas Convention Center, where passengers are transported through around 1.8 miles of tunnels in Tesla vehicles at speeds of around 40 miles per hour.

The Boring Company's Las Vegas loop — and its planned loop in Dubai — are a long way from the science-fiction "hyperloop" concept Elon Musk sketched out in a 2013 white paper.

The billionaire proposed a system of low-pressure tubes that would transport commuters in pods at speeds as high as 760 miles per hour.

The Boring Company was founded in 2017; partly to bring the "hyperloop" concept to life. Musk said he founded the company after being driven "nuts" by LA traffic.

The company is expanding its Vegas Loop into a 68-mile tunnel network though this has run into obstacles. The city's monorail was temporarily shut down last year after Boring Company employees reportedly dug close to pillars holding it up.

The Boring Company is led by Steve Davis, one of Musk's closest associates.

He is involved with DOGE, the new department Musk is leading to drive spending cuts in the US federal government, per a list of staff working there, that Business Insider obtained.

• NASA's acting administrator said the space agency is expecting a visit from DOGE.
• Janet Petro said Elon Musk's cost-cutting unit would be coming to examine its payments.
• SpaceX, the rocket company founded by Musk, has NASA contracts worth billions of dollars.

DOGE is tearing through government agencies — and NASA may be next in line.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Commerce Space Conference in Washington DC on Wednesday, the space agency's acting administrator confirmed that NASA was expecting a visit from Elon Musk's cost-cutting unit.

"So we are a federal agency. We are going to have DOGE come. They are going to look — similarly to what they've done at other agencies — at our payments," said Janet Petro, in comments reported by Bloomberg.

Since it was established by President Donald Trump last month, DOGE has cast its net over a wide variety of government agencies, shutting down USAID and targeting the Treasury, the FAA, and FEMA.

As the unit turns its attention to NASA, it will be scrutinizing an agency that does extensive business with Musk's SpaceX.

NASA has struck around $14.5 billion in contracts with the billionaire's rocket company. SpaceX is set to carry astronauts to the moon as part of NASA's Artemis missions, and was awarded an $843 million contract to deorbit the International Space Station last year.

Despite SpaceX's involvement in Artemis, Musk has criticized the program as "extremely inefficient" and called missions to the Moon "a distraction," suggesting that space efforts should be focused on Mars instead.

SpaceX is set to launch multiple Starship missions to the red planet over the coming decade, and Musk has been an outspoken proponent of colonizing Mars for years.

Musk has been highly critical of some of NASA's other contractors. Last year, he suggested that Boeing should face fines over its troubled Starliner program, which said in a post on X had "put astronauts at risk."

The Tesla CEO's effort to audit government spending has also relied on individuals connected to his many companies. A DOGE staff list seen by Business Insider included several employees with connections to SpaceX, including a former intern and an investor whose firm took a stake in a SpaceX supplier last year.

Despite this, Petro said NASA's strong conflict-of-interest policies would apply to any DOGE representatives working at the agency.

"Any employee or any person that's coming in, we will check out their conflict of interest, make sure they don't have any conflicts of interest with any of the companies that we work with," she told reporters.

Petro is set to be replaced by incoming NASA administrator Jared Isaacman, a billionaire astronaut who has flown multiple private missions for SpaceX. His appointment is yet to be confirmed by the Senate.

SpaceX and NASA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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• Nissan and Honda said they canceled their $50 billion merger
• The merger would have created the world's third-largest automaker.
• Both Japanese companies face declining sales and a slow transition to EVs.

Nissan and Honda called off a $50 billion merger that would have formed one of the world's largest car companies.

The Japanese automakers said on Thursday they scrapped the deal, announced in December, "to prioritize speed of decision-making and execution of management measures" in an "increasingly volatile" market.

The companies said they would continue to work within a "strategic partnership."

Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida said Honda's desire to make his company a subsidiary rather than a partner played a key role in the deal's collapse.

"While both companies have a long history, we were not sure whether this would reflect our autonomy or allow us to demonstrate our potential or strength," he told a press conference.

Both companies released earnings on Thursday shortly after the deal's collapse.

Honda reported a 25% rise in pre-tax profit in the latest quarter, buoyed by strong US sales and its high-performing motorcycle business.

It still faces a major headache in China, where sales collapsed almost 40% in the nine months to December, but its financial position looks decidedly more rosy than its rival.

Nissan's profits crashed to 5.1 billion yen ($33 million) for the nine months to December, down from 325 billion yen ($2.1 billion) in the same period for 2023. It projected an annual loss of 80 billion yen ($519 million).

A scarcity of electric models has seen Nissan lose market share in China to local rivals, while its US sales have also suffered due to a lack of hybrid options and its EV's failure to qualify for $7,500 government tax credits.

Nissan stock has fallen about 25% over the past year. After being about the same size as Honda a decade ago, its market capitalization is now about a fifth of its rival. Honda stock is down about 15% in the same period.

Uchida is now racing to execute a turnaround plan that will involve cutting 9,000 jobs globally. He warned that all options were on the table to ensure the storied automaker's survival.

"Given the latest performance of the company and the changing environment, it is essential to explore all the options without taboo and carry out a deeper structural reform," Uchida said.

Nissan gave more details about its restructuring plans on Thursday, unveiling plans to cut 6,500 jobs at the company's factories in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Thailand.

It also plans to cut global vehicle production by 1 million to 4 million in the 2026 financial year.

Tariffs headache

Both Nissan and Honda also face a looming headache in the form of potential US tariffs on vehicles imported from Mexico and Canada, where the two companies have factories.

Uchida said Nissan would consider moving production from Mexico to other regions if the tariffs go ahead after the temporary suspension expires in March.

Honda vice president Shinji Aoyama said the automaker was racing to export vehicles made in Canada and Mexico into the US before the waiver expired.

The breakdown of the Honda deal leaves Nissan looking for investment elsewhere. The chairman of Apple supplier Foxconn said the Taiwanese firm was considering buying the 36% stake in Nissan owned held by France's Renault.

Private equity firm KKR is also considering an investment in Nissan, Bloomberg reported.

• DeepSeek has shaken the global tech industry and sparked an outpouring of national AI pride in China.
• Now, the country's EV giants are jumping on the DeepSeek bandwagon.
• EV firms BYD, Geely, and Great Wall have all announced plans to put DeepSeek's AI models into cars.

DeepSeek has sparked an outpouring of national AI pride in China, and now the country's EV giants are racing to add it to their vehicles.

Tesla rivals BYD, Geely, and Great Wall have all said they will integrate DeepSeek's AI model into their in-car software in recent weeks as they look for an edge in China's tech-obsessed electric vehicle market.

DeepSeek caused upheaval in the global financial markets and shaved nearly $600 billion off the value of chipmaker Nvidia when it released its R1 reasoning model last month.

The Chinese hedge fund-turned-AI lab's model matches the performance of equivalent AI systems released by US tech firms like OpenAI, despite claims it was trained at a fraction of the cost.

Its success has seen China's EV companies — which also have a track record of upsetting their Western rivals with low-cost offerings — pile in on the buzzy AI model.

At an event announcing a new advanced autonomous driving system on Monday, Tesla nemesis BYD said it would incorporate DeepSeek's AI into its Xuanji vehicle software and assisted driving tech to improve its vehicles' AI capabilities.

BYD rival Geely, which owns the EV brands Zeekr and Polestar, is integrating R1 into its Xinrui AI model, according to local media reports.

Automaker Great Wall confirmed to Reuters last week that it had incorporated DeepSeek's AI model into its "Coffee Intelligence" connected vehicle system. Legacy brand Dongfeng has also said vehicles made by its joint venture with Nissan would feature DeepSeek's models.

DeepSeek's rapid ascent has turned the company into a poster child for China's AI efforts, with local media hailing CEO Liang Wenfeng as the "AI hero of Guangdong."

Adding the latest AI models is motivated by more than national pride for these automakers, however. Chinese customers are increasingly demanding so-called "EIVs" packed with AI technology, self-driving tech, and advanced in-car software.

Geely, Great Wall, and Dongfeng did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider, sent outside normal working hours.

• BYD is going all-in on autonomous driving as it looks to take Tesla's EV crown.
• The Chinese automaker shared a major expansion of its "God's Eye" intelligent driving system on Monday.
• The $9,500 Seagull EV will also get "high-level" intelligent driving features, a BYD exec said.

BYD is battling Tesla for the title of the world's largest EV company — and now the Chinese upstart is coming for Elon Musk's self-driving crown.

The electric vehicle giant unveiled a massive expansion of its intelligent driving system on Monday as it seeks to fight off brutal competition in the world's most competitive car market with a new lineup of high-tech vehicles.

BYD said it would include its "God's Eye" self-driving tech, which enables features such as remote parking and autonomous overtaking, on its entire model lineup.

The company's shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange hit an all-time high after the announcement, rising 4% on Tuesday morning.

Prior to the event, BYD executive Zhang Zhuo said the company would release 11 models with BYD's "God's Eye" self-driving tech across its Ocean brand.

The ultra-cheap BYD Seagull, which currently starts at 69,800 yuan (around $9,550) in China, will also get "high-level" intelligent driving features, Zhuo wrote in a post on the Chinese social media site Weibo.

BYD general manager Lu Tian, meanwhile, said that the company's six main brands — named after Chinese imperial dynasties — would be fully upgraded with the new technology.

The automaker also said it would integrate home-grown AI models built by Deepseek into its vehicles, joining several of its local rivals in partnering with the Chinese AI phenomenon.

BYD's move into autonomous driving comes as Chinese carmakers increasingly shift toward "EIVs," or electric intelligent vehicles, outfitting their cars with increasingly advanced technology as they fight for a slice of China's hypercompetitive EV market.

Smartphone maker Xiaomi's SU7, which starts at around $30,000 and comes with intelligent driving assist and voice control technology, has smashed sales targets since it launched last year.

Other manufacturers, such as startup Xpeng, have rolled out "AI-defined" vehicles, while Zeekr, Great Wall, and Dongfeng have already incorporated Deepseek's AI into their cars.

Not to be outdone, BYD has pledged to spend at least $14 billion on building "intelligent" vehicles.

Its "God's Eye" driving assistance tech will face competition from Xpeng and fellow EV startup Nio, which have their own autonomous driving systems.

BYD will also face off against Tesla, with the US automaker saying it is working to begin selling its Full Self-Driving tech in China this year.

The EV giant's sales have been booming even before it unveiled its self-driving push. BYD sold 296,446 EV and hybrid vehicles in January, up 47% from the same period in 2024.

BYD's impressive performance comes as warning signs appear that China's crowded EV market may be about to face a period of consolidation.

Chinese state-owned carmakers Dongfeng and Changan both announced restructuring moves on Sunday, with the two companies seeing their share prices soar as investors speculated they may be about to merge.