European sales fall 8% in June on fewer working days

Swedish bearings maker SKF forecast stable demand for in the third quarter despite a 13 percent fall in profit over the past three months and cited unexpected signs of improvement in the slumping Chinese car market.

Tesla and Apple both suspect they were betrayed by driverless technology engineers who defected to XMotors.ai, the U.S. research arm of Chinese startup Xpeng.

Lear, a major seating and electronics supplier, lowered its full-year revenue outlook by more than $1 billion due to economic headwinds and production cutbacks by key customers.

The discontinuation of the standard-range variants means a rise in starting prices -- to $84,990 for the Model X and $79,990 for the Model S. Tesla also lowered the starting price of the Model 3 sedan to $38,990.

Lear has followed Daimler in dialing back its earnings outlook, saying a second-half rebound in industry production volumes does not look likely as sales fall in key markets such as China and the U.S.

Renault has taken a 50 percent stake in a joint venture partnership with Jiangling Motors to target the Chinese electric-vehicles market.

Volkswagen Group's China sales rebounded strongly last month, advancing 15 percent to 354,800. VW attributed the gain to changes in China’s emissions rules, which prompted dealerships to offer steep discounts on new vehicles falling short of the tougher requirements.

The sporty Skyline sedan – the Japanese market version of the Infiniti Q50 – is receiving a high-tech, midcycle update with more power and true hands-free highway driving.

Magna Steyr has opened a new paint plant in Slovenia to complement its contract vehicle production at a plant in Graz, Austria, which builds cars for Mercedes, BMW, Toyota and Jaguar.

Jaguar Land Rover won a 500 million-pound ($626 million) loan guarantee from the British government, just over a week after announcing that a new range of electrified cars will be made at a plant in England.