Jan 28 - By Nick Carey, European Autos Correspondent

Greetings from London!

The tussle over tariffs imposed by the European Union last October on Chinese-made EVs reached a new phase this past week as BYD, Geely and SAIC all filed legal challenges to the border duties, as did BMW and Tesla.

The challenges were filed with the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), where proceedings last an average of 18 months and can be appealed.

The European Commission said it was aware of the cases and has two months and 10 days to prepare a defence. The Commission issued two reports spanning more than 900 pages on Chinese subsidies for companies including automakers to fend off legal challenges, so it is unclear how well the automakers will fare in court.

In the meantime, Beijing and Brussels have been in talks on possible minimum price commitments instead of tariffs since September, which seem more likely to bear fruit.

Which brings us to today’s Auto File…

• Stellantis, VW retry old routine to please Trump

• A cheap EV for Tesla investors?

• Rivian feels the love

VW, Stellantis aim to please Trump

Volkswagen and Stellantis are the two European automakers most exposed to the impact of the 25% tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened.

So, it was not surprising to see both companies talking up U.S. investments within days of Trump taking office last week.

Stellantis said it would now go ahead after all with plans to build a new midsize pickup truck at its Belvidere plant in Illinois. The plant had been the focal point of an acrimonious dispute with the United Auto Workers union, which filed unfair labor practice charges last year claiming Stellantis was delaying planned investments there – $3.2 billion in a battery plant and $1.5 billion to build the pickup truck.

But now, it’s all back on track.

VW CFO Arno Antlitz said the automaker will make additional investments in the United States.

Automakers learned from Trump 1.0 that what he wants is to make headlines with big U.S. job-creating investments by foreign-owned companies and claim victory.

So, watch for more such announcements from global automakers looking to avoid tariffs and be in Trump’s good graces.

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Tesla investors still hope for cheap EV

Investors in Tesla hope their long wait for a lower-cost EV model to boost the automaker’s flagging sales will end when the company reports quarterly results this week.

As my Reuters colleague Akash Sriram reports here, investors hope for details on a cheaper car which could help Tesla hit its target of 30% higher deliveries after posting its first ever decline in 2024.

But investors have already been waiting years for a lower-cost EV.

Last April Tesla ditched ambitious plans to produce an all-new model that had been expected to cost $25,000, saying it would launch cheaper cars based on its current platforms and their existing production lines in the first half of 2025.

In the meantime, fast-moving rivals like China’s BYD have been launching model after model, making Tesla’s small, ageing lineup look even older.

Even if details are lacking, some investors may shrug it off.

The world's most valuable automaker has seen its stock market valuation soar more than 60% to $1.3 trillion since Trump’s election victory with the financial backing of CEO Elon Musk, as investors bet the new administration will ease regulations on the self-driving vehicle systems Tesla champions. 

VW cash brings Rivian some love

The joint venture between U.S. EV maker Rivian and Volkswagen is in talks to supply software and electrical architecture to other automakers, with a senior Rivian executive saying that other car companies “are knocking on our door.”

Not so long ago, Rivian was locked in a race against time to scale up as it burned through mountains of cash. A number of other EV startups, including Fisker, Arrival and Canoo have already failed to get there.

But as my Reuters colleague Abhirup Roy reports here, that changed when the German automaker agreed in November to invest $5.8 billion in the joint venture to integrate advanced electrical infrastructure and Rivian's software technology for both companies' future electric vehicles.

That enables Rivian to negotiate better supplier deals and reduce costs. It also gives other traditional automakers confidence in Rivian as they seek quick and easy access to the technology and software that they have struggled to build for years.

Investor pressure for Vingroup

Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup is facing scrutiny from foreign investors over its continued backing for loss-making  EV maker VinFast.

As my colleagues Francesco Guarascio and Phuong Nguyen report here, Vingroup’s shares have fallen to near multi-year lows, pushing its borrowing costs up.

Pressure on Vingroup intensified this month as Moody's and Fitch issued 'junk' ratings for its most profitable unit, real estate firm Vinhomes, as well as a planned $500 million international bond sale.

Vingroup and its founder, Pham Nhat Vuong, had poured $13.5 billion into VinFast as of October in loans and grants, and promised  nearly $3.5 billion more in November, despite concerns raised by investors at the company's last two annual shareholders' meetings.

Despite the pummeling from investors, Vingroup says it will continue to back VinFast.

Fast Laps

Global sales of fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles will rise by at least 17% this year to over 20 million cars helped by China's ongoing auto  trade-in subsidies, according to a forecast from research firm Rho Motion.

Tesla launched a redesigned version of its best-selling Model Y crossover in the United States, Canada and Europe on Thursday, weeks after it was first released in China.

India’s Tata Motors is betting that investments in locally-manufactured EV batteries will help it maintain its edge despite intensifying competition, its group CFO told Reuters.

Aptiv plans to spin off its electrical distribution systems (EDS) business into a new company, as it aims to focus on its advanced driver assistance technology.

Nissan will procure batteries for EV sold in the U.S. from South Korea's SK On from around 2028 onwards as the troubled Japanese automaker looks to ramp up its EV business.

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(Edited by Christina Fincher)