The 2027 Lincoln Nautilus gets a wider grille, a redesigned hood, slimmer tail lights and three new cabin themes, with the 250 hp 2.0T and the 285 hp hybrid carried over unchanged. It arrives at US dealers in early 2027, still built in China, and still under a 52.5% import duty Ford has said it will stop paying by 2030.

Mercedes has updated the combustion C-Class saloon and estate for Euro 7, moving every petrol and diesel badge up a step in output, dropping the 1.5-litre engine and the diesel plug-in hybrid, and replacing some of the steering wheel's touch pads with physical rockers and rollers. Orders open in Germany on 18 August 2026 from €48,844 (about $53,700).

Ford revealed the Mustang Dark Horse SC Convertible in August 2026, putting the supercharged 795 hp 5.2-litre Predator V8 in an open-top Mustang for the first time. The engine and seven-speed dual-clutch carry over from the coupe unchanged; what is new is a magnesium tower-to-tower brace and MagneRide dampers at all four corners, retuned for touring. Ford has not announced a price.

The Volkswagens sold in China are built by two companies, and one of them is Chinese. That arrangement started in 1983 as a condition of entry, and it has since produced badges that exist nowhere else: Jetta, Wuling, and AUDI in block capitals with no rings. Who holds which half, which brands the ventures invented for themselves, and which of the old partnerships have quietly ended.

Aion is GAC, Jaecoo and Omoda are Chery, Deepal is Changan, Nammi is Dongfeng. Ten Chinese brands whose names do not carry the parent company, grouped by how each one relates to its owner: brands sold only outside China, recent badges on long-established state groups, brands two levels below the group, and one that Huawei supplies but does not own.

Twelve European badges whose nationality does not match their ownership: Cupra, Vauxhall, DS, Opel, Lancia, Alpine, Abarth, MG, Ebro, DR Automobiles, smart and Leapmotor. Some are Spanish or British names owned in Germany or the Netherlands, some are revived badges on Chinese hardware, and several are assembled in a third country again.

New-energy vehicles took a record 64.4% of China's retail car sales in July 2026, even as NEV retail itself fell 2% year on year - the seventh straight monthly decline. The record came from combustion collapsing faster than EVs are growing.

Skoda registered 457,663 cars across the EU27+4 in H1 2026, up 10.8% year on year, holding second place among all brands for a second straight quarter and pulling 14,966 cars clear of Toyota. Skoda's own EV deliveries rose a record 48%.

Battery-electric cars reached 20.7% of new EU car sales in H1 2026, up from 15.6% a year earlier, while combined petrol and diesel share fell below 30% for the first time. France, Germany and Denmark led BEV growth; hybrids remain the single largest powertrain at 37.3%.