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Two Mercedes-AMG owners have filed a class-action lawsuit in a US federal court alleging the metal AMG emblem embedded in the driver's seatback heats up in the sun and burns skin on contact, in one case leaving a second-degree burn shaped like the logo.

Subaru's new electric crossovers have lifted its US EV sales, but at a steep cost. Incentive spending averages $9,650 per Solterra, $9,155 per Uncharted and $8,982 per Trailseeker, against $3,036 for the gasoline Outback, and the spending has already cut into quarterly profit.

Aston Martin is transferring 50.1% of its non-automotive branding rights - everything except cars and Formula 1 - to US brand-licensing group Authentic Brands, as a condition of a GBP 550m debt package led by HPS Investment Partners. Creditors owed GBP 1.3bn have sent a letter before action over the move.

Avatr launched the 07L, a five-seat electric SUV, in China on 8 August at 229,900 yuan ($32,380). An 89.33 kWh CATL Shenxing pack claims up to 725 km CLTC, and Huawei's ADS 5 driver assistance is standard, fed by a roof-mounted 896-channel lidar Avatr says resolves a 14 cm object at 120 m.

Series production of the electric BMW i3 has begun at the Munich plant, the second Neue Klasse model after the iX3. BMW spent about 650 million euros (roughly $760 million) converting the site, which stops building combustion cars in 2027. The launch version is the i3 50 xDrive: 463 hp, 108.7 kWh, and up to 906 km WLTP.

SAIC-GM opened pre-sales on the Buick Electra L7, a rear-drive electric sedan, at 169,900, 186,900 and 206,900 yuan after subsidy - or 194,900, 211,900 and 231,900 yuan at list. It claims 378 hp, over 700 km CLTC range and 450 km added in 10 minutes of fast charging.

BYD has released official images and filed specifications for the Da Han, a 5,256 mm sedan that becomes the first D-segment car in its Dynasty line. The rear-drive version claims 1,008 km on the CLTC cycle from a 102.3 kWh LFP Blade pack. It debuts at the Chengdu Auto Show on 21 August. No price has been announced.

CALB, China's third-largest battery maker, has launched a manufacturing quality overhaul after a 177 Ah LFP cell it supplied swelled into a curved "banana" shape and lost power in about 213,000 high-mileage Aion S Plus, Charming 580, and Max sedans built 2022-2023. GAC Aion extended the affected cars' battery warranty to 8 years or 300,000 km rather than issue a recall.

Denza opened pre-orders on the Z9S electric sedan from ¥319,800 ($47,100), claiming up to 1,100 km of CLTC range on the top trim - which it calls the longest of any mass-produced electric car. A tri-motor Performance version makes 1,194 hp and does 0-100 km/h in 2.68 seconds.

Dodge revealed the 2027 Charger Super Bee Launch Edition at the Charger's 60th anniversary. A revised twin-turbo 3.0 Hurricane inline-six makes an SAE-certified 600 hp and 531 lb-ft, 115 hp more than the 2023 V8 Super Bee. 0-60 mph in 3.6 seconds, the quarter mile in 11.8. Production is limited; pricing and ordering follow later in 2026.

Li Auto signed a local-assembly agreement with Kazakh dealer group Allur to build its first production base outside China, at Kostanay. The move follows the L9's launch in Uzbekistan, where the brand has logged 5,056 deliveries and four stores since October 2025.

Maruti Suzuki's Plant D at Hansalpur, Gujarat has entered commercial production, lifting the site's annual capacity from 750,000 to 1 million units - the first time any single Suzuki factory worldwide has reached that figure. Plant D's first model off the line is the e Vitara.

Mercedes-AMG revealed the GT 53 4-door, the long-range entry to its electric GT family. Two motors make 536 hp, and the 106 kWh pack claims up to 503 miles (809 km) WLTP - achieved by mechanically decoupling the front motor under light load. From EUR 115,430. Figures are preliminary, not yet homologated.

Two Mercedes-AMG owners have filed a proposed class action against Mercedes-Benz in California, saying the metal AMG badge built into the seatback heats up in the sun and burned their skin on contact. One plaintiff's dermatologist recorded first- and second-degree burns matching the emblem's shape.

MG opened pre-sales on its 07 fastback with five electric trims from ¥125,900 to ¥165,900 ($18,600 to $24,500) and reported 21,000 reservations in 20 hours. The semi-solid-state battery went into the three cheapest cars; the 845 km versions use a conventional CATL pack. It is the first MG sold with lidar.

Proton's e.MAS sub-brand passed 31,504 electrified registrations as of 31 July, the fastest any brand has reached that mark in Malaysian history - 20 months after the e.MAS 7's December 2024 launch. e.MAS now holds 42.6% of Malaysia's EV market, led by the e.MAS 5 hatchback.

smart relaunched the second-generation #1 in China on August 6, moving the whole range onto an 800V silicon-carbide platform for the first time. The 61.52 kWh LFP battery gives 535 km CLTC range, with 10-80% DC charging in 12 minutes, from ¥149,900 ($22,080).

Brand CEO Gernot Döllner says the next Q8 had not been signed off when he took the job and the decision was reversed. The five-seat coupe format stays, with V6 and V8 petrol engines expected, including the 4.0 twin-turbo V8 from the new SQ9. No prototypes have been seen and the debut is expected around 2028.

General Motors and SAIC have run their joint venture out to 2047 and given it a new job: at least 30 new-energy models by 2030, built in China and shipped to the Middle East, Africa, South America, Mexico and Asia-Pacific. The Buick Electra E7 goes first, in October. Chevrolet, meanwhile, stops selling in China.

Korean sales of the eighth-generation Elantra, badged Avante at home, have opened at ₩23,980,000 ($17,300) for the 149 hp 2.0-litre petrol and ₩30,420,000 ($21,900) for the 157 hp hybrid. Both come with the Pleos Connect infotainment system and its Gleo AI voice assistant.