GM Is Keeping Its China Partnership For 20 More Years – Jalopnik

Happy Wednesday! It’s August 5, 2026, and that is The Morning Shift — your day by day roundup of the highest automotive headlines from world wide, in a single place. This is the place you may discover an important tales which might be shaping the way in which Americans drive and get round.

In this morning’s version, we’re GM’s ties to China, and the United States’ plans to remain China-free for batteries. We’ll additionally take a look at Honda’s revenue development, and Subaru’s revenue shrinkage. 

The Morning Shift now has its personal e-newsletter! For a roundup of automotive information in your inbox each morning, join right here!

The United States is doing its finest to chop all financial ties with China, however U.S. automakers aren’t following the identical playbook. General Motors simply prolonged its take care of Chinese automaker SAIC for one more 20 years, with the intent to export fashions constructed by the collaboration globally. From the Wall Street Journal: 

General Motors and China’s SAIC Motor will lengthen their three way partnership for 20 years, cementing the U.S. automaker’s dedication to the Chinese market.

The renewal extends the partnership to 2047 and places the three way partnership ready to spice up its technological transformation and enhance development alternatives, Detroit-based GM mentioned Tuesday.

The Shanghai-headquartered three way partnership, SAIC-GM, was based in 1997 and has manufactured and delivered greater than 20 million automobiles. It plans to launch a minimum of 30 new-energy automobiles—a class that features EVs and hybrids—by 2030 and deploy tech options developed in China for the Chinese market.

It may also sharpen its give attention to the Buick and Cadillac manufacturers in China.

John Roth, GM senior vp and GM China’s president, mentioned the deal displays confidence within the three way partnership’s long-term development potential.

“We are committed to strong performance in the China market, and we see meaningful opportunities to compete in select international markets: the Middle East, Africa, South America, Mexico and Asia-Pacific,” he added. The Buick Electra E7 is about to be SAIC-GM’s first premium new-energy automobile mannequin to go abroad in October.

Now have to be a really fascinating time to go coming into into worldwide commerce agreements, particularly because the United States cracks down on any connection to China. We’ll see the way it goes for GM’s software program facet. 

Lithium batteries are the way forward for nearly every thing, together with automobiles. Much of that lithium results in what’s referred to as “black mass,” shredded up bits of disused batteries — able to be reclaimed. Now, the U.S. needs to make sure it is doing the reclaiming. From Bloomberg:

The US will ban exports of tungsten scrap and recycled battery supplies from later this month, lower than every week after President Donald Trump handed authorities energy to maintain probably vital supplies contained in the nation.

Suppliers of tungsten waste and black mass — shredded metals from recycled lithium-ion batteries — will probably be required to promote domestically, though they will apply for exemptions, based on a rule printed on the Federal Register. The restriction will stay in place for one yr.

Trump signed a measure final week that permits officers to limit exports of business waste containing vital minerals and supplies, or CMMs. That’s a part of a push to make use of the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to shore up provides and scale back dependence on China.

“The President stated that the inadequate supply of CMMs poses an increasing risk to our national defense and security, and it is imperative that the United States take immediate action to secure the supply of recoverable CMMs,” the Department of Commerce mentioned within the assertion on the register.

Tungsten is a troublesome metallic utilized in every thing from navy armor and ammunition to precision instruments in automotive vegetation, and is among the many cluster of metals topic to Chinese export controls. Black mass is a rising different supply of lithium, cobalt, nickel and different supplies.

We love recycling! We stay on a planet of finite sources, we’ll have to begin reusing our stuff. 

Honda’s earnings ticked up final quarter, and the corporate has revised all its annual estimates to indicate even increased development. The distinction within the estimates is not truly attributable to any enterprise practices, although — it is due to alternate charges. From Reuters: 

TOKYO, Aug 5 (Reuters) – Honda Motor raised its full-year forecasts on Wednesday and posted its first quarterly revenue rise in six quarters, boosted by a weaker yen and the absence of U.S. tariff-related prices that weighed on earnings a yr earlier.

Japan’s second-biggest automaker lifted ​its full-year working revenue forecast by 30% to 650 billion yen ($4.1 billion) from 500 ​billion yen, citing a revised exchange-rate assumption. It additionally raised its web ⁠revenue and income outlooks.

Operating revenue greater than doubled to 530.8 billion yen within the April ​to June quarter from 244.2 billion yen a yr earlier, properly above the 302.1 billion yen ​median estimate in an LSEG ballot of 9 analysts.

Honda assumed the yen will commerce at a mean fee of 155 per greenback this fiscal yr, in comparison with 145 anticipated beforehand.

It’s type of humorous that companies can get a lift from simply recalculating alternate charges, however it might even be absurd to carry them to every other normal. 

Subaru spent the start of 2026 introducing new EVs, and now it appears to be regretting that call. The firm is paying via the nostril to advertise the brand new automobiles, together with placing money on the hood. From Automotive News:

TOKYO — Steep incentives on electrical automobiles are dogging Subaru, as spiffs for the Solterra, Uncharted and Trailseeker EVs aggravated an almost 50 p.c tumble in quarterly working revenue.

Subaru mentioned Aug. 5 that incentive spending chopped ¥24.9 billion ($153.8 million) from world earnings in April-June, accounting for the majority of the Japanese carmaker’s collapse in earnings.

Such heavy spending marks a departure for the historically disciplined model. It underscores the challenges automakers face promoting EVs following final yr’s repeal of federal tax credit that buoyed demand. Subaru warned in May that it was taking a $362 million cost and delaying manufacturing of its independently developed electrical automobile in Japan amid slowing EV demand.
Spending is proof of challenges of promoting electrical automobiles

Subaru’s U.S. advertising and marketing bills elevated 40 p.c to $2,698 per automobile on common within the quarter, based on trade information from Motor Intelligence. Incentives on automobiles, together with the BRZ, Outback and Legacy, elevated 27 p.c. Average truck spending climbed 49 p.c.

Subaru launched two EVs within the U.S. within the interval, including the Uncharted and Trailseeker to the Solterra, on sale since 2022. Average spending on these elevated to $9,155 for the Uncharted, $8,982 on the Trailseeker and $9,650 for the Solterra, based on Motor Intelligence.

When I drove the Solterra at its launch, I discovered it to be a superbly appropriate automobile — besides that its vary wasn’t almost well worth the worth. It is sensible that Subaru is throwing money on the hoods of also-ran EVs, nevertheless it’s not precisely sustainable. 

How many different media have parodied the sliding-around-in-underwear shot?

Does anybody else need off this curler coaster?

Welcome to the social gathering, thanks very a lot.