The Japanese companies are considering joining forces to survive in a rapidly changing auto industry, but auto history is filled with troubled and failed marriages.
General Motors has gone from market leader to also-ran in the world’s largest car market, stymied by its own missteps and Chinese policies that favored its local rivals.
Trump will face a new China this time, one whose advanced manufacturing muscles have exploded in size, sophistication and quantity.
The Energy Department’s $400 billion program to support electric vehicles, batteries and other low emissions technology is hustling to get money out the door.
LG Energy Solution will now solely own a factory in Michigan that it had planned to operate through a joint venture with General Motors.
The loan, from the Biden administration, was designed to withstand Republican attacks and will be used to make electric-car batteries in Indiana.
The financing for a factory in Georgia is part of a last-minute effort to establish climate policies before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office.
Fewer people will be able to afford electric cars and trucks if President-elect Donald J. Trump and Republicans in Congress eliminate a $7,500 federal tax credit.
From electric cars to solar panels, Mr. Musk has built businesses in high-tech manufacturing sectors now targeted by Beijing for Chinese dominance.
The company’s woes are symptomatic of a wider malaise among companies that make batteries for electric vehicles.