DECEMBERASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK8Toyota Motor announced on Dec 4 that it would expand its battery electric vehicle lineup in Europe to six models by 2026, with such vehicles accounting for more than 20 percent of new car sales in the region by then. The world's largest automaker by sales said in a statement that it expects to sell more than 250,000 battery-powered vehicles in Europe each year by 2026, as it seeks rapid growth in a market where it has long lagged behind competitors.Toyota unveiled two new concepts for models that it plans to sell in the region later, in addition to a battery EV that the company is currently selling in Europe and a compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) concept that it already showcased last year.Toyota said in statements that one was a concept model for a battery-powered small SUV that it plans to launch in Europe in 2024 and the other was a concept for a sports crossover model that will debut in 2025. Toyota plans to sell 1.5 million battery-powered vehicles per year globally by 2026.Sales of fully electric cars in the European Union (EU) increased by more than half in the first ten months of the year compared to the same period the previous year, according to data released last month by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. Toyota had the fifth-biggest total auto market share in the EU for the 10 months through October, seeing its share decline slightly from the previous year to just fewer than 7 per cent, the data showed. China's biggest foreign lender, Evergrande Group, will back the developer to keep the project going, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Monday (Dec 4), ahead of a court hearing that may decide to liquidate the debtor company.The group, which has foreign bonds guaranteed by Evergrande worth $2 billion, issued a statement late on Dec 1 that Evergrande's land division, Hengda Real Estate, could maintain operations to ensure completion and delivery to domicile that said None of Hengda's stakeholders - customers, suppliers, creditors or the (Chinese) government - will benefit by forcing Hengda into a devastating multi-year bankruptcy. Quoting the story, he says."Such a bankruptcy process would only detract from the common goals of ensuring the prompt completion of projects and the timely delivery of homes, as well as procuring the long-term sustainability of Hengda as a going concern."Counsel for Evergrande, the global real estate developer, and its group of creditors did not immediately respond to a request for comment.SCMP quoted its advisers, law firm Kirkland and Ellis and investment bank Moelis, as saying the lenders will continue to work with Hengda and its management to support its efforts and said they will continue to do so. their organizations to support their work, and there is no result, no increase. If Hengda goes bankrupt, it will fall on investors. NEWSROOMTOYOTA MOTORS TO EXPAND EV LINEUP IN EU MARKETSEVERGRANDE GROUP CREDITORS SEEKING OPERATION COMPLETION
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