Transforming a car manufacturing plant entering its seventh decade into a futureproof facility, ready for AI-powered autonomous driving, comes with natural challenges. "We had to survey everything and go out with the tape measure," explains Dan Ford, site director at Jaguar Land Rover's (JLR) site in Halewood, Merseyside, England. "But the drawing's measurements were off: we struck a drainpipe." Besides that minor bump in the road (the Great British weather and an August downpour meant work was delayed by 48 hours), JLR's 250 million ( 323.4 million) upgrade of its Halewood plant has been smooth. Off the River Mersey, 10 miles from Liverpool, Halewood has long been synonymous with the British car industry--and JLR is the UK's largest automotive employer.

Apple is canceling its plans to build an electric car, according to multiple outlets, ending a secretive project that has consumed immense resources over the past decade. Executives from the company made the unexpected announcement during an internal team meeting on Tuesday, forecasting layoffs and telling employees that many of them would shift to working on generative artificial intelligence, per reports. Apple is believed to have spent billions of dollars attempting to develop an electric, semi-autonomous vehicle under the codename Project Titan, and its decision to kill the program is a major retreat from its previous strategy. The Apple chief executive, Tim Cook, had hinted at the company's plans for a car in recent years, though he never fully committed to delivering a product. Although Apple did not formally announce its plans to offer a car, the project was a source of intense speculation among the automotive and tech industries.

Almost a year ago, after heavy criticism from President-elect Donald J. Trump, Ford Motor Company canceled plans to build a $1.6 billion car plant in Mexico and announced that it would instead equip a Michigan factory to make electric and hybrid models. Now the automaker is changing its plans again, saying it intends to assemble new battery-powered cars in Mexico, not Michigan. But the Michigan location will get an even larger investment than previously planned and will focus on making a range of self-driving cars. The switch comes as the Trump administration has been pushing to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. Few industries are more heavily affected by the accord than the auto sector, which has rushed to build plants in Mexico over the last several years to take advantage of lower labor costs and that country's extensive network of trade agreements. Late last month, Vice President Mike Pence met with top executives from Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler to discuss trade and the renegotiation effort.

Inventor Sir James Dyson is set to reveal plans to build electric cars in Britain today, it is understood. His hi-tech firm, famed for its vortex vacuum cleaner, hand-dryers and bladeless fans, has been recruiting talent from the car and technology industry. Today it is thought Dyson will unveil the early stages of an electric vehicle which could be built at its headquarters in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. Expectations about what Dyson was developing mounted after mainstream car makers accelerated their plans for electric vehicles. Mini revealed its own all-electric vehicle ahead of this month's Frankfurt Motor Show.