PM Narendra Modi met Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgic to discuss expanding the company's footprint in India. Their talks focused on engineering and manufacturing aligned with PM's vision of Viksit Bharat. PM said, "We welcome Rolls-Royce's enthusiasm towards scaling up its activities in India and partnering with our innovative and dynamic youth. " Rolls-Royce also shared photo from the meeting.

Chinese EV maker BYD has sued the US government over President Donald Trump's auto tariffs. The lawsuit, the first by a Chinese carmaker over US tariffs, challenges Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose border taxes. BYD seeks a refund for all levies it paid since last April through the lawsuit.

Waymo, a US-based company owned by Google-parent Alphabet, revealed that its driverless cars in US aren't completely driverless. Speaking at a US Senate hearing on safety of self-driving cars, Waymo Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Pena admitted that the cars can switch to remote driving in unusual situations. The remote drivers are based in US and abroad, including Philippines, he added.

US car manufacturer Ford is likely to restart manufacturing cars and their engines at its factory in Tamil Nadu's Chennai, Gaadiwaadi.com reported. Ford, which stopped production in India in 2021, may restart the Chennai factory's operations in June 2026. The company is likely to produce next-gen engines exclusively for export markets, along with vehicles like Everest (called Endeavour in India).

World's richest man Elon Musk, who recently became the first person to be worth over $800 billion, is now on his path to becoming the world's first trillionaire, reportedly powered by rockets and not EVs. This is because the combined SpaceX-xAI entity led the recent surge in Musk's wealth. Musk's stake in the combined entity alone is worth $530 billion.

A 20-year-old entrepreneur named Samuel Tremblett, who died after being trapped in a crashed Tesla car, begged a 911 operator to save him as his car door allegedly got stuck. "I'm stuck...Please help me...I can't breathe," Tremblett told the operator, according to his mother's lawsuit against Tesla. "It's on fire...Help please...I'm going to die...I'm dying," he further told the operator.

The Indian government has offered to cut tariffs to zero on Harley Davidson bikes in the 800-1,600cc engine capacity range from day one as part of the India-US trade deal, Moneycontrol reported. India has also offered to cut tariffs to 30% on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles with engine capacities exceeding 3,000cc. Other high-end ICE vehicles may get tariff cuts.

Under the India-US interim trade agreement, India will receive a preferential tariff rate quota for automotive parts, the joint statement said. The US and India commit to providing each other preferential market access in sectors of respective interest on a sustained basis, it added. The US has withdrawn the additional 25% duty it had imposed on Indian imports.

Gig worker unions representing Ola, Uber and Rapido drivers have called for a nationwide strike on Saturday, February 7. App-based transport workers are expected to go offline for at least six hours, demanding government intervention to enforce minimum fares. The Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union alleged that platforms arbitrarily set fares despite Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025.