An insurance company admitted that it used pyrotechnics to fake a Tesla battery fire in a demonstration video. Get all the latest industry news in the Executive Briefing.

Today’s headlines:

+   The German Association of Automobiles (VDA) has lowered its sales forecast for the USA and Europe this year, predicting a 7 percent drop due to inflation and supply chain problems. More at Reuters. 

+   The Menifee, Arkansas Police department has been barred from issuing traffic tickets for one year after officials determined that tickets accounted for half the town’s revenue. More at Autoblog. 

+   Toyota is investing $5.6 billion in facilities in Japan and the United States to boost the production of batteries for electric vehicles, the Japanese automaker announced. More at The Detroit News. 

+   With driver Kurt Busch of 23XI Racing sidelined by post-concussion symptoms,  teammate Bubba Wallace will switch to the no. 45 car for the rest of the NASCAR Cup season. More at CBS Sports. 

+   Insurance company AXA admitted it faked a battery fire in a Tesla S crash demonstration video using pyrotechnics and that the subject vehicle did not have a battery. More at The Drive. 

+   Volkswagen will accelerate its transition into electric vehicles, incoming chief executive Oliver Blume said at an internal conference on the first day of his tenure. More at World Auto Forum. 

+   The Super Bee name will return on a Dodge Charger on one of the Last Call special performance editions before the Charger and Challenger are discontinued at the end of 2023. More at Car and Driver. 

+   Following Ford’s discontinuation of the Transit Connect, Ram announced that it is dropping the ProMaster City, which eliminates the compact van segment in the USA. More at CNET Cars. 

+   The share prices of Chinese electric vehicle makers Nio, Li Auto, and Xpeng dropped this week after the latter two EV start-ups reported a sharp fall in August car deliveries. More at CNBC. 

+   Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso has apologised to fellow champion Lewis Hamilton for calling him an “idiot” after the pair clashed on track at the Belgian Grand Prix. More at the UK Guardian. 

Still capture courtesy of AXA on YouTube. 

Review the previous Executive Briefing from August 29 here.