Porsche just launched a new R&D center in Shanghai. BMW has built one of its largest R&D systems outside Germany – Right there in China. Mercedes-Benz is expanding its local teams. The trend is clear: Global carmakers are no longer just manufacturing in China – they’re innovating there. Why? 🔹 China offers the world’s largest…
News
Wow, Xiaomi Just Shook Up the EV Market – Again
At the launch event on June 26, Xiaomi’s Founder, Chairman, and CEO Lei Jun announced the pricing for the all-new Xiaomi YU7: – Standard Version: ¥253,500 (~$35,000)“10,000 RMB cheaper than the Tesla Model Y”– Pro Version: ¥279,900 (~$38,700)“Cheaper by ¥33,600”– Max Version: ¥329,900 (~$45,600) The bold pricing strategy wasn’t just talk. Within just 3 minutes,…
XPeng and Huawei Co-develop AR-HUD System with Proprietary Optical Platform, Debuts on XPeng G7
XPeng and Huawei have jointly launched a new-generation AR-HUD system, featuring full-stack integration from optical hardware to real-time AR rendering. This marks a significant milestone in China’s push toward smart cockpit engineering. 👉 key highlights: – Huawei’s in-house optical platform enables high-brightness, high-contrast display under various ambient lighting – Integrated AR navigation, IMI (Intelligent Man-Machine…
GAC Toyota Integrates Xiaomi’s “Human-Car-Home” Ecosystem
GAC Toyota (Guangzhou Auto – Toyota) is taking a significant step toward ecosystem-level smart mobility by formally integrating with Xiaomi’s “Human-Car-Home” platform. The upcoming bZ7 will be the first model to adopt this integration. 👉 From a technical standpoint, this collaboration introduces: • Open hardware ecosystem interfaces for third-party and Xiaomi-compatible devices • Native support…
Self-Driving Taxi Caught Fire in Beijing
What Happened? On May 13, a self-driving taxi from Pony.ai was driving in Beijing when it suddenly went off the road and into a street median. Then, the car caught on fire 🔥 Luckily, no one was inside the car, and no one got hurt. The company said the car noticed something wrong and tried…
A Tragedy. A Test. A Turning Point.
On March 29, a fatal crash involving Xiaomi’s SU7 sedan claimed three lives. Recently, Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi, finally broke his silence. “We’ve been hit by a storm of doubts, criticism and blame,” he admitted in a leaked internal video. He pledged to make Xiaomi’s cars the safest in their class. As an automotive…
Ford Just Pulled the Plug on Its $10 Billion Software Dream
This is wild❗️ This was no side project. FNV4 was supposed to be Ford’s answer to Tesla– A bold, all-in bet on building a unified software brain for future vehicles.– Over-the-air updates, driver-assist subscriptions, digital feature monetization– It was the foundation of a “software-defined” future. Now? Dead. After pouring more than $10 billion into the…
Grateful to be quoted in the latest The Wire China article
We are grateful to be quoted in the latest The Wire China article “China’s Self-driving Danger”, which dives into the challenges and risks surrounding the rapid rollout of autonomous vehicles in China. As the author of The Xiaomi Formula, I’ve been closely following the intersection of technology, innovation, and automotive disruption in China. The story…
Big Move in EV Safety: China Releases New Mandatory Battery Safety Standard (GB38031-2025)
The future of EV safety just got a major upgrade in China The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has officially released a new version of the mandatory national standard – GB38031-2025: Safety Requirements for Power Batteries for Electric Vehicles – set to take effect on July 1, 2026. Here’s what stands out: 1….
Can Porsche Bounce Back In China?
Porsche’s China Sales Plunge 42% as Local EV Rivals Surge. Porsche’s vehicle deliveries in China fell sharply in the first quarter of 2025, down 42% year-over-year. The German automaker sold just 9,471 vehicles between January and March, compared to 16,340 units during the same period last year. The company attributed the decline to “the continuing…