Gasgoo Munich- Recently, Porsche centers across multiple Chinese cities have ceased new car sales operations, with some showrooms suspending activities and retaining only after-sales service functions. According to incomplete statistics, the suspension of sales involves dealers in Shandong, Jiangsu, Guangxi, Anhui, and other regions.

Porsche China refers to this as a "national network integration plan," stating it fully respects partners' decisions based on their own development.

Five years ago, Porsche was at its historical peak in China. In 2021, full-year sales reached 95,700 units, accounting for nearly one-third of the global total. Paying a premium to secure a vehicle was standard, and dealers offered cash in advance to obtain quotas.

However, just four years later, the situation has shifted completely.

Porsche Loses Grip on Its "Second Home"

The data is clear. In Porsche's global strategic contraction, the Chinese market is the first to reveal the harsh reality.

Since 2022, Porsche's sales in China have declined for four consecutive years: 93,300 in 2022, 79,300 in 2023, 56,900 in 2024, and 41,900 in 2025, representing year-on-year drops of 2.5%, 15%, 28%, and 26% respectively. Compared to the 2021 high of 95,700 units, 2025 sales have shrunk by 56%.

Image source: Porsche China

Entering 2026, the situation has worsened. In the first quarter, global deliveries stood at just 61,000, down 15% year-on-year, while China deliveries fell 21% to 7,519. Compared with the 21,365 units delivered in the first quarter of 2023, quarterly sales in China have contracted by more than 60%. Internally, Porsche estimates full-year sales in China could dip to around 30,000 units in 2026.

The sales decline is reflected directly in financial results. In 2025, global operating revenue fell 9.5% to 36.27 billion euros from 40.08 billion in 2024. Group sales profit dropped 92.7% to 413 million euros from 5.64 billion. The sales return rate fell sharply from 14.1% to just 1.1%, barely above the basic threshold for maintaining operations.

This significant drop in profit is not accidental. In 2025, Porsche incurred roughly 3.9 billion euros in special charges, including about 2.4 billion for product strategy adjustments and scale optimization, 700 million in additional costs for battery-related businesses, and 700 million due to U.S. tariffs.

China was once Porsche's most profitable global market, but now it has become the biggest variable dragging down performance.

CFO  Dr. Jochen Breckner has repeatedly stated a commitment to maintaining official guide prices, yet deep discounts on the Macan and Taycan are now common in the market. The gap between official promises and market reality is further eroding Porsche's pricing power among Chinese consumers.

Coinciding with the price softening is a channel contraction. The number of authorized dealers in China has shrunk from a peak of around 150 to 114 by the end of 2025. Under Porsche's plan, that number will be reduced to around 80 by 2026. Porsche China President and CEO  Alexander Pollich previously stated that the goal is to optimize sales outlets to about 80 to match a "quality over quantity" strategy.

Zhang Hong, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Dealers Association, analyzed in an interview that Porsche faces multiple pressures in China: rapid electrification, fading advantages for traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, and a mismatch between costs and sales volume caused by previous expansion. By "sacrificing sales volume to protect profits," Porsche can actively shrink inefficient capacity, streamline channels (such as closing low-performing stores in lower-tier cities), and cut costs to prioritize the profit baseline, securing time and space for the transition.

Image source: Porsche China

A standard Porsche 4S store typically requires an investment of 30 million to 50 million yuan for showroom construction. With inventory financing calculated at an average vehicle price of 800,000 to 1 million yuan, a monthly inventory of 30 units ties up 24 million to 30 million yuan in working capital. Adding personnel and rent, monthly costs exceed 2 million yuan. If monthly sales fall below 10 units, price inversions combined with terminal discounts can lead to a loss of 100,000 to 150,000 yuan per car. This is the fundamental reason why stores in second- and third-tier cities like Jining in Shandong or Huai'an in Jiangsu are struggling to survive; long-term monthly sales under ten units, high operating costs, and price inversions make applying to exit the network a common choice for dealers.

How Chinese EVs Are Challenging German Mechanical Engineering

Porsche remains Porsche, but China is no longer the same market.

Today, younger Chinese consumers have a new understanding of "luxury." In the past, precise steering, chassis tuning, and V8 engine notes were synonymous with luxury; now, intelligent cockpits, advanced driver-assistance systems, and OTA upgrades are the features that matter most to new buyers. These are precisely not Porsche's strengths.

In the internal combustion engine era, Porsche prided itself on precise steering, chassis tuning, and engine roar—a mechanical focus that formed the brand's moat. But the wave of electrification in China is flattening the performance threshold. For example, domestic EVs like the Xiaomi SU7 can achieve 0-100 km/h acceleration in under 3 seconds, bringing supercar-level performance to the 300,000 yuan price bracket.

From January to May 2026, in the million-yuan sedan segment, the Porsche Panamera recorded cumulative sales of 2,166 units. In May alone, in the ultra-luxury sedan segment above 700,000 yuan, the Panamera's insurance registrations were 804 units, ranking second.

By comparison, the MAEXTRO S800 under the HIMA banner topped the million-yuan sedan chart with cumulative sales of 6,283 units during the same period. In May, it claimed the top spot in the 700,000 yuan-plus ultra-luxury sedan market with 918 registrations. The MAEXTRO S800's cumulative sales were nearly three times that of the Panamera.

Image source: Porsche China

In the pure EV market, Porsche's performance is even weaker. In the first quarter of 2026, global Taycan deliveries were just 3,420 units, with China notably low at only 372 units—averaging less than four sales per day. The all-electric Macan also underperformed expectations, with 8,079 global deliveries in Q1, lower than the 10,130 units of the ICE Macan in the same quarter.

A former Porsche designer once commented that the Xiaomi SU7 leaves Porsche with only its "brand value." This highlights a harsh reality: when Chinese consumers can buy domestic high-end models offering cutting-edge technology and intelligent experiences for the same budget, Porsche's brand premium is being re-evaluated.

Zhang Hong notes that Porsche's core moat lies in brand premium, mechanical engineering, and high-end customer loyalty. Abandoning the pursuit of volume to focus on high-premium models and strict price discipline helps maintain the brand's high-end positioning and avoid price wars, better serving high-net-worth clients and aligning with the long-term interests of traditional luxury brands.

China was once Porsche's most profitable market, but now it acts as a magnifying glass for its strategic weaknesses. As industry observers have noted, the handling and brand heritage Porsche prides itself on appear less significant compared to new dimensions like intelligent cockpits and advanced autonomous driving.

In Zhang Hong's view, Porsche's window of opportunity is narrow; it needs to quickly translate localized R&D results into actual market competitiveness. On one hand, it faces the strong impact of domestic high-end new energy brands in a rapidly shifting market; on the other, Porsche is undergoing channel optimization and cost control, meaning resource allocation and strategic adjustments during the transition will affect its ability to seize the market.

Survival by Cutting Costs: The Logic of Porsche's Contraction

Facing fierce competition in China, Porsche has launched a series of global strategic contraction measures. Based on the timeline, these moves align with its sales decline in China—less of a proactive layout and more of a realistic response to performance pressure.

The first step of contraction points to the "in-house development" area Porsche once prided itself on. On May 9, 2026, Porsche announced the cessation of operations for three subsidiaries: Cellforce Group GmbH (high-performance battery R&D), Porsche eBike Performance GmbH (e-bike drive systems), and Cetitec GmbH (data communication software R&D).

These three subsidiaries were key pillars of Porsche's "technical independence" strategy. Cellforce carried Porsche's ambition for self-developed high-performance batteries, a core component of its electrification strategy; Porsche eBike Performance represented its exploration in electric mobility; Cetitec was responsible for in-house development of vehicle communication and data software. Covering the complete chain from batteries to e-drives to software, the closure of all three means Porsche has abandoned the pursuit of "doing everything ourselves" in non-core fields, refocusing resources on the core vehicle business.

Porsche admitted in a statement that under the framework of strategic restructuring and "open-technology powertrains," Cellforce "no longer offers a sustainable long-term development prospect." The closures affect over 500 employees.

Earlier, on April 26, 2026, Porsche announced it would sell its 45% stake in the Bugatti-Rimac joint venture and its 20.6% stake in Rimac Group. The Bugatti-Rimac entity is valued at around 1 billion euros, with the deal expected to close by the end of 2026.

Porsche Global CEO Dr. Michael Leiters stated: "Porsche must refocus on its core business. This is an indispensable cornerstone for the success of our strategic restructuring. To that end, we have to make difficult choices, including streamlining subsidiaries."

On the personnel and production front, Porsche has also launched significant streamlining plans. In February 2026, Porsche announced it would cut about 1,900 jobs at its Zuffenhausen and Weissach plants in Stuttgart, Germany, to be completed by 2029. A month later, that figure was expanded to 3,900.

In July 2026, German media Handelsblatt reported that Porsche is considering cutting up to 4,000 more jobs, mainly affecting management and administrative staff. Additionally, Porsche plans to reduce capacity at its Weissach R&D base near Stuttgart by about 30%.

 Dr. Michael Leiters stated in June that Porsche's vehicle production volume this year would fall below the 2025 sales figure of about 280,000 units, asserting that "Porsche must make money even if it sells fewer cars." He noted that past efforts to chase growth by rapidly adding new models, new drive technologies, and numerous derivatives had increased complexity for both operations and users. Therefore, Porsche's future product strategy will significantly simplify the product mix and reduce complexity and derivatives, while focusing on core, high-profitability areas to pursue higher margins.

Image source: Porsche China

Regarding platform strategy, Porsche is accelerating technology sharing with Audi to further cut costs and boost efficiency. It is reported that the next-generation Macan will be incorporated into the PPC (Premium Platform Combustion) platform, sharing more technical foundations with the Audi Q5. The flagship SUV project, codenamed K1, has also abandoned the originally planned pure electric SSP platform in favor of the PPC architecture, sharing core components with the Audi Q9.

Industry analysis suggests Audi is shouldering the high R&D costs for the PPC platform's basic architecture. This modular approach means Porsche's new model development does not need to start from scratch, potentially shortening the R&D cycle by over 40% and cutting costs by 30%.

However, for Porsche, moving from "exclusive technology" to "platform sharing" implies a retreat in independent R&D capabilities. Moreover, a deeper question looms: as Porsche shares more technological underpinnings with Audi, can the "Porsche premium" maintain its original value in consumers' minds? This may be more concerning than the reduction in per-vehicle costs.

While contracting, Porsche is also attempting to "add" in terms of localization in China. In January 2026, Porsche China President Michael Kirsch stated at the annual media meeting that Porsche would adopt an "aggressive strategy" in 2026 to win back the Chinese market. According to the plan, the Porsche China R&D Center was inaugurated in Shanghai in November 2025. A core team of over 300 engineers has been assembled, and its first localized R&D achievement will be integrated into vehicles by 2026.

Zhang Hong believes the launch of the Porsche China R&D Center enables "software-hardware integrated" localized development tailored to China's complex urban road conditions and user preferences. This can effectively improve the localized experience of the infotainment system and bridge the gap with younger users. However, Porsche's technical accumulation in electrification and underlying autonomous driving algorithms lags relatively behind; localized R&D cannot bridge the gap in core technologies in the short term, and Porsche still relies on the underlying technical architecture from German headquarters.

He further noted that localized R&D can make up for shortcomings in "feature adaptation" but not for "cost and pricing." Porsche carries a high brand premium and incurs high costs for intelligent features, making it difficult to fundamentally change the contradiction between its "high pricing" and the "value for money" of its intelligent configurations.

Closures, layoffs, sharing—Porsche is contracting globally, and the China market is at the center of this shift.

Conclusion

Porsche is trying to maintain its profit line with a "quality over quantity" strategy. To do so, the sports car maker is drastically cutting costs, shutting down non-core businesses, and optimizing its product structure to maintain profit levels amid sustained sales decline.

However, contraction alone cannot solve the fundamental problem. As China's evaluation system for "luxury" undergoes structural reshaping, whether simply "selling fewer cars to make more money" can offset the long-term impact of market share loss remains an open question.

Ultimately, everything depends on whether Porsche can find a new balance between contraction and transformation.

Gasgoo Munich- Retail sales of passenger vehicles nationwide hit 1.602 million units in June, down 23.2% from a year ago but up 6.1% from May, according to the latest data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). Secretary-General Cui Dongshu noted that the market’s decline in June outpaced the average for the first half of the year, creating more downward pressure than in the previous two months. "We are in a relatively tough trough," he said.

Image source: CPCA

Even more telling is the structural fracture accelerating beneath the surface. Retail sales of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles slumped 39% year-on-year, with pure ICE models diving 42%. Meanwhile, the retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles (NEVs) climbed to 62.8% — a 9.5 percentage-point jump from last year. At first glance, this looks like a simple split between fuel and electric, but a closer look reveals the divergence runs much deeper.

Domestic Brands Grab 68.6% Share; JVs Show Signs of a Turn

Domestic brands continue to dominate the market. In June, they moved 1.10 million units at retail, capturing a 68.6% share of the domestic market — up 4.5 percentage points from a year ago. Data from the CPCA shows that top players like BYD, Geely, and Chery delivered steady performances, while the effects of strategic transformation at some traditional automakers are finally starting to show, driving significant gains in market share.

Yet, domestic brands aren’t resting easy. Retail data shows sales for these brands slipped 18% year-on-year, with domestic retail sales of their new energy segment falling 11%.

The CPCA attributes this largely to a slump in economy electric vehicles. A hangover from subsidy rollbacks and weak purchasing power among low-end consumers has caused the A00- and A0-segment EV markets to cool significantly.

Data shows wholesale sales of A00-class pure electrics plunged 50% year-on-year in June to 77,000 units. They now account for just 8% of the pure EV market, down 11.9 percentage points from last year. For domestic brands that once dominated the market with mini EVs, the entry-level segment is becoming a severe test of survival.

The CPCA points out that the sharp decline in low-end economy cars, combined with waning appetite for entry-level models in rural and lower-tier markets, has become a bottleneck constraining market expansion. True popularization of entry-level EVs is needed to drive sustainable growth, and the current outlook offers little optimism.

The joint venture camp faces an even tougher struggle. Retail sales for mainstream joint venture brands fell 34% year-on-year in June to 330,000 units. German brands saw their retail share drop to 12.8%, down 3.4 percentage points, while Japanese brands slipped to 11.0%, a decline of 1 percentage point.

ICE vehicles are the foundation of joint venture brands, but that foundation is crumbling. Retail sales of conventional fuel cars dropped 39% year-on-year in June to 600,000 units. Squeezed by high fuel prices and a rapid consumer shift to new energy, the decades-old dominance joint ventures once held in the fuel sector is eroding fast.

Yet, the data holds one easily overlooked signal. Retail sales of new energy vehicles from mainstream joint venture brands jumped 45% year-on-year in June, even as domestic brands saw an 11% decline. While the absolute volume for joint venture EVs remains small — accounting for just 4.3% of domestic retail sales — that growth rate is worth watching.

Behind this shift is a move by joint venture giants, having weathered the initial pain, to finally direct serious resources toward electrification. Volkswagen, Toyota, and General Motors are seeing their efforts in pure electric and plug-in hybrid segments gain traction. The competition between domestic and joint venture brands on the EV track is likely to become even fiercer than in the past two years.

The luxury market is also under strain. Retail sales fell 30% year-on-year in June to 170,000 units. However, as sticker prices return to more reasonable levels, luxury brands held a 10.3% retail share in June, down just 1.1 percentage points. The CPCA notes that some ultra-luxury brands experienced unusual volatility, indicating significant operational pressure across the industry.

NEV Penetration at 62.8%; Polarization Between High-End and Low-End

Retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles reached 1.007 million units in June, down 9.4% year-on-year but up 6% from May, according to the CPCA. While total volume dipped, the penetration rate remained high at 62.8% — a 9.5 percentage-point increase from last year. This means the market share for fuel vehicles has been squeezed to just 37.2%, solidifying the reversal where electric outsells gasoline.

Image source: CPCA

On the wholesale side, NEV passenger car sales hit 1.481 million units in June, a 19.2% year-on-year increase and a 9.6% rise month-on-month. Pure electric vehicles accounted for 981,000 units, up 26.9%; plug-in hybrids reached 406,000, up 18.1%; while extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) totaled 94,000, down 25.2%.

Cui Dongshu pointed out that the NEV market this year is showing an "absolute divergence," with plug-in hybrids and extended-range vehicles performing far worse than pure electrics. Although the shift from a fixed 20,000 yuan scrappage subsidy to one based on vehicle price dealt a heavy blow to A00-class EVs, pure electrics still managed 4% year-on-year growth in June. In contrast, EREVs fell 16.4% in the first half and 32% in June alone. "The trend for extended-range is weak, while pure electric is extremely strong," Cui said.

Another distinct feature is the polarization between a "surge in high-end EVs" and "pressure on low-end economy models."

The high-end market is performing strongly. Wholesale sales of B-class pure EVs jumped 37% year-on-year in June to 295,000 units, claiming a 30% share of the pure EV market — up 2 percentage points from last year. Data shows domestic brands hold a retail share exceeding 50% in high-end price brackets: 200,000 to 300,000 yuan, 300,000 to 400,000 yuan, and above 400,000 yuan. Models like the Li Auto L6, Xiaomi SU7, NIO, and ZEEKR have remained relatively stable in their segments, suggesting that demand for high-end NEVs has not been significantly dented by the broader market slump.

The low-end market tells a different story. Sales of A00-class pure EVs have fallen off a cliff, and the A0 segment is under significant pressure as well. The CPCA notes that economy EVs in the A00 and A0 classes face broad headwinds, and entry-level consumption urgently needs policy support. A negative wealth effect from the recent housing slump and structural market stagnation, combined with bleak expectations for income and employment, has dampened spending power. With growth in essentials like food and clothing far outpacing that of housing and transport, the willingness to purchase A0- and A-class vehicles has clearly weakened.

At the manufacturer level, market concentration continues to intensify. Twenty automakers exceeded wholesale sales of 10,000 NEVs in June, accounting for 93.6% of the total. BYD Auto led with 397,000 units, followed by Geely Auto at 159,000, Chery Auto at 107,000, Leapmotor at 93,000, and Tesla China at 89,000. New forces captured a 26.0% retail share, an increase of 6.5 percentage points year-on-year, driven significantly by brands like Leapmotor and NIO.

Cui Dongshu believes the trend toward pure electrics is strengthening. "The shift away from fuel is clear, and pure EVs are the ultimate direction of development," he said. As flash charging, fast charging, and battery safety technologies improve rapidly, "consumer acceptance of electric vehicles is bound to rise."

On the export front, new energy vehicles remain the strongest growth engine. NEV passenger car exports reached 499,000 units in June, a 152.7% year-on-year surge, accounting for 56.9% of total passenger vehicle exports — up 15.9 percentage points from last year.

Image source: CPCA

Cui noted that June exports were far above the average for the first half of the year, "hitting a new high and achieving exceptional growth of 80%." He believes improved conditions in the Gulf have benefited shipping, and a recovery in the Middle East market — which had previously plummeted — helped drive further export growth in June.

BYD led the first tier of exporters with 171,000 units in a single month, followed by Chery at 74,000, Geely at 62,000, and Tesla China at 36,000. Recognition of Chinese NEVs in overseas markets continues to rise. Despite policy interference from some countries, the momentum for domestic plug-in hybrid exports to developing nations remains rapid, with a positive outlook.

July Headwinds Ease, Market Poised for Gradual Recovery

The first half of the auto market concluded with "total volume under pressure and structural divergence," putting the spotlight on July's trajectory.

On the production side, July offers 23 working days, allowing relatively ample time for manufacturing and sales. On the demand side, the core factors that suppressed the market in June are shifting.

Image source: IM Motors

First, oil prices. International crude briefly spiked to $126 per barrel, pushing domestic gasoline prices from 7,670 yuan per ton at the start of the year to a peak of 10,325 yuan in April — a severe drag on ICE vehicle consumption. On July 3, domestic refined fuel prices saw their steepest drop in six years, falling 950 yuan per ton to 8,175 yuan. While June still felt the inertia of high prices, the boost to auto consumption from falling oil prices is expected to materialize in July.

Second, external disruptions are fading. A mismatch with the Dragon Boat Festival created a high base effect in June, while the "618" shopping festival underperformed. The start of the World Cup siphoned off time and budget from car buyers, and the college entrance exams combined with the busy farming season reduced dealership foot traffic. Add in high temperatures and heavy rains, and multiple factors converged to squeeze the market. "The World Cup caused some interference; car buyers are also World Cup fans, and night matches affected daytime showroom visits," Cui analyzed.

Meanwhile, favorable policies like July's new battery regulations led some consumers to take a wait-and-see approach, hoping to buy later. Additionally, falling oil prices improved sentiment among ICE vehicle owners. June ICE sales rose 6.3% month-on-month, slightly outpacing the 6% growth for NEVs. "ICE vehicles saw a marginal improvement first, while NEVs faced interference, slowing their recovery."

The CPCA points out that as the World Cup concludes and the rainy season recedes in July, suppressed demand is likely to be released gradually in the third quarter.

Regarding the second half, Cui said the market will improve significantly after July. "We are not pessimistic about the second half; the market will get better." However, for July specifically, the retail sector is likely to see a weak recovery, while the wholesale sector will continue to run high due to strong exports and aggressive manufacturer shipment targets. The gap between wholesale and retail growth rates may widen further.

On the policy front, July brings two key milestones. First, new national safety standards for NEVs take effect, imposing mandatory requirements for crash safety and battery "thermal runaway non-ignition." This raises the technology barrier significantly, lengthening development cycles and costs for mainstream products and putting pressure on lower-end models to update. Second, an adjustment to vehicle and vessel tax was announced in early July, clarifying that hybrids will no longer enjoy tax exemptions starting in 2027. This sends a clear signal of "parity between fuel and electric," further highlighting the policy advantage of pure EVs.

The CPCA expects NEV penetration rates to remain high in July, though growth may slow. Structurally, the share of pure electric vehicles is likely to see a modest rebound.

Profitability remains a major pressure point. Data from the CPCA shows that from January through May of 2026, the auto industry generated revenue of 4.2096 trillion yuan, up 1.4% year-on-year, while costs rose 2.3% to 3.7397 trillion yuan. Profit fell 20% to 144 billion yuan, resulting in an industry profit margin of just 3.4% — far below the 6.1% average for downstream industrial sectors. With upstream raw material inflation squeezing margins and terminal price wars eroding profitability, the squeeze on automakers is unlikely to ease fundamentally in the short term.

Yet, there are positive signals. The CPCA suggests that as the new safety regulations and tax reform expectations are digested, chip shortages ease at the margin, and consumer confidence slowly recovers, the decline in retail sales is expected to narrow gradually in the third and fourth quarters.

The NEV industry has moved from a policy incubation phase to a market-driven maturity. Future core competitiveness for automakers will lie in technological safety, global layout, and user value creation. "Price-driven" strategies will give way to "value-driven" ones, and the focus of competition is shifting rapidly toward intelligence, safety, and real-world range performance.

The July market will be a key window for observing second-half trends. Sequential improvement is expected, but the internal polarization within the NEV sector — between high-end and low-end, and between pure electric and plug-in hybrid — will not easily reverse. For automakers, the dual challenge for the second half will be clear: secure profits in the high-end market through technology and branding, and defend market share in the low-end segment through cost control and scale.

Gasgoo Munich- Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), didn't mince words at a monthly sales briefing on July 8. He criticized the domestic push toward larger new energy vehicles, calling the trend "extremely bad."

His comments cut straight to the intensifying "big car fever" sweeping China's NEV market. Over the past two years, a host of brands have flooded the sector with large five- and six-seater models, sending sales of large SUVs soaring. Yet beneath that bustling surface, Cui sees deeper risks brewing.

Image Source: Shetu Website

In Cui's view, this shift is driven by serious institutional flaws.

Historically, traditional automakers approached large internal-combustion SUVs with caution, largely constrained by displacement taxes—bigger engines meant steeper levies. Today, however, tax standards for new energy vehicles remain flat regardless of weight or power, failing to curb the drift toward oversized models and excessive horsepower.

The fallout from this supersizing goes beyond wasted resources. A flood of large vehicles is straining urban infrastructure, worsening parking shortages and clogging narrow city streets. The industry is also plagued by product homogeneity and a "feature-stacking" competition. On top of that, the environmental cost—higher lifetime carbon emissions—cannot be ignored.

Cui proposes establishing a set of standards for economy vehicles. The goal is to encourage car ownership while using tax and energy management tools to rein in the push for ever-larger cars.

With new energy vehicle penetration rates climbing, the industry faces a pressing question: how to balance the demand for premium upgrades with the need to conserve resources and sustain urban capacity.

Gasgoo Munich- On July 8, the Xiaomi Public Welfare Foundation announced a 10 million yuan cash donation to support emergency rescue, transitional resettlement, and reconstruction efforts in Guangxi and other disaster-hit regions.

Image source: @LeiJun

Recent severe weather, including heavy rains and strong winds, has battered Guangxi, triggering dam failures and landslides that have caused significant loss of life and property. With flood control efforts facing a critical challenge, the Xiaomi Public Welfare Foundation acted swiftly, immediately initiating its donation process to offer aid to the affected zones.

The 10 million yuan cash injection is earmarked for emergency assistance, transitional housing for displaced residents, and post-disaster recovery. The foundation aims to ensure the funds are deployed precisely and efficiently to address the most pressing needs on the ground.

In parallel, the Xiaomi Public Welfare Platform has launched the "Building a Safe Home of Love" campaign, urging the public to contribute and show solidarity with the victims. The foundation stated it will keep a close watch on the disaster's evolution and stand ready to provide further assistance as needed.

Rescue and recovery operations in Guangxi are advancing steadily. As support from all sectors of society continues to pour in, the collective focus remains on helping communities rebuild their homes and restore normalcy.

Image Source: UBTECH

This partnership aims to fuse UBTECH's technical edge in embodied intelligent humanoid robots with Shenhao's deep roots in the power industry — specifically its system integration and on-the-ground deployment capabilities built over two decades. Together, they plan to craft a comprehensive, software-hardware integrated solution for power scenarios. They will also establish a "Joint Innovation Laboratory for Embodied Intelligence in Power Applications" to drive technical verification and set industry standards.

Image Source: UBTECH

In typical settings like substations and distribution rooms, these humanoid robots will navigate narrow passages and climb stairs with autonomy. Equipped with multimodal sensing devices, they will handle precise power tasks — from infrared temperature checks and defect detection to switching operations and grounding wire installation. By handling close-range inspections and standing watch autonomously, the robots can mitigate safety risks associated with working near live electricity, significantly boosting operational reliability.

Notably, State Grid has already released its "2026 Embodied Intelligence Development Plan," outlining the procurement of roughly 8,500 embodied intelligence devices with a total investment of about 6.8 billion yuan. Factoring in follow-through from China Southern Power Grid and regional energy groups, total industry investment in embodied intelligence for the power sector is poised to exceed 10 billion yuan this year.

Beyond just product deployment, this strategic alliance will actively push for the creation of technical specifications and safety standards within the power industry. It aims to establish a benchmark model for "AI + Robotics" empowering power intelligence, injecting fresh momentum into building a safe, efficient, and smart modern energy system.

Gasgoo Munich- On July 8, GAC Group announced a partnership with local operator GreenV and mobility platform 99 to deploy 242 fast charging stations across Brazil by 2030.

This move marks the latest sign that Chinese automakers in Brazil are shifting from simply selling cars to building entire ecosystems.

Brazil faces a widening gap between explosive EV growth and a lagging charging network, with the ratio of vehicles to public chargers hitting 18.7:1. Chinese brands like BYD, Great Wall Motor, and GAC aren't waiting for the grid to catch up. Instead, they're building their own networks, escalating a "product export" strategy into a full-scale "industry export" campaign that spans manufacturing, technology, and infrastructure.

Charging Anxiety: The Roadblock to Brazil's Electrification

Brazil is fast becoming the hottest market for Chinese new energy vehicle makers expanding abroad.

Between January and April 2026, China accounted for 47.7% of Brazil's auto imports, cementing its status as the country's largest source of imported vehicles.

In the first quarter, electrified vehicle registrations in Brazil topped 95,000 units — an 88% surge from the previous year.

Yet, this sales surge is colliding with severely lagging infrastructure, creating the sharpest contradiction in Brazil's electrification drive.

Data from the Brazilian Electric Vehicle Association (ABVE) shows that as of February 2026, the country had 21,060 public and semi-public charging points — a 42% annual increase. Meanwhile, the fleet of plug-in vehicles approached 395,000.

Image Source: BYD

That puts the vehicle-to-charger ratio at 18.7:1, far exceeding the International Energy Agency's recommended "golden ratio" of 10:1. Even by May 2026, with charging points rising to 25,429, the balance remained critically off.

Even worse is the uneven distribution. The limited charging infrastructure is heavily concentrated in São Paulo state and the southern metropolitan regions, leaving vast areas underserved.

Cities with fewer than 1.5 million residents have almost nowhere to charge. In Brazil's vast interior, driving 100 kilometers without seeing a charger is no exaggeration.

Compounding the issue, roughly 69.1% of Brazilians live in apartments without private parking for home chargers, deepening reliance on public infrastructure. In major cities, stations run at full capacity year-round, with wait times of one to two hours becoming the norm.

The power grid itself is strained. Surging demand is placing immense pressure on local networks, and insufficient power capacity has emerged as a major barrier to deploying new chargers.

Amid these challenges, charging infrastructure has become the critical bottleneck holding back Brazil's EV adoption — the more cars sold, the more acute the "charging anxiety" becomes.

From Selling Cars to Building Chargers: Chinese Automakers' Battle for Recharging

Faced with this structural deficit, Chinese automakers deeply entrenched in Brazil aren't waiting. They're going on the offensive, tightly linking vehicle sales with charger construction to wage a "recharging war" that shifts focus from exporting products to exporting an entire ecosystem.

BYD has been the most aggressive mover. In early 2024, it partnered with Shell's Brazilian energy unit to build 600 DC charging points across eight major cities, including São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

In March 2026, BYD upped the ante, vowing to deploy 1,000 ultra-fast charging stations nationwide by the end of 2027. The first 1,500kW station went live at a Denza dealership in Brasília in June 2026.

That output is more than four times the capacity of Brazil's mainstream 350kW fast chargers. Combined with a network of over 200 dealerships, BYD is building an integrated service ecosystem that covers both sales and charging.

GAC Group, meanwhile, is taking a coalition approach.

On July 8, 2026, GAC Energy and GAC International teamed up with local operator GreenV and mobility platform 99 to announce a strategic partnership aimed at deploying 242 fast charging stations across Brazil by 2030.

The alliance brings together four key players: automaking, charging equipment, infrastructure operations, and mobility services. GAC supplies 60kW and 120kW fast chargers and technical solutions, installing them across its dealer network. GreenV, which has already deployed over 15,000 charging points in Brazil, handles investment and site management. The 99 platform uses incentives to push drivers toward electric vehicles, funneling a steady stream of users to the network. Together, they form a closed loop spanning vehicles, chargers, the grid, and the platform.

Image Source: GAC Energy

Great Wall Motor is also investing heavily in charging networks. In March 2026, the company took delivery of nearly 10,000 exported chargers, shipped alongside its vehicles to Brazil.

Supplied by charging solutions provider Zhida Technology, these units add to the more than 10,000 chargers the company delivered to Brazil in 2025. Orders for 2026 are already booked through the fourth quarter.

Great Wall also plans to invest in local networks to ensure charging coverage across Brazil's major cities.

The push by Chinese automakers to build chargers in Brazil is essentially a strategic upgrade from exporting products to exporting an ecosystem.

In January 2026, Brazil's Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, publicly invited Chinese automakers to invest in charging infrastructure — an official endorsement that underscores the strategic value of this battle for charging dominance.

As Chinese automakers roll out chargers across Brazil's streets, they are laying down more than just power lines. They are paving a new path for Chinese manufacturing — one that moves from simply exporting products to exporting standards and entire ecosystems.

Gasgoo Munich- China's auto market remains in deep adjustment as 2026 unfolds: overall sales are under pressure, the price war persists, and profit margins are squeezed. Yet, some companies are still delivering strong results. TE Connectivity (TE), a global leader in connectivity and sensing, has maintained rapid growth in China's automotive connector market. Beyond transferring technology to global markets, TE's global factories in Morocco, Europe, Brazil, and Thailand are increasingly supporting Chinese OEMs' overseas expansion.

Observers suggest that the reason this connector giant grows while the industry stagnates is not just technical innovation, but deep strategy—reconstructing growth logic via a "boundary expansion" mindset. At the recent Munich Shanghai Electronics Fair, TE used the theme "Expanding Boundaries, Co-creating Value," exhibiting with ecosystem partners to demonstrate this multi-dimensional approach. Here is a closer look.

Breaking Technical Boundaries: From Small Wire Gauges to Comprehensive Aluminum-for-Copper Substitution

"Boundary expansion" carries multiple meanings for TE. The most immediate is breaking limits in capability, especially technology. Sun Xiaoguang, Vice President and General Manager of TE Automotive and Industrial & Commercial Transportation in China, stated that addressing "cut-throat competition" cannot rely on sacrificing profits alone. The key is breaking technical bottlenecks from an industry perspective, making products "smaller, lighter, better," and maximizing cost reduction and efficiency.

Sun Xiaoguang, Vice President and General Manager of TE Connectivity's Automotive and Industrial & Commercial Transportation Business Units in China. Image Source: TE Connectivity

In 2024, TE launched a small wire gauge solution: the 0.19 mm² multi-win composite wire. Based on existing test data, this solution achieved approximately 60% copper reduction, 37% weight reduction, and at least 10% cost savings. It is now applied in 18 models across 14 OEMs.

In 2025, the company proposed "aluminum replacing copper" for low-voltage current loops. The rise of intelligent EVs has increased wire harness demand per vehicle, increasing copper usage and costs. The direct benefit of switching to aluminum is reduced copper use, lower weight and cost, and lower CO₂ emissions—copper is heavier and more expensive than aluminum, and its refining generates significant CO₂. At this year's Munich Electronics Fair, TE announced the rollout of a "comprehensive aluminum-for-copper solution."

Image Source: TE Connectivity

At the fair, TE showcased a range of innovative applications for aluminum technology in vehicle connectivity: a new generation of low-voltage alloy aluminum wires, high-voltage aluminum wires and busbar connections, and aluminum system assembly solutions. According to Zheng Rong, Senior Sales and Marketing Director of TE Automotive China, these innovations can help customers reduce copper in electronic circuits by 18% to 100%, and large-scale promotion could cut China's annual CO₂ emissions by over 1 million tons.

Zheng Rong, Senior Sales and Marketing Director of TE Connectivity's Automotive Business Unit in China. Image Source: TE Connectivity

Both small wire gauges and aluminum substitution are solutions known to the industry but difficult to implement. Take aluminum substitution: European companies attempted to introduce aluminum wires into vehicles 20 years ago, yet issues such as electrochemical corrosion and aluminum creep were never fully resolved.

Sun Xiaoguang told media that past failures stemmed from "not adhering to first principles." Traditional solutions tried to mitigate aluminum's defects by improving terminal capabilities without changing the wire itself. TE's approach redesigns from the ground up: developing high-strength aluminum alloy materials to fundamentally solve the potential difference and electrochemical corrosion issues between copper and aluminum.

However, Sun admitted that the main concern in promoting aluminum substitution is "adverse selection"—if the industry uses low-end aluminum wire as high-end alloy, a massive failure could halt this strategic direction entirely. He hopes the industry maintains quality standards while cutting costs.

Ecosystem Expansion: Co-creation and Cooperation to Unlock Key Supply Chain Nodes

TE recognized early that breaking industry bottlenecks cannot be done by a single company. In recent years, it has championed "multi-win" cooperation and ecosystem co-creation.

For the aluminum substitution to work, material breakthroughs alone are far from enough. Welding processes, production line equipment, and harness factory retrofits—any weak link could jeopardize the entire solution.

On July 2, TE signed a four-party strategic agreement with Boway Alloy, Jiaocheng Ultrasonic, and Komax to build a "comprehensive aluminum-for-copper" mass-production ecosystem. Boway Alloy develops and supplies the high-strength aluminum alloy; Jiaocheng Ultrasonic provides welding process solutions; and Komax ensures seamless equipment switching—harness factories do not need to spend heavily replacing entire lines, just swapping modules to upgrade from crimping to welding.

Image Source: TE Connectivity

During the fair, TE displayed an ultrasonic welding solution for low-voltage alloy aluminum wires developed with partners. It compresses cutting, stripping, crimping, and welding to approximately 1 second and integrates seamlessly with existing automated lines. This eliminates hundreds of millions in retrofit costs for harness factories, solving another major hurdle for widespread aluminum adoption.

Image Source: TE Connectivity

"We are not just experts; we are organizers who consider value beyond expertise," Sun said, defining TE's role in the ecosystem. "We want the entire supply chain, starting from OEMs, to reduce costs, so no entity over-invests." This positioning is pragmatic and critical: technical breakthroughs are the prerequisite, but economic feasibility drives mass adoption.

TE is expanding similar co-creation across more dimensions. In July 2025, TE opened a joint innovation lab with the Geely Automobile Research Institute, and strategic cooperation with Li Auto is progressing. On the supply chain side, beyond Boway Alloy, TE has established deep joint R&D relationships with material firms like Kingfa and BASF. These partnerships have moved beyond traditional transactions to collaborative incubation.

Image Source: TE Connectivity

Business Expansion: From Four Wheels to Two, and Into Embodied Intelligence

The results of technical expansion must ultimately translate into business growth. TE's expansion of business boundaries reflects this same "boundary expansion" thinking.

Two-wheelers are a strategically significant entry point. China's market is massive—annual sales alone reach tens of millions—but connector quality has historically lagged. Recently, as consumers demand better safety and intelligence, top players realize they must reshape quality using automotive standards. TE's approach is proactive development based on customer needs, solving pain points at minimal cost. Zheng Rong revealed that its "Caishiji" product is widely used in the electric motorcycle fast-charging market, with several leading companies entering strategic partnerships.

Image Source: TE Connectivity

Robotics is another new territory being mapped out. At the 2026 Munich Shanghai Electronics Fair, TE established its first humanoid robot solution zone, covering connection schemes for perception, control, power, and joint systems. Sun explained that at the technical level, robot perception needs cameras and LiDAR; control requires wire-to-board and wire-to-wire connections; power involves battery packs and charging sockets; and joints need wear-resistant harnesses. These are highly consistent with automotive electronic-electrical architectures.

Image Source: TE Connectivity

The embodied intelligence market is still in its infancy, and connectors are not yet a key driver for growth. Yet TE is choosing to position itself early, using existing resources and technical reserves to explore new standards with customers. "We move toward where we can provide value—either disruptive or extended value," Sun said. "Define the value first, and when the opportunity comes, we can scale up immediately."

From passenger cars to commercial vehicles, then to two-wheelers and humanoid robots, TE is building an "AUTO+" business map. The logic is straightforward: technical capabilities, manufacturing experience, and quality systems accumulated in the automotive sector can find new applications in adjacent industries. The key lies in migrating these capabilities at the lowest possible cost—precisely the core competency TE has built through years of operational efficiency and scalable manufacturing.

Image Source: TE Connectivity

Remaining clear-headed during industry shifts, finding growth in limited spaces, and exploring co-creation beyond solo efforts—TE's "boundary expansion" mindset offers a case study worth examining for an industry in deep adjustment. When "cut-throat competition" becomes the norm, the real way to break through may not be competing harder in the same dimension, but stepping outside existing boundaries to redefine how value is created.

Gasgoo Munich- Autoliv and XPENG Group formally signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement in Guangzhou on July 8, 2026.

Under the agreement, the two parties will deepen collaboration across key focus areas, including technical synergy, digitalization, low-carbon sustainability, new technology development, and global support. As the automotive industry accelerates its shift toward electrification, intelligence, and globalization, this strategic upgrade is set to further enhance innovation capabilities and systemic synergy for both sides.

Image source: Autoliv

"From technical synergy to supply chain integration, and from digitalization to low-carbon sustainability, our partnership with XPENG will transcend the traditional supplier relationship," said Fabien Dumont, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Autoliv. "We are moving toward a deep partnership model of co-creation and joint development. Autoliv's China team is fully committed to safeguarding every new XPENG product with agile response and engineering resilience."

As the world's largest automotive safety supplier, Autoliv commands roughly 44% to 45% of the global passive safety market. Its operations span 25 countries, encompassing 65 production bases and 13 R&D centers. XPENG, meanwhile, is accelerating its "Physical AI + Globalization" strategy, aiming to double overseas sales by 2026. This partnership will not only reinforce XPENG's technological moat in intelligent mobility safety but also open broader market horizons for Autoliv amid the sweeping electrification and intelligence trends.

Gasgoo Munich- On July 7 local time, the 2026 Europe-China Automotive Industry Cooperation Salon (Stuttgart) was held in Stuttgart, Germany, hosted by joint Europe-China automotive industry institutions. Gasgoo CEO Zhou Xiaoying attended as a guest speaker, joining representatives and experts from the Chinese and European automotive supply chains to discuss new trends in China's auto sector and emerging opportunities for cross-border collaboration.

As China's auto industry accelerates its global push, more Chinese firms are moving rapidly into the European market. At the same time, European automakers are actively seeking deeper cooperation with Chinese counterparts in new energy vehicles, intelligent technology, and supply chains. Against this backdrop, the salon focused on synergistic development between Europe and China, offering a platform for face-to-face dialogue to facilitate resource matching and win-win outcomes.

During the event, Zhou delivered a keynote titled "The Next Chapter for China's Auto Industry — From Market Scale Advantage to System-Level Innovation." Drawing on Gasgoo's long-term research and global market observations, she analyzed the industry's path from scale advantages to system-level capabilities centered on electrification, intelligence, and supply chain synergy. She further explored how this shift creates fresh opportunities for collaboration between the European and Chinese automotive sectors.

As a comprehensive service platform deeply rooted in the automotive sector, Gasgoo focuses on the global supply chain across industry news, research, data analysis, networking, and international exchanges. Leveraging years of expertise and an international perspective, Gasgoo continues to monitor innovation and globalization in China, providing market insights and decision support for companies across the upstream and downstream supply chain.

As Chinese brands and suppliers expand overseas, Gasgoo is ramping up its international engagement. By organizing overseas forums, participating in international exhibitions, publishing research reports, and driving global communication, the company is building bridges between China and the world. The goal is to share China's development experience and innovative practices, foster deeper exchange with global markets, and help tell the story of the Chinese auto industry.

This invitation to the Europe-China Automotive Industry Cooperation Salon marks another step in Gasgoo's mission to deepen international ties. Looking ahead, Gasgoo aims to leverage its platform advantages to partner with global players, driving broader and deeper cooperation in tech innovation, supply chain synergy, and market expansion—contributing Chinese insights to the high-quality development of the global automotive industry.

— Click the image to see Gasgoo through Deepseek's eyes —

Gasgoo Munich- On July 8, BYD announced a 10 million CNY donation via the BYD Charity Foundation to support flood relief and recovery efforts in Guangxi, which was recently battered by Typhoon Maysak.

Typhoon Maysak recently brought extreme weather—torrential rains and gale-force winds—triggering disasters like dam breaches and landslides across multiple locations in Guangxi. The mounting pressure on local flood control efforts has severely disrupted daily life and production, drawing widespread public attention. In response to the crisis, BYD moved quickly to launch a charitable aid campaign, finalizing the 10 million CNY grant.

Image Source: BYD

According to official plans for the funds, the 10 million CNY donation will address critical relief needs. Part of it will support frontline emergency rescue operations and temporary assistance for victims, ensuring access to food and shelter. The remainder will go toward post-disaster reconstruction, including repairing homes, roads, and water infrastructure.

BYD pledged to keep a close watch on the evolving relief situation in Guangxi, monitoring the real-time needs of those affected. The company aims to provide tangible material and financial support to help residents navigate the aftermath of the disaster.

It has become an industry standard for automakers in China to leverage charitable foundations for disaster relief donations whenever natural disasters occur, serving as a key channel for fulfilling corporate social responsibility.

Gasgoo Munich- OnJuly 9, Tank Brand General Manager Gu Yukun stated that since pre-sales for the all-new Tank 300 began on July 6, order volume has exceeded the brand's early expectations. "Every day's order volume is equivalent to what we previously sold in a month," he said. Notably, orders for the Shining Yellow finish and the Hi4-Z hybrid version each surpassed a 60% share. The new model is officially set to launch on July 19.

The pre-sales data reflects clear user preferences, with two high-spec configurations becoming the mainstream choices. Shining Yellow is an exclusive new paint for this generation; featuring high saturation, anti-fading properties, and scratch-repair technology, it meets the demand for personalized aesthetics among younger users. The Hi4-Z hybrid system, as the top-tier powertrain solution, balances strong acceleration, long range, and low energy consumption, making it suitable for commuting, camping, and off-roading. Together, these two options are driving the bulk of the new orders.

Image Source: Tank

Positioned as a trendy off-road SUV for younger demographics, the car faces a market where hard-core off-road products are becoming increasingly homogenous. By leveraging its hybrid powertrain, factory modification capabilities, and luxury cabin features to create a differentiated advantage, the vehicle’s strong pre-order performance confirms that its positioning hits the market demand precisely.

The brand expressed gratitude for the enthusiastic consumer support while confirming the launch timeline. The July 19 launch event will also unveil the results of an online lyric co-creation project, alongside full details on pricing and purchase incentives.

The strong interest during the pre-sale phase lays a foundation for the market debut, but factors such as subsequent delivery speeds, pricing fluctuations, and competition from rivals will directly impact the vehicle's medium- to long-term performance. The conversion rate following the official launch remains a key metric.

Gasgoo Munich- Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. pledged 10 million yuan in cash and supplies to flood-ravaged areas in Guangxi on July 8. The donation, channeled through the China Charity Federation, will support disaster relief, victim resettlement, and reconstruction efforts.

Image Source: Chery Automobile

Heavy rainfall has battered parts of Guangxi for days under the influence of Typhoon Maysak. Severe flooding has hit cities including Guilin, Liuzhou, and Hezhou, disrupting daily life and posing severe challenges for relief operations.

The aid package combines cash and supplies. A total of 5 million yuan in cash is earmarked for emergency rescue operations and living assistance for victims, while another 5 million yuan in supplies will cover basic necessities and support recovery efforts.

Chery's portfolio — including the Chery, Exeed, Jetour, iCAR, and Luxeed brands — is mobilizing to assist with flood control, transportation, rescue missions, and recovery work in coordination with local authorities.

The automaker pledged to keep a close watch on relief efforts and stand with the affected communities alongside the broader public. Currently, disaster response operations are proceeding in an orderly manner.

Gasgoo Munich- Linkerbot has established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Smart Mind (Lingdong Zhixin), in Beijing's Changping district. There, it has constructed an intelligent production line at the Beijing Robot Industrial Park (Changping) with an annual capacity of 60,000 to 100,000 dexterous hands.

The facility operates on a dual-track model of "intelligent manufacturing" and "self-manufacturing." By coordinating high-precision CNC machines with autonomous assembly robots, it creates a complete closed loop ranging from precision machining to smart assembly.

Specifically, the "intelligent manufacturing line" features over 140 high-precision CNC machines to meet the micron-level control requirements of the dexterous hands. The "self-manufacturing line," meanwhile, relies on Linkerbot's proprietary " CraftSoul (Lingxin Qiaojiang)" workbench for precision assembly. This setup progressively replaces human labor in highly repetitive and high-precision tasks, significantly boosting product consistency and yield rates—turning the concept of "robots building robots" into reality.

The line is slated to begin small-scale production soon, aiming to supply "Beijing-made" robotic hands for the second World Humanoid Robot Sports Games scheduled for August in the capital.

Image Credit: Linkerbot

As a leading player in the dexterous hand sector, Linkerbot has built a solid industrial foundation in high-degree-of-freedom (DOF) hands, control systems, and mass production. Its Linker Hand series encompasses the industry's three mainstream technical routes: linkage drive, direct drive, and tendon drive. With a broad price range from 6,000 to 100,000 yuan, the series is widely used by top general-purpose robot manufacturers and leading global research institutions.

Take the Linker Hand O6: weighing just 370 grams with a grip load of 50 kilograms, its high-stiffness linkage structure perfectly addresses the core needs of humanoid robots—sensitivity to weight and demand for high output. This model is currently Linkerbot's most widely commercialized mass-produced unit.

The direct-drive series, represented by the Linker Hand O20, uses built-in brushless motors paired with ball screws to achieve micron-level transmission. Combined with fingertip sensors for precise closed-loop control of position and torque, this series boasts a rated load of 20 kg and maximum fingertip force of 15 N. With a full palm opening and closing time of just 0.8 seconds, it is a top industry choice for dexterous manipulation development and end-use applications.

For scenarios demanding extreme precision, such as university research and precision manufacturing, the Linker Hand L30 employs a tendon drive system. Offering high biomimicry and speed, it features 22 degrees of freedom to closely replicate human hand movements. With a repeatability of ±0.2 mm and joint movement speeds exceeding 450°/s, it handles a wide range of complex, precision tasks.

Behind Linkerbot's impressive product performance lies a commitment to full-stack, in-house development of core components and cost reduction through scale. From micro motors and transmission modules to force-tactile sensors, everything is designed and mass-produced in-house to control performance and costs at the source. Leveraging a global-leading monthly production capacity of 4,000 units, the company uses economies of scale to continuously lower R&D and manufacturing expenses. This drives product prices down into an acceptable range for the industry, all while maintaining force-control precision and operational stability.

Gasgoo Munich- XPENG recently held its first all-hands meeting on the Robotaxi business, announcing the unit has officially entered employee testing. Management made one thing clear: Robotaxi operations will serve as the core vehicle for the group's physical AI and "robotic vehicle" strategy.

Chairman He Xiaopeng offered a telling forecast at the gathering: over the next decade, every form of embodied intelligence will essentially become a robot. For XPENG, Robotaxi represents a critical leap from new-energy vehicles to "robotic vehicles" — and a major strategic move in the physical AI landscape.

With this positioning, XPENG is not focusing on building its own fleet or offering ride-hailing services directly to consumers. Instead, it's pivoting to become a global hardware and software supplier. The plan is to package the vehicle platform, autonomous driving algorithms, and backend dispatch systems into a turnkey product for overseas mobility firms or local partners, who will then handle operations and regulatory compliance.

This approach aligns with the industry's prevailing "golden triangle" model, which pairs smart-driving tech firms, automakers, and mobility platforms. TrendForce forecasts the Chinese Robotaxi market will hit $44.5 billion by 2035. As the Middle East emerges as a hotspot for global expansion, China's top players are accelerating their presence there — and XPENG's model is well-positioned to capture opportunities both at home and abroad.

The internal testing launched this week serves as a crucial technical validation step within that strategic framework. Leveraging controlled environments like corporate parks and public roads, XPENG will collect real-world driving data to continuously refine the algorithm's adaptability. Supporting systems — including vehicle dispatch, human-machine interaction, and emergency response — will also be stress-tested during these trials. The technical and operational insights gained here will lay a solid foundation for future pilot operations and the delivery of overseas solutions.

Robotaxi Elevated to Strategic Pivot

By positioning Robotaxi as a core strategic vehicle, XPENG is signaling that its ambitions extend far beyond a simple autonomous ride-hailing service.

Traditional automakers typically view autonomous driving as an add-on feature for passenger cars, keeping their business focused on vehicle sales. XPENG sees it differently. It defines Robotaxi as a scalable scenario for mobile embodied intelligence — a central hub in the group's physical AI expansion.

The business logic behind this distinction is straightforward: resources from vehicle platforms, autonomous driving algorithms, and general AI models will converge on Robotaxi. The multidimensional data generated during continuous operations — covering road conditions, interactions, and dispatching — will then flow back into the iterative loop of the group's general AI capabilities.

Take XPENG Motors as an example: its newly built cloud factory and data infrastructure have increased vehicle data upload capacity by 22 times and boosted multimodal data reading and decoding bandwidth by 15 times. Backed by a multi-layer computing architecture that includes a cloud computing platform, the company has quintupled model training speeds — effectively using operational data to accelerate AI evolution.

Image Source: XPENG Motors

In other words, operating Robotaxis isn't just about making the ride-hailing service work; it's about providing a continuous, high-density real-world training environment for AI models.

In terms of resource allocation, this strategy acts as a powerful anchor. By treating Robotaxi as the landing point for physical AI, XPENG is removing any ambiguity from its technological roadmap. All R&D investment, data feedback, and product definition will now advance along a single track focused on embodied intelligence, rather than being scattered across disconnected business units.

The commercialization path is equally clear: XPENG's primary focus is technology export. It delivers complete solutions — a trinity of vehicle, algorithm, and backend — rather than just providing ride capacity. The core competitive advantage here lies in leveraging its mature manufacturing capabilities and full-stack proprietary technology to standardize complex systems, then adapting them to fit specific market needs.

A Fork in the Road

The Robotaxi track is crowded, and development paths have clearly split into two directions. These divergent routes reflect trade-offs based on each company's unique resources — neither is inherently superior.

The first is the self-operated fleet model. Here, companies purchase their own vehicles, build on-the-ground operations teams, and secure operating permits city by city to offer Robotaxi services directly to consumers.

Baidu Apollo Go, Pony.ai, and WeRide have all adopted this route. The advantage is complete control over the end-user experience and the data loop — but the costs are obvious. Heavy investments in vehicle procurement, facility maintenance, and staffing continuously burn cash. Moreover, cross-border expansion is often hampered by significant differences in traffic regulations and licensing requirements, slowing the path to scale.

Image Source: XPENG Motors

The second is the hardware and software solution export model — the path XPENG has chosen. Leveraging its mass-production capabilities and proprietary autonomous driving tech, XPENG packages its platform, algorithms, and dispatch systems for partners, who then handle operations. This approach avoids the burden of heavy fleet assets and the need to navigate regional licensing barriers individually. By adapting standardized solutions to different markets, the company can achieve a lighter, faster global expansion.

This choice aligns closely with XPENG's core strengths. The combination of proprietary chips, VLA world models, and vehicle manufacturing gives it the foundation to modularize and standardize complex systems. A technology export model maximizes the economies of scale from vertical integration, rather than wasting resources on fragmented operational tasks.

Yet the long-term challenges on this path are just as real. Road signs, traffic laws, and mobility habits vary significantly across countries, requiring localized adaptation of the entire solution for every target market. Furthermore, overseas partners have varying requirements for safety standards, maintenance costs, and system stability. The precision and efficiency of these adaptations will directly dictate the pace of global expansion.

The strategic value of the real-world road data gathered during XPENG's employee testing lies precisely here — improving the algorithm's generalization across different scenarios and providing a proven basis for future overseas deployments.

Clearly, the signal from XPENG's all-hands meeting extends beyond a single business unit. In its strategic blueprint, Robotaxi serves as both the landing ground for physical AI and the vehicle for technology exports. While most industry players are still trying to balance fleet building with algorithm development, XPENG has chosen a differentiated path: handing operations to partners while focusing its own efforts on standardizing and exporting solutions.

Yet the effectiveness of this path remains to be proven by the market and practice. Key milestones to watch include the actual progress of algorithm iteration, whether overseas partners materialize on schedule, and how well standardized solutions adapt to different markets.

Gasgoo Munich- On July 9, ROKAE Robotics officially listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Under ticker 3752.HK, it is the Hong Kong market's first "full-series intelligent robotics" stock.

ROKAE Robotics has established a complete technical ecosystem spanning control systems, core algorithms, key components, robot bodies, and embodied AI models. Its key offerings include the xCore platform-level control system, high-precision integrated force-control joints, multimodal world models, and embodied AI, alongside a platform-based product portfolio. This setup achieves full autonomy from underlying hardware to upper-layer intelligent algorithms.

Image Source: ROKAE Robotics

The xCore platform-level control system is compatible with industrial, collaborative, and embodied intelligence robots. It centralizes the management of motion control, force-control interaction, and system scheduling, allowing robots of different forms to share the same underlying capabilities—a system already proven through large-scale deployment.

ROKAE's high-precision integrated force-control joints achieve joint-level high-precision force sensing and high dynamic response by deeply integrating force sensors, drivers, and underlying force-control algorithms.

Additionally, ROKAE is continuously refining its embodied AI model training platform and multimodal world models. By leveraging a layered modular architecture and small-sample training, the company can rapidly generate vertical skill models. These cover tasks such as force-control plugging, screw locking, and precision assembly. This accelerates the migration of AI capabilities into the physical world.

Built on this unified underlying architecture, ROKAE has enabled technical synergy and capability reuse across product lines. This positions it as one of the few full-line intelligent robotics enterprises in China to achieve mass production and commercial deployment. It covers industrial robots, flexible collaborative robots, and embodied intelligent robots simultaneously.

ROKAE's business currently spans more than 40 countries and regions, serving over 1,000 clients across diverse industries. In industrial manufacturing, its solutions are widely used in automotive, 3C electronics, new energy, and general manufacturing, penetrating scenarios such as intelligent welding, polishing, and assembly. In the commercial service sector, the company is expanding the boundaries of robot application. This includes coffee making, beverage mixing, logistics delivery, and therapeutic massage. It is moving rapidly into more real-life scenarios.

In the field of embodied intelligence, ROKAE has booked cumulative orders exceeding 10,000 units. Notably, nearly half of China's top 10 embodied intelligence robot companies are reportedly using or have switched to ROKAE's humanoid force-control robotic arms for product iteration.

Gasgoo Munich- China's Ministry of Finance, State Taxation Administration, and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have jointly announced that, effective January 1, 2027, preferential tax treatments will be scrapped. This includes the policy halving the vehicle and vessel tax for energy-saving vehicles, as well as the full exemption for pure electric commercial vehicles, plug-in hybrids (including extended-range models), and fuel cell commercial vehicles.

Image Source: Ministry of Finance Official Website

An annual tax adjustment amounting to just a few hundred yuan may seem small in absolute terms, yet the market widely views it as a clear signal of a policy shift. Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), described this as a landmark step in implementing "equal rights" for internal combustion engine and electric vehicles. It represents a critical tax optimization as the new energy industry transitions fully from a period of policy support to a stage of market-driven maturity.

He argues that this reform favors the trend toward pure electrification. Far from being negative for the industry, it uses a structural and differentiated rollback of incentives to restore tax fairness and standardize competition rules.

Time to Reckon with the Tax Burden

The immediate catalyst for this policy adjustment is to rectify long-standing inequities in the tax system.

To grasp the significance of this shift, one must first understand the nature of the vehicle and vessel tax. It is a property tax levied on vehicles and ships in China, paid annually, with the amount directly tied to engine displacement. The larger the displacement, the higher the tax.

Under the vehicle and vessel tax law, the annual standard tax for passenger cars with engines between 1.0 and 1.6 liters ranges from 300 to 540 yuan. For those between 1.6 and 2.0 liters, it rises to 360 to 660 yuan, while models exceeding 4.0 liters face a bracket of 3,600 to 5,400 yuan. This sharp disparity in tax burden is by design—a mechanism using tax levers to encourage small-displacement consumption and curb demand for larger engines.

The turning point came with the rise of new energy vehicles. When the vehicle and vessel tax law took effect in 2012, pure electric and fuel cell passenger cars were explicitly excluded from taxation, while plug-in hybrids and other new energy models enjoyed exemptions. In 2015, authorities reissued a notice continuing the policy of halving the tax for energy-saving vehicles that met specific standards.

During the industry's infancy, this approach of "giving a leg up" was understandable. Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that in 2012, total sales of new energy vehicles were only about 12,800 units. The vast majority were commercial vehicles, and the volume of new energy passenger cars was so small it was negligible. The social cost of these tax exemptions was minimal.

But more than a decade later, the landscape has been completely transformed.

In 2025, the retail penetration rate of new energy passenger vehicles broke the 50% threshold for several consecutive months starting in March, reaching 53.9% for the full year. The market officially entered a new phase dominated by new energy. Entering 2026, electrification accelerated further. According to CPCA data, the retail penetration rate of new energy passenger cars climbed to 62.8% in June 2026, squeezing the market share of internal combustion engine vehicles down to 37.1%.

Image Source: China Passenger Car Association (CPCA)

It is an undisputed fact that the market has shifted from policy-driven to market-driven growth. Yet tax incentives have largely remained within their original framework, creating two increasingly prominent contradictions.

The first contradiction is "emissions without tax." Plug-in hybrids and extended-range vehicles still contain internal combustion engines and produce exhaust emissions while driving, yet they enjoy the same tax-exempt status as pure electric vehicles. CPCA data shows that sales of plug-in hybrids in China exceeded 3.5 million units in 2025, accounting for over 40% of total new energy passenger vehicle sales. At this volume, tax exemptions can no longer be justified as merely "nurturing the industry."

The second contradiction is high-end models "free-riding." The intent of the exemption was to lower the barrier to entry for affordable new energy cars, but in practice, it became a blanket exemption regardless of price point. Data indicates that the average selling price of plug-in hybrid passenger cars reached 218,000 yuan in 2025, with some models exceeding 1 million yuan. A million-yuan hybrid luxury sedan pays zero vehicle and vessel tax, while a 100,000-yuan gasoline family sedan pays several hundred. The regulatory function of a property tax is effectively lost.

Cui Dongshu notes that the core value of this adjustment lies in returning the vehicle and vessel tax to its essence as a "property tax" and "public usage fee." He emphasizes that true equality between fuel and electric vehicles does not mean a blanket cancellation of all incentives. Instead, it requires establishing a tax system where rights and responsibilities match, based on technical attributes, emission characteristics, and usage scenarios.

The new policy reflects this "layered" approach. On one hand, pure electric and fuel cell passenger cars, which have no engine displacement, remain outside the scope of the vehicle and vessel tax law and continue to enjoy zero tax burden—upholding the long-term strategic direction of electrification. On the other hand, transitional technologies like plug-in hybrids and extended-range vehicles, along with new energy commercial vehicles used for business, will see their tax incentives phased out, bringing their tax burden back in line with standard rates.

Cui believes that once the new policy takes effect, the tax burden on all internal combustion models will be unified. Hybrid models with internal combustion engines and commercial new energy vehicles will face tax levels equivalent to traditional fuel vehicles. This achieves tax fairness where "emissions mean taxation" and "commercial use means responsibility."

From a fiscal perspective, effectively replenishing tax sources is also a practical consideration. In recent years, pressure on local government budgets has continued to mount. As a local tax category, increased revenue from the vehicle and vessel tax provides a beneficial supplement to local finances.

The Dividends Are Gone—Now It's Time to Compete on Strength

If restoring fairness is the explicit goal of this reform, then forcing the industry to shed its "policy dependence" is the more profound, underlying current.

The explosive growth of China's new energy vehicle market in recent years has been the result of combined forces: technological breakthroughs, supply chain maturation, and policy dividends. A "combination punch" of incentives—including purchase tax exemptions, vehicle and vessel tax waivers, and green plate privileges—successfully cultivated the world's largest new energy vehicle market.

Against this backdrop, maintaining universal tax incentives is seeing diminishing marginal returns, and is even generating some side effects.

Cui points out that, in the long run, excessive phased tax incentives have, to a certain extent, distorted the logic of market competition. Some automakers, rather than deeply cultivating technological iteration or optimizing energy efficiency and intelligent experiences, have relied solely on the dual dividends of vehicle and purchase taxes to build price advantages and seize market share. This has led to stagnation and a race to the bottom in the industry, alongside a lack of motivation for technological upgrading.

He views this adjustment as a "key measure forcing the industry to shift from competing on policy dividends to competing on product strength." When the tax benefits for transitional models disappear, automakers can no longer rely on policy premiums to drive volume. They must return to the fundamentals of business. This means competition will intensify across core dimensions: battery range, fuel consumption when the battery is low, overall vehicle quality, and the experience of smart cockpits and driving.

This process will accelerate industry consolidation. Low-end capacity that is technologically backward and survives only on low prices and policy support will be rapidly cleared out. Meanwhile, automakers with independent core R&D capabilities and precise product definitions will gain a fairer market environment.

Image Source: Chery Automobile

Meanwhile, narrowing the tax gap between internal combustion, hybrid, and pure electric models provides a relatively fairer competitive environment for traditional automakers to continue investing in energy-saving and fuel power technologies. In recent years, the R&D efforts of many joint ventures and domestic automakers in fuel technology have been severely undervalued, with market resources tilting excessively toward new energy. This adjustment at least places internal combustion, hybrid, and pure electric technologies on a more level playing field, fostering a pattern of healthy competition across diverse technological routes.

Cui also notes that this policy adjustment clarifies the policy boundaries for technological pathways. Pure electric and fuel cell zero-emission passenger cars remain the core of the long-term strategy and will continue to enjoy institutional dividends and policy support. Conversely, plug-in hybrids and extended-range vehicles, which rely on internal combustion engines as transitional technologies, have seen their incubation period end and will no longer receive additional policy preferential treatment.

This differentiated adjustment avoids the industry shock that a blanket cancellation of incentives would cause, while precisely guiding industry R&D, production capacity, and capital resources toward the core track of pure electrification.

This Is Just the Beginning

Although the direct impact of this vehicle and vessel tax adjustment is limited, its symbolic significance and role as a铺垫 should not be underestimated. It may well be a "stepping stone" for deeper reforms in China's auto tax system.

An increasingly urgent reality is that as the ownership of new energy vehicles surges, the tax base for traditional fuel taxes is continuously shrinking. Yet, although electric vehicles use the roads just the same, they bear almost no direct tax burden for it.

Highway maintenance funds in China rely heavily on consumption taxes on refined oil products. According to data from the Ministry of Transport's Highway Research Institute and other sources, the annual funding requirement for maintaining ordinary national highways is about 600 billion yuan, while actual disbursement is only about 300 billion yuan. The gap is as high as 50%, leaving roughly 40% of ordinary highways in a state of "deferred maintenance."

With the continued rise in new energy vehicle ownership and the accelerated shrinking of the fuel tax base, some institutions estimate that electric vehicles have already created a gap of about 35% in fuel tax revenue—a gap that continues to widen. If this deficit grows, relying solely on fuel taxes will be insufficient to support the sustainable operation of highway maintenance. Eventually, new sources of revenue must be found to fill the void.

The industry discussion on "equal rights" for fuel and electric vehicles has long transcended tax fairness itself, pointing to deeper systemic design issues.

Wang Qing, deputy director of the Market Economy Research Institute at the Development Research Center of the State Council, has noted on multiple occasions that highway maintenance funds come primarily from consumption taxes on refined oil. With new energy vehicle monthly sales share already breaking 50%, regulators should focus more on fostering a fair competitive environment. He suggests that new energy vehicles should share the burden of highway maintenance costs just like fuel vehicles. Standards could be formulated based on data such as vehicle weight, energy consumption, and annual mileage, implemented through a tiered weight tax, ensuring all road users fairly share public costs.

Cui positions this adjustment as "the first step in reforming China's automotive tax system." He believes that starting with the vehicle and vessel tax—a small levy with low public perception—gives the market ample buffer time. This step-by-step strategy keeps reform costs low and social acceptance high. It accumulates valuable practical experience for broader tax reforms in the future, such as unifying road usage rules, piloting mileage-based billing, and establishing a modern automotive tax system combining "purchase tax + property tax + road usage fee."

In fact, discussion within the industry about the future direction of taxation is already fermenting. One frequently mentioned proposal is taxation based on vehicle weight. William Li, founder of NIO, has publicly suggested using vehicle weight as the tax basis, noting that for every 20% increase in vehicle weight, the rate of road damage increases by a factor of 2.07.

Others have suggested embedding road usage fees into electricity prices—the more you drive, the more you pay. The benefit of this approach is that it directly correlates with usage intensity, making it more precise than weight-based taxation. However, the implementation challenge lies in the scattered nature of charging infrastructure, including both public and private piles, making efficient collection a practical hurdle. Some have proposed a mileage tax, where drivers pay based on distance traveled. While technically feasible, this involves privacy protection and collection costs, making it difficult to implement in the short term.

Cui also touched on these possibilities. He believes future tax policies will continue to be standardized and refined, potentially introducing new constraint mechanisms like mileage taxes or weight taxes to guide more rational car consumption. Regardless of the form they take, these tax tools will gradually come into play, with the ultimate goal of achieving balanced development in the automotive society.

From a macro perspective, this vehicle and vessel tax adjustment is merely the first step in deep reform of the automotive tax system. China's traditional auto tax regime has long been built on the foundation of fuel taxes—a system designed for the internal combustion era that no longer fits the reality of widespread new energy vehicle adoption. The contradiction between electric vehicles paying zero fuel tax while occupying road resources equally must eventually be resolved.

The likely direction for future automotive taxation is a hybrid model of "base fixed tax + differentiated tiered tax." Larger vehicles will pay more, smaller vehicles less; those who drive more will pay more, those who drive less will pay less. Same road, same rights, same responsibility—this is the ultimate goal of equity and efficiency for the automotive society.

Viewed this way, the adjustment to the vehicle and vessel tax is hardly the end of "equal rights" for fuel and electric vehicles—it is merely the first substantive step. It marks the official launch of deep reforms to the automotive tax system. As policy dividends gradually recede, a fair tax framework covering the entire industry and spanning the full lifecycle—from purchase to ownership to use—is taking shape. The curtain on true equality is only just beginning to rise.

Gasgoo Munich- MScape Technology recently closed an angel and angel+ funding round exceeding 100 million yuan. Matrix Ventures led the investment, with participation from state-owned assets in Shanghai's Minhang District.

The company plans to channel the capital into four key areas: developing and deploying dedicated chips for embodied AI, co-building industry standards, scaling up delivery of its "embodied brain" products, and expanding its core team.

Founded in July 2025 and incubated by the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Institute, MScape Technology positions itself as a provider of embodied-native, full-stack computing infrastructure. The startup focuses on the underlying infrastructure of embodied AI, aiming to build a specialized intelligent brain foundation for the sector.

Image Source: MScape Technology

To achieve this, MScape Technology developed the "Dvorak" super-heterogeneous computing architecture, built from the ground up to span three layers: chips, operating systems, and models. The company has launched a dual-product strategy featuring the N-series and T-series. The N-series is compatible with mainstream ecosystems, facilitating seamless migration for existing clients. The T-series offers a fully domestic solution, ensuring complete autonomy and control over chips, systems, and algorithms. Both lines are designed to adapt to all robot forms, including humanoids, wheeled robots, and quadrupeds.

At the upcoming 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, MScape Technology will showcase its Tongjing N-series and Zhijing T-series, simultaneously unveiling two new embodied intelligent brains globally. Following this launch, the company's product portfolio is set to cover full-scenario demands, ranging from lightweight models to ultra-high-computing-power units.

On the commercial front, MScape Technology has engaged with over 300 robot manufacturers and broader embodied AI enterprises, covering more than 70% of the industry. Over 200 of these clients have completed batch installations or secured small-batch orders, with single orders topping 1,000 units.

Furthermore, MScape Technology has secured a suite of international certifications, management system accreditations, and related qualifications. Spanning product performance, reliability, electrical safety, information security, and system audits, these credentials provide a solid compliance foundation for entering global markets.

About "Seeds Discovery":

Gasgoo's "Seeds Discovery" column aims to build a service platform connecting startups, industrial chain partners, investment firms, and local governments to deeply empower the upstream and downstream sectors. Since its inception, the column has been dedicated to identifying standout companies, technologies, and business models that offer inspiration and leadership during the wave of intelligent transformation, thereby driving the growth of innovative forces in the automotive industry. According to Gasgoo statistics, nearly every startup featured in "Seeds Discovery" has successfully connected with resources across the industrial ecosystem.

Gasgoo Munich- PNDbotics recently signed a cooperation agreement with BeingBeyond, a developer of embodied general foundation models. The two plan to deeply integrate hardware and AI capabilities, collaborating long-term on dataset construction, pre-training model development, and robot application promotion. Together, they aim to accelerate the large-scale deployment of humanoid robots across industrial scenarios.

PNDbotics is a full-stack developer and manufacturer in the humanoid robotics space. By honing core technologies such as gait planning, whole-body motion coordination, and Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) motion control, the company has achieved full-stack in-house development of both core components and complete machines. It has launched the full-size general humanoid robot Adam Pro and the half-body robot Adam U. With dual smart manufacturing centers established in Ningbo and Tianjin, the company is now accelerating mass production and delivery.

Image Source: PNDbotics

BeingBeyond, meanwhile, specializes in embodied general foundation models. The company has introduced the globally leading Being-H general dexterous manipulation large model and the Being-M general mobile large model, both capable of real-time edge deployment. Together, they form a full-stack closed loop spanning modeling, control, operation, and hardware adaptation.

The two companies have already achieved phased results through their joint R&D. At the upcoming 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), they plan to unveil Adam-U equipped with BeingBeyond’s Being-H model. The robot serves as an integrated data acquisition and training platform, demonstrating high-difficulty, diverse dexterous manipulation capabilities.

Designed as a benchmark platform for embodied data acquisition and grasping training, Adam-U offers exceptional openness and agile responsiveness to top-tier embodied large models. Being-H, functioning as an embodied world model, already covers a wide range of complex industrial and service scenarios, including fine assembly, fluid control, and flexible object interaction.

Looking ahead, the pair will deepen their "model plus body" collaborative innovation. They plan to jointly build multi-scenario datasets, optimize edge-side models, and establish commercial benchmark projects, all aimed at accelerating the widespread adoption of humanoid robots in industrial manufacturing, customer service, scientific research, and education.