OEM Trends | Automaker News
Gasgoo: XPENG Chairman He Xiaopeng revealed on Feb. 26 that Volkswagen is set to become the launch customer for the EV maker's second-generation VLA model.
Gasgoo: Faraday Future (FF) announced on Feb. 26 that it will kick off the first EAI robot delivery season of 2026 on Feb. 27, with ceremonies in Florida and Nevada. The recipient is Golden Hill, a local high-end real estate operator, marking it as the first corporate client for FF's robotics business.
Jiemian News: Tesla China unveiled a fresh round of financing incentives on Feb. 26. Customers ordering before March 31 qualify for seven-year ultra-low interest loans across the entire lineup. For the core models—the Model 3, Model Y, and Model Y L—buyers can opt for a five-year, 0% interest plan, effectively eliminating interest costs on financed purchases.
LatePost: In an interview, Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng addressed last year's price cuts on the EMEYA and ELETRE, which saw prices drop from the 700,000-yuan bracket to the 500,000-yuan range. He conceded the decision drew significant pushback. "There's no question existing owners feel betrayed—the online backlash has been intense," Feng said. "But look at it from a few angles: First, this is the reality of market competition; we have to adapt as the environment shifts. Second, our costs have come down, and we want new customers to benefit." He acknowledged the misstep: "We didn't handle things well for our existing owners, and that's on us. For a luxury brand, pricing is part of the image. Price cuts don't just hurt the feelings of old customers; they damage brand perception. It's a profound lesson."
Gasgoo: BMW Group and CATL have officially signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen cooperation. The partnership will focus on collaborative decarbonization across the power battery supply chain, aiming to systematically reduce the carbon footprint of electric vehicles and elevate sustainability efforts. The agreement marks a significant milestone in BMW's localization strategy in China. The automaker's first domestically produced "New Class" model—the long-wheelbase BMW iX3—is set for its global debut at the Beijing Auto Show in April 2026.
IT Home: At a high-quality development conference in Guangzhou, Qijing—a new premium smart EV brand co-created by GAC and Huawei—unveiled its 2026 product roadmap: two new models. The first, positioned as a next-generation intelligent shooting brake, has already passed critical validation phases including extreme winter testing. It is expected to hit the market in June of this year.
Supply Chain News
NIO: NIO's chip subsidiary, Anhui Shenji Technology (GeniTech Co., Ltd., called "Shenji" for short), signed agreements for its first round of equity financing on Feb. 26, raising more than 2.2 billion yuan and securing a post-money valuation approaching 10 billion yuan. The round attracted leading industrial capital and institutional investors, including Hefei State-owned Investment Group, Hefei Haiheng, IDG Capital. The financing will fuel Shenji's continued R&D and promotion of high-end, competitive chips, underpinning NIO's long-term strategy in autonomous driving and embodied intelligence.
Gasgoo: Bethel Automotive Safety Systems announced on Feb. 26 that it plans to acquire a 50.9727% stake in Yubei Steering System (Xinxiang) Co.,Ltd for up to 1.1214 billion yuan. Upon completion, Bethel will become the controlling shareholder of Yubei Steering, with Yuan Yongbin taking over as actual controller.
Gasgoo: Forvia Hella has released preliminary financial results for the 2025 fiscal year. Adjusted for currency effects, sales came in at 8 billion euros—roughly flat with the previous year—demonstrating resilience amid broader pressure in the global automotive sector. Profitability improved, with the operating margin rising to 6%. Net cash flow reached 318 million euros, or 4% of sales, marking a further improvement in cash flow health compared to prior years.
Gasgoo: NXP Semiconductors has launched the industry's first mass-produced 10BASE-T1S physical medium dependent (PMD) transceivers: the TJA1410 for automotive applications and the TJF1410 for industrial and building automation. These devices represent a significant leap in Ethernet technology, enabling OEMs to extend connectivity to the network edge. This provides a unified, scalable foundation and accelerates the shift toward software-defined architectures.
Gasgoo: Unity Software is exploring strategic options for its Chinese joint venture, including a potential sale of its China operations, according to people familiar with the matter. The San Francisco-based company is working with advisors to gauge market interest in the business, which it hopes to value at more than $1 billion. Discussions are ongoing and may not result in a transaction. A spokesperson for Unity declined to comment.
Industrial Economy
cls: Sales of Chinese-brand passenger vehicles totaled 1.329 million units in January 2026, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) released on Feb. 26. That represents a 32.1% decline from December and an 8.9% drop from a year earlier. Chinese brands captured 66.9% of the passenger vehicle market, a decrease of 1.5 percentage points from the same period last year.
Gasgoo: X Square Robot has secured hundreds of millions of yuan in a new funding round. The round was led by top-tier industrial investors including Shanghai Automotive Group Financial Holding Management Co., Ltd. (referred to as "SAIC Financial Holding") and CICC SAIC Fund, with significant follow-on investments from existing backers such as Meituan Longzhu, Sequoia China, the Beijing Information Industry Development Fund, China Development Bank Finance, Qifu Capital, Ince Capital, and GF Xinde.
Gasgoo: Shenzhen Tianyuanxing Technology, a general industrial embodied intelligence platform, announced the completion of an angel round worth tens of millions of yuan. Investors included Hongde Investment, Shengshi Hongyuan, and Haiyuan Capital. The proceeds will fund the development of end-to-end embodied intelligence control technology, team expansion, and the scaling of industrial applications.
Policy Situation
cls: The State Administration for Market Regulation has approved the establishment of a National Quality Inspection and Testing Center for Rare Earth Permanent Magnet Motors at Shenyang University of Technology. It is the first national-level center approved since the Liaoning market regulator's inception. The center will focus on testing needs for emerging and future industries, including new energy vehicles, wind power equipment, CNC machine tools, robotics, rail transit, and low-altitude equipment. It aims to build a service system covering the entire industrial chain and product lifecycle, offering one-stop services from R&D and pilot testing to final inspection for upstream and downstream companies. The initiative is expected to reduce corporate testing costs by over 20% annually and shorten time-to-market by 30%, while providing technical support throughout the product lifecycle.
