OEM Trends | OEM Trend
Gasgoo: On April 16, Yu Chengdong, Huawei's executive director and chairman of the Consumer BG, revealed on Weibo that the AITO M8 has surpassed 170,000 deliveries in its first year on the market, securing the annual sales crown in the 400,000 CNY SUV class—a result that exceeded expectations. As a mid-to-large SUV, the AITO M8 offers five- and six-seat configurations, with a starting price of 359,800 CNY.
IT Home: On April 16, Xiaomi founder, chairman, and CEO Lei Jun announced that tomorrow (April 17) at 6:30 AM, he will livestream a long-range endurance test of the new Xiaomi SU7 from Beijing to Shanghai. Lei Jun will participate in and broadcast the entire journey himself, which is expected to last approximately 15 hours.
Cailian Press: On April 16, Audi CEO Gernot Döllner stated that to regain market share in China, Audi plans to launch a third China-exclusive model with partner SAIC Motor next year, positioned as a high-end sports sedan. Döllner emphasized that the model has entered the development phase and continues the "China-first" strategy.
Gasgoo: On April 16, Stellantis released its global shipment forecast for the first quarter of 2026. As of March 31, the group's projected shipments for the first quarter reached 1.4 million units, a 12% increase from the same period in 2025. The global market is showing steady growth, with North America and Europe performing strongly as the core drivers of the increase.
Gasgoo: Zeng Qinglin, general manager of Yijing Auto, recently revealed via social media that the brand's first batch of top 100 dealers has been confirmed. Over the next few months, more than 300 "Yijing's Home" stores covering 79 cities nationwide will gradually commence operations.
Gasgoo: Sources reveal Stellantis is in discussions with Dongfeng Motor Group to revive their partnership, involving joint manufacturing in China and Europe. The sources stated the two sides are negotiating a deal that would allow Dongfeng to utilize Stellantis's underutilized European factories; in exchange, Dongfeng may produce certain Stellantis brand models in China.
Supply Chain News | Supply Chain News
Gasgoo: On April 16, SVOLT announced that its "Fortress 2.0," the world's highest-capacity PHEV battery, has officially rolled off the assembly line at its Changzhou plant, and will debut on a mystery plug-in hybrid model. The battery has a rated capacity of 80 kWh (1/3C) and is designed for large five- or six-seater family vehicles and off-road scenarios, representing a 35.6% capacity increase over the previous 59 kWh generation. The first model equipped with "Fortress 2.0" will be officially unveiled at the Auto China 2026.
Gasgoo: On April 16, it was learned from the "Wuhan Economic Development Zone" that the main structure of the Phase 4 plant at CALB's Wuhan base is basically complete. Production line installation and commissioning are currently underway, with a sprint toward mass production by the end of June.
Gasgoo: Recently, CATL announced that its board approved the "Proposal on Investment in the Establishment of a Wholly-Owned Subsidiary," planning to invest in the establishment of a wholly-owned subsidiary, Time Resource Group (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. (provisional name), with a registered capital of up to 30 billion CNY. According to the announcement, Time Resource Group will be positioned as CATL's professional investment, operation, and management platform for new energy minerals.
Industrial Economy | Industrial Economy
Jiemian News: On April 16, Hong Kong stocks closed with the Hang Seng Index up 1.72% and the Hang Seng Tech Index up 3.67%. Semiconductor stocks were active, with Iluvatar Corex surging over 17%, GigaDevice rising more than 13%, and Montage Technology gaining 8%.
Gasgoo: On April 16, multimodal generative AI company HiDream.ai announced the completion of a new financing round exceeding 500 million CNY. The round was jointly invested by new shareholders including Oriental Fortune, Anhui Provincial Industrial Investment Company (under Anhui Investment Group), and Fenghua Capital, while existing shareholders like Hefei Industrial Investment, Xingtai Group, Hefei High-tech Investment, and the Anhui AI Mother Fund continued to increase their holdings. This round of financing will primarily be used for the company's next-generation native full-modal world model R&D, enterprise service AI agent product development, and global market expansion.
Gasgoo: On April 16, Boundary.AI, a supplier of high-safety flight control systems for civil aviation, announced the completion of a Series B financing round exceeding 100 million CNY, led by Xiamen C&D, with participation from Zhangke Yaokun and Nebula Future, while existing shareholders Addor Capital and Hony Capital continued to add investments. It is reported that following this round, Boundary.AI became the first eVTOL flight control company in China to complete a Series B round, and is also among the earliest in the low-altitude economy supply chain to secure over 100 million CNY in financing.
Gasgoo: Tashi Zhihang has officially completed a Pre-A financing round of US$455 million (approximately 3.1 billion CNY), setting the record for the highest single-round financing and largest Pre-A round in China's embodied intelligence sector. Tashi Zhihang noted that this round of funding will be used to continuously build proprietary large models in the embodied field and attract top global talent, thereby building trusted physical AI and creating new productive forces in the field of industrial manufacturing automation.
Policy Situation | Policy Situation
Fast Tech: On April 16, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the "Safety Requirements for Combined Driving Assistance Systems of Intelligent Connected Vehicles" mandatory national standard (draft for approval) for public consultation from April 16 to 22, proposing an official implementation date of January 1, 2027. This is China's first mandatory national standard for L2 driver assistance, co-drafted by Huawei, Xiaomi, BYD, Tesla, and others, filling a gap in the industry safety baseline. The standard categorizes L2 combined driving assistance into three types: basic single-lane, basic multi-lane, and pilot combined driving assistance systems, clarifying functional boundaries, capability thresholds, and safety requirements.
Cailian Press: Recently, the Guangzhou Municipal Reform Office released the "30 Measures to Optimize Business Environment in Guangzhou (2026)", proposing to accelerate green and low-carbon industrial development. Focusing on the hydrogen energy industry, the city aims to leverage manufacturing advantages in fuel cells and other equipment to achieve a breakthrough of over 10,000 fuel cell vehicle deployments, continuing green energy substitution in logistics, industrial manufacturing, and engineering construction. The plan involves large-scale application of green processes and circular production technologies in the industrial sector to create a batch of national-level green factories. It will advance the implementation of a dual-control system for total carbon emissions and intensity, establish a carbon assessment system and carbon budget management system, and actively build zero-carbon parks. Locking in carbon accounting management, the city will further improve the carbon footprint management system, formulate carbon accounting rules for key products, and actively participate in cooperation and mutual recognition of carbon labels in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Personnel Changes | Personnel Changes
Gasgoo: On April 16, Dow Inc. announced a major personnel adjustment, with current Chairman and CEO Jim Fitterling set to become Executive Chairman of the Board effective July 1, 2026, while current COO Karen S. Carter will succeed him as CEO, effective on the same date.
