OEM Trend
On January 5, Xiaomi EV founder, chairman and CEO Lei Jun discussed the YU7's “lose the wheel to save the car” design on Weibo. According to Lei Jun, the approach is a mature safety solution already used by many luxury models. He had thought Volvo pioneered it, but it turns out Mercedes-Benz did it first. Lei also said the teardown livestream two days ago made clear that Xiaomi has put major effort into vehicle safety design. From the start of its car program, the team set safety as the foundation and the prerequisite.
On January 5, ZEEKR officially named its new flagship SUV the ZEEKR 8X, and released a lightly camouflaged preview video. The footage shows the model carrying ZEEKR's latest design language: a waterfall-style grille and matrix headlights up front, a roof-mounted lidar as standard, plus new wheel designs and traditional mechanical door handles.
Honda's plan to restart its China joint-venture factories has been pushed back again. GAC Honda's three plants had been slated to resume production on January 5; the new target is January 19. That means the shutdown will last longer. GAC Honda said it "hasn't received definitive information yet."
Leapmotor said sales of its B-series "twin" models (B10, B01) have topped 160,000 units, showing solid penetration in China's new-energy passenger-car market. The Leapmotor B10 went on sale domestically in April 2025, priced at 99,800–129,800 yuan.
According to Volvo Cars' latest data, it sold 16,063 vehicles in mainland China in December 2025, up 12.8% month on month, marking a third straight month of sequential growth. For full-year 2025, Volvo sold 149,166 vehicles in mainland China.
On January 5, Hyundai Motor Co. said that after posting 2025 sales of 4.14 million (slightly below last year's 4.17-million target), the company set this year's sales goal at 4.16 million.
A patent from Xiaomi EV for a "fatigue driving intervention method, device, vehicle, equipment, medium and chip" has been published. The abstract says the method, for smart cockpits, collects multiple vehicle-side data points during driving along with multiple driver data points from wearables; identifies driver fatigue based on both; and, when fatigue is detected, applies interventions calibrated to the fatigue level. This improves precision and accuracy in judging fatigue, and through interventions executed by the vehicle and wearables, enhances effectiveness and proactiveness — optimizing outcomes.
Supply Chain News
On January 5, Huawei executive director and Terminal BG chairman Yu Chengdong wrote that he led a team to GAC Group, meeting chairman Feng Xingya and his team to discuss co-building the Harmony ecosystem, and touring GAC's showroom. Yu said Huawei and GAC collaborate on enterprise intelligence and on vehicle electrification, connectivity and intelligence; models including the GAC Hyptec A800 and GAC Trumpchi Xiangwang M8 and Xiangwang S9 feature Huawei Qiankun Intelligent Driving and the HarmonyOS Intelligent Cockpit. Feng Xingya also commented on the visit, noting they conducted a static walkaround of vehicles equipped with Huawei Qiankun and HarmonyOS, and the two teams held in-depth talks on jointly building the Harmony ecosystem.
On January 5, Xusheng Group announced it has received a nomination from a North American new-energy vehicle maker to supply powertrain components, body parts, subframes and battery boxes. Based on the customer's plan, the project will run about 8 years, with an estimated lifetime sales value of 7.8 billion yuan, and mass production is expected to start by end-2026. Production will be at sites in China and Mexico. The nomination deepens the long-term partnership and should further cement the company's advantages, competitiveness and market share. Still, a nomination does not reflect final purchase volumes; the total is only an estimate and will be determined by actual orders.
Jingu Co. said on January 5 it has received a nomination from VinFast, a leading Vietnamese NEV startup, to develop and supply passenger-car wheels as a Tier-1 supplier. The newly nominated project is expected to start mass production in September this year and is anticipated to affect the company's revenue and profit for the year.
Industry Focus
CPCA's Cui Dongshu recently reviewed 2025 auto recalls: 181 batches totaling 7.28 million vehicles in 2023, 160 batches and 8.79 million in 2024, and 129 batches totaling 3.75 million in January–December 2025 — a 57% year-on-year decline in cumulative recall volume. March 2025 saw few recalls, while September was busier, suggesting recall pressure has eased.
Policy Updates
The Ministry of Commerce and eight other agencies on January 5 released a notice on implementing actions to promote green consumption. Measures include promoting green auto demand — supporting consumers to purchase new-energy vehicles. Strengthen the auto industry chain and tap aftermarket potential in used cars, rentals, tuning and car sharing, explore monetizing idle vehicles, and support new consumption formats such as RV camping, drive-in cinemas and road trips.
According to the Hunan provincial government website, the "Hunan Motor Vehicle Parking Service Fee Management Measures" took effect on January 1, refining several aspects of parking fee management and explicitly encouraging preferential parking for new-energy vehicles. Scenarios exempt from parking service fees include: temporary roadside bays during designated free night-time periods; vehicles entering government and public institutions for business within reasonable time with proof; vehicles parked within residential compounds for no more than 1 hour; vehicles in market-priced lots for up to 30 minutes (excluding standalone professional mechanical multi-level parking towers); on-duty military, police, fire and ambulance vehicles; and vehicles driven by persons with disabilities.
Personnel Changes
Media reports say XPENG's vice president at the Product Center, Chen Yonghai, left in December 2025, with President Wang Fengying temporarily taking over his duties. Chen's Weibo handle still references XPENG, and his verification remains "XPENG vice president." His latest post is dated October 15, 2025, with content set to be visible for six months.
