OEM Trend
On January 6, NIO's 1 millionth mass-produced vehicle rolled off the line at the New Bridge No. 2 plant of NIO Advanced Manufacturing in Hefei, Anhui. At the ceremony, NIO founder, chairman and CEO William Li said the company is entering its third development phase with high-quality growth at the center. "NIO's target is to have both its charging and battery-swap stations exceed 10,000 by 2030; going forward, we aim to maintain 40%-50% annual sales growth," Li said. NIO will deepen its footprint in China while expanding globally in a steadier, more efficient way, bringing a leading smart EV experience to users worldwide.
On January 6, Harmony lntelligent Mobility Alliance announced that 104 days after launch, the all-new AITO M7 has surpassed 70,000 cumulative deliveries. The all-new AITO M7 went on sale on September 23, 2025, with a starting price of 279,800 yuan.
At CES 2026, Leapmotor and Qualcomm Technologies jointly unveiled the world's first cross-domain central computing platform featuring the Snapdragon® Cockpit Platform Supreme Edition and the Snapdragon Ride™ Platform Supreme Edition. The high-performance solution, based on dual Snapdragon 8797 chips, will make its production debut on Leapmotor's flagship D19.
Sony Honda Mobility, the joint venture between Sony Group and Honda, said it will launch its first battery-electric vehicle, the "AFEELA1," in Japan in the first half of 2027. An early mass-production version of the AFEELA1, slated to go on sale in the U.S. this year, was shown at the same time. The model is a sedan and, developed with Microsoft, features AI-powered conversational functions.
A patent application by Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group (JAC Group) for a "multi-modal flying car" was recently published. The abstract describes bio-inspired folding, retractable wings mounted on both sides of the body—deployed in flight mode and stowed in road-driving mode. Multiple downward-facing ducted fans are arranged in both the front and rear compartments to control vertical takeoff and landing; the fans are embedded within internal ducts, with adjustable grilles at the outlets. In road-driving mode the grilles remain closed; in flight mode their deflection angle is controlled per flight commands to direct airflow. The invention aims to cut noise and energy consumption for flying cars while extending range.
Supply Chain News
On January 6 at CES 2026, Qianlizhijia and Geely announced a new global driver-assistance brand — G-ASD (Geely Afari Smart Driving). "G" stands for Geely and "ASD" for Qianli Smart Driving. Co-developed by the two companies, G-ASD is a highly modular intelligent driver-assistance solution that will span capabilities from L2 through L4.
On January 6, Schaeffler said it has signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Neusoft Reach to deepen collaboration in software-defined vehicles (SDV), integrating their respective strengths in automotive ECUs and software platforms to co-develop integrated hardware-software controller solutions for global markets.
Ningbo Dechang Electrical Machinery Made Co., Ltd. said on January 6 via its investor interaction platform that Zhejiang Shibao is among its customers for EPS steering motors, and it has established cooperation on EPS steering motor products with Nexteer, ZF, JTEKT and Schaeffler, among others.
Hesai Technology said it has been selected by NVIDIA as a LiDAR partner for the "NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Hyperion 10" platform, a reference compute-and-sensor architecture designed to help a range of vehicle types achieve L4 autonomous driving.
Industry sources say South Korea's Samsung Electronics has begun supplying its advanced in-vehicle processors for electric vehicles to Germany's BMW Group, marking a significant breakthrough as Samsung expands its automotive components portfolio.
Industrial Economy
The National Development and Reform Commission announced the first fuel price adjustment window of 2026 will open at 24:00 on January 6. International crude moved in a narrow range during this cycle (December 22, 2025–January 5, 2026). As the adjustment amount is less than 50 yuan per ton, gasoline and diesel prices will remain unchanged, with the unadjusted amount rolled into the next cycle.
At a State Council Information Office briefing, a vice minister of commerce said that from 2024 to 2025, China recycled 17.673 million scrapped vehicles, an average annual growth rate of 45.8%; used-car transactions reached 39.686 million; and standardized dismantling of old home appliances and mobile phones totaled about 53 million units, with average annual growth of roughly 12%.
At a State Council Information Office press conference on promoting green consumption, the vice minister of commerce said that in 2024–2025, China achieved 18.30 million vehicle replacements under the trade-in program, with new-energy vehicles accounting for nearly 60%, and 192 million home-appliance trade-ins, with Level-1 energy (or water) efficiency models exceeding a 90% share. The program helped drive 3.92 trillion yuan in consumer-goods sales and benefited consumers on 494 million occasions. Rising demand for NEVs and smart green appliances is steadily expanding the green consumption market, while supply is becoming more diverse, consumption models are evolving, and the overall environment continues to improve.
Huawei-affiliated embodied-intelligence startup EBKernel disclosed details of its recently completed seed round. As of January 4, 2026, the company had secured multiple rounds of investment from market funds, government guidance funds and industrial funds, raising tens of millions of yuan in seed financing. Backers include Leju Robotics, Shanghai Daohe Long-term Investment, Sichuan Sci-Tech Innovation Investment Group, and Dongfang Precision, among other top-tier institutions.
Policy Situation
The Guangdong Financial Regulatory Bureau issued "Guiding Opinions on Supporting High-Quality Development of the Province's Insurance Industry to Help Guangdong Lead in Chinese-Style Modernization," which calls for strengthening insurance services for a manufacturing powerhouse. Anchored to building a globally competitive modern industrial system in Guangdong, it focuses on key manufacturing chains and enhances insurance coverage for priority industries, products, clusters and enterprises. On top of upgrading insurance support for traditional industries, it will increase insurance backing for strategic emerging clusters such as new energy, new materials and commercial space, as well as for emerging fields including NEV vessels, integrated circuits, new energy storage, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, drones and unmanned vessels. It will boost insurance services for the low-altitude economy by developing full value-chain, end-to-end and all-scenario insurance products around low-altitude infrastructure and intelligent connectivity, key manufacturing for low-altitude aircraft, and application scenarios. It will also optimize NEV insurance services, explore intelligent-driving liability products, and support the development of Guangdong's NEV industry.
The General Office of the Henan Provincial People's Government issued policy measures to ensure a solid start to the economy in the first quarter of 2026. To cut logistics and energy costs for enterprises, from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027, hydrogen-powered trucks using Henan's toll roads will be exempt from tolls, while electric trucks will receive a 50% toll discount. Companies are encouraged to build nearby renewable power projects — solar, wind and waste-heat/pressure generation — under integrated generation-grid-load-storage models to increase the share of green electricity.
