OEM Trends
On March 23, XPENG established a Robotaxi division to oversee product definition, project integration, R&D testing, and operations. Operating as a first-tier organizational unit, the division will leverage the company's centralized platform resources to achieve its goals. At the 2025 Q4 and full-year earnings call, XPENG Chairman He Xiaopeng stated that the company plans to launch passenger demonstration operations for its Robotaxi service in the second half of this year, aiming to validate its technology, customer base, and business model.
On March 23, at Huawei's spring product launch, He Gang, CEO of Huawei's Consumer BG, took the stage to present the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA) lineup for the first time. He revealed that cumulative deliveries across the entire HIMA family have surpassed 1.3 million units.
During a livestream of the delivery ceremony for the new-generation SU7 on March 23, Xiaomi founder, Chairman, and CEO Lei Jun disclosed that locked orders for the vehicle have already topped 30,000 units.
Addressing reports that Rolls-Royce is scrapping its plan to become a fully electric brand by 2030, Rolls-Royce China clarified that its electrification roadmap remains unchanged. However, the lifecycle of its V12 engine will extend into the next decade. The company noted that recent policy shifts mean it won't be mandated to cease V12 production in 2030. Despite this, the fully electric Spectre has demonstrated superior quietness, power, and driving dynamics, achieving commercial success.
Recently, the B10, Leapmotor's global strategic model, officially rolled off the line at its Myanmar SKD plant. This marks a deepening of Leapmotor's 'global vehicle, local manufacturing' strategy in the ASEAN market.
Supply Chain News
PIA Automation's subsidiary, Puzhi Future Robotics, has announced the official establishment of Puzhi Robotics (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. The company also held a ceremony marking the start of mass production for its industrial interactive embodied robots. According to a company executive, the new Wuxi subsidiary boasts an annual capacity of over 2,000 units.
Following last year's launch of its 'Home-to-Car' service, Samsung Electronics announced that 'Car-to-Home' functionality will soon be supported across its home appliances and Hyundai Motor Group vehicles. Users of Hyundai's Bluelink or Kia's Kia Connect services can scan the Samsung SmartThings app from their vehicles to enable 'Car-to-Home' support, allowing them to control air conditioners, air purifiers, robot vacuums, and lighting remotely.
SK Hynix is expected to utilize the 10nm-class sixth-generation (1c) DRAM process for the core chips of its HBM4E memory, while employing TSMC's 3nm process for the logic dies.
Automotive supplier ZF Friedrichshafen has signaled it may divest additional businesses to slash its net debt of 10.2 billion euros (approximately $11.7 billion). The group has already spun off its wind power division into a standalone subsidiary, stating recently that the move opens up new 'strategic options' for the unit. ZF is already advancing asset sales, having agreed in December to sell its driver assistance business to Harman International, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, for 1.5 billion euros.
Industrial Economy Focus
Since the domestic refined oil price adjustment on March 9, international crude prices have surged amid escalating tensions involving the US, Israel, and Iran. To cushion the impact of abnormal price spikes and ease the burden on downstream users, authorities have implemented temporary control measures on domestic fuel prices while maintaining the existing pricing framework. Calculations based on current mechanisms suggested a hike of 2,205 yuan per ton for gasoline and 2,120 yuan for diesel starting from 24:00 on March 23. However, following intervention, the actual increases were capped at 1,160 yuan and 1,115 yuan per ton, respectively.
On March 23, autonomous driving startup QCraft completed a new Series D funding round, raising $100 million. The capital will be used to develop physical AI technology that combines world models with reinforcement learning, as well as for talent acquisition.
Policy Dynamics
The chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently met with Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Group. The two discussed China's 15th Five-Year Plan outline, the macroeconomic landscape, high-level opening-up, and Volkswagen's development in China. The NDRC chairman stated that the 15th Five-Year Plan period is a critical phase for the deep transformation of China's auto industry toward electrification, intelligence, and connectivity. He welcomed Volkswagen's deep alignment with these national plans and encouraged the company to increase R&D investment, strengthen its local innovation ecosystem, and deepen local production, supply chain, and talent deployment to accelerate its low-carbon and intelligent transformation.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's (MIIT) Department of Energy Conservation and Comprehensive Utilization recently convened a meeting in Beijing with companies including China Resources Circular Development Group and Guangdong Brunp Recycling Technology, as well as research institutes like the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) and CCID. The group discussed the construction of a recycling system for retired new energy vehicle batteries. Participants analyzed the current landscape and deliberated on issues such as policy innovation, refining recycling mechanisms, and improving standard systems. There was a consensus to combine local and corporate practices to build a unified recycling network and strengthen policy reserves to accelerate the establishment of a robust battery recycling ecosystem.
