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☆ These are the wildest EVs unveiled at China's biggest auto show
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewIf you need more evidence that China's EV market is booming, just look at the country's biggest car show. VCG/VCG via Getty ImagesBy far the biggest name in China's EV market is BYD, the Warren Buffett-backed firm that is probably giving Elon Musk sleepless nights. Xiaomi brings its Tesla rivalJADE GAO/Getty ImagesOne of the biggest draws of the auto show was the SU7, an electric SUV built by smartphone maker Xiaomi. JADE GAO/Getty ImagesThe number of companies trying to make it in China's EV market — at least 123, according to one auto consultant — has seen some firms branch out in unexpected directions.

Persons: —, PEDRO PARDO, Warren Buffett, Elon, BYD, Tesla, Xiaomi, JADE GAO, It's, Mercedes Organizations: Service, Volkswagen, Mercedes, Business, EV, Getty, China's EV, VW Locations: Beijing, China's, China

☆ China's automakers must adapt quickly or lose out on the EV boom in the face of regulatory scrutiny abroad and competition at home
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The automaker is the joint venture partner of Honda and Toyota in China, and has an electric car brand called Aion. Expanding outside ChinaLike other automakers in China, GAC is also turning overseas. China's overseas car sales surged last year, putting the country on par with Japan as the world's largest exporter of cars. Dyer expects that to drive overseas demand for Chinese electric cars. Chinese consumers placed almost twice as much importance on tech features compared with U.S. consumers, Dyer said, citing AlixPartners' survey.

Persons: Evelyn Cheng, Tesla, Feng Xingya, Feng, Wei Haigang, Wei, Stephen Dyer AlixPartners, There's, Stephen Dyer, AlixPartners, Dyer, BYD, Nio, CATL, Zhong Shi Organizations: CNBC, GAC, Labor, Huawei, Honda, Toyota, China Passenger Car Association, EU, U.S, Factories, Greater China Business U.S, Ministry of Commerce, Tech, Volkswagen, SAIC Motor, Battery, China Automobile Dealers Association, Automotive, Robotics, Lotus Technology, Geely Locations: Beijing, Evelyn Cheng BEIJING, China, East, Mexico, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Egypt, Brazil, Turkey, Amsterdam, Greater China, Asia, U.S, Europe

☆ Huawei’s comeback gathers pace as quarterly profit surges
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Beijing Reuters —Huawei Technologies’s net profit leapt 564% to 19.65 billion yuan ($2.71 billion) in the first quarter, a regulatory filing by its parent company showed on Tuesday, as it continues to recover from US sanctions. Huawei’s revenue for the quarter to the end of March rose 37% to 178.5 billion yuan, the filing to China’s National Interbank Funding Center showed. It did not break down how business units, such as consumer and smart car components, performed. Apple’s share in the world’s biggest smartphone market fell to 15.7% in the first quarter from 19.7% a year earlier. It has become a force in smart car technology too, with its driver assistance system touted by at least seven Chinese automakers at the Beijing auto show.

Persons: “ digitalization, decarbonization ”, Counterpoint Organizations: Beijing Reuters, Huawei, Apple Locations: Beijing

☆ Elon Musk wins official praise for Tesla during surprise visit to China
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Autopilot is available in China, but not the full FSD feature, which needs to comply with the country’s data security rules. “The economies of China and the United States are deeply integrated,” he said, according to an official readout of the meeting with the Tesla CEO. “Tesla is willing to further deepen cooperation with China and achieve more win-win results,” Musk told Li. Musk first met Li in 2018, when Tesla signed a deal with the Shanghai government to open a plant there. Since then, Musk has met with Li publicly at least five times, according to state media reports and government statements.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN — Elon Musk, Premier Li Qiang, Tesla, Musk, ”, Dan Ives, that’s, Ives, Antony Blinken, Xi Jinping, Li, China’s BYD, “, ” Musk, Tesla’s, Ren Hongbin, Li Qiang Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Premier, China Association of Auto Manufacturers, Baidu, Bloomberg, CNN, Beijing Auto, EV, Wedbush Securities, China Council, Promotion of International Trade Locations: China, Hong Kong, Beijing, United States, Shanghai, Weibo

☆ Automotive expert discusses what to expect at the 2024 Beijing Auto Show
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailAutomotive expert discusses what to expect at the 2024 Beijing Auto ShowFabian Brandt, global head of automotive at Oliver Wyman, discusses the "brutal" price war in the electrical vehicle market and how Chinese players compare with their Western counterparts.

Persons: Fabian Brandt, Oliver Wyman Locations: Beijing

☆ Toyota and Nissan pair up with Tencent and Baidu for China AI arms race
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Japan's Toyota Motor will pair up with China's Tencent while Nissan will team up with Baidu , the companies said on Thursday, cross-border partnerships that highlight the importance of artificial intelligence for carmakers. Both Tencent, a gaming and social media giant and Baidu, China's leading search engine, have been leaders in the country's generative AI race. The companies will offer services through Tencent's strengths in big data, AI and cloud computing, Xu said. Nissan said it and Baidu had signed a memorandum of understanding to carry out research on AI and so-called "smart cars". Nissan will use Baidu's generative AI on its platform to study the feasibility of future tech development, it said.

Persons: China's, BYD, Toyota's Yiming Xu, Xu, Nissan Organizations: Beijing Auto, Toyota, Nissan, Baidu Locations: Beijing, China

☆ Geely-backed luxury EV brand Zeekr says it's already beating Tesla in parts of China
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Pictured here is the Zeekr 001 electric car at a services trade fair in Beijing on Aug. 31, 2023. China News Service | China News Service | Getty ImagesBEIJING — Chinese electric car brand Zeekr is selling more vehicles than Tesla in parts of China, and plans to expand in Europe and Latin America this year, Zeekr CEO Andy An told CNBC on Wednesday. For the first three weeks of April, Zeekr sold 500 more cars than Tesla in the province of Zhejiang, where Zeekr and its parent company Geely are based. Zeekr also slightly outsold Tesla in the province of Anhui, near Shanghai, and Guangxi, an autonomous region in southern China. The rapid rise of Chinese electric car companies, however, has also prompted the EU and U.S. to consider measures for protecting their own auto industries.

Persons: Andy, Elon, Tesla, Zeekr Organizations: China News Service, Getty, CNBC, EU Locations: Beijing, BEIJING, China, Europe, Latin America, Zhejiang, Anhui, Shanghai, Guangxi, Sweden, Netherlands, America, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore

☆ Xpeng's Gu says robotaxis won’t be a real business for at least five years
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

A Xpeng G9 is displayed at a store in a mall in Beijing on Feb. 29, 2024. BEIJING — Self-driving taxis won't be a significant business for at least five years, Xpeng Vice Chairman and Co-President Brian Gu said Thursday. While robotaxis will be transformative for mobility if they become prevalent, "to have a real, full-fledged commercial operation. I think it's more than 5 years away," Gu told reporters on the sidelines of the Beijing auto show. "Right now it's not something that we are considering when we are launching and planning the sales," he said.

Persons: Brian Gu, Elon Musk, Tesla, Gu Organizations: BEIJING — Locations: Beijing, BEIJING

☆ China's Xiaomi is selling more EVs than expected, raising hopes it can break even sooner
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Xiaomi SU7 on display at the Mobile World Congress 2024. Arjun Kharpal | CNBCBEIJING — Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi 's new electric vehicle is selling better than expected, putting it closer to break-even despite undercutting Tesla 's Model 3 on price. For context, Tesla China sold more than 600,000 cars last year, according to the China Passenger Car Association. Li Auto had a gross margin of 23.5% in the fourth quarter last year, while Nio's gross margin was 7.5%, both up from the year-ago period. Tesla's gross margin has successively declined over the past five quarters to 17.4% in the first three months of this year.

Persons: Arjun Kharpal, undercutting Tesla, Xiaomi, Lei Jun, Li Auto, Nio, Lei Organizations: Mobile, CNBC BEIJING, Citi, China Passenger Car Association, Li, CNBC Locations: Beijing, China

☆ Apple spent 10 years trying to launch a car. China's Xiaomi just did it in 3.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun. Advertisement"As we approach the 3rd anniversary of our EV-manufacturing journey, 'Fight for Xiaomi EV' continues to fuel me and the team. Like Apple, Xiaomi is best known for selling smartphones. So it's worth asking how Xiaomi has managed to do what Apple spent the best part of a decade trying to do. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun unveils the SU7, the company's first electric car.

Persons: —, Lei Jun, ChinaFotoPress, Lei, Xiaomi, Apple, BYD, Tim Cook Organizations: Service, Apple, Business, EV, Counterpoint Research, Bloomberg, Beijing Automotive Group, BAIC, FLORENCE LO, REUTERS Locations: China, Beijing, Arizona, FLORENCE, Cupertino

☆ Hyundai Motor to make BAIC's ARCFOX electric cars in Beijing - report
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A Beijing Hyundai sign is seen at an entrance to the Beijing Hyundai Motor plant in Chongqing, China October 8, 2018. REUTERS/Yilei Sun/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSEOUL, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor has decided to produce Beijing Automotive Group Co's EV brand ARCFOX cars at its plant in Beijing in a bid for a breakthrough in a major market where it has been struggling to make a foothold, a news report said on Wednesday. The plan is for Beijing Hyundai Motor, a joint venture of Hyundai Motor (011760.KS) and Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC), to produce the ARCFOX vehicles, and the companies are discussing the details, the report cited the sources as saying. Beijing Hyundai Motor will likely oversee the design, production and quality control and use its plant in Beijing, the report said. When asked to comment on the report, Hyundai Motor said it was "currently reviewing various measures for EV production, but nothing has been decided," in a statement to Reuters.

Persons: BAIC, Jack Kim, Heekyong Yang, William Maclean Organizations: Beijing Hyundai, REUTERS, Yilei, Rights, Hyundai, Beijing Automotive, Korea Economic, Beijing Hyundai Motor, Hyundai Motor, Beijing Automotive Group, Reuters, Kia, Thomson Locations: Beijing, Chongqing, China, Rights SEOUL, Korea

☆ Beijing Hyundai cuts asking price for Chongqing auto plant by 30%
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A Beijing Hyundai sign is seen at an entrance to the Beijing Hyundai Motor plant in Chongqing, China October 8, 2018. REUTERS/Yilei Sun/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSHANGHAI, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Beijing Hyundai Motor has cut the minimum asking price for its auto plant in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing by almost 30% to 2.58 billion yuan ($353.38 million) after putting it up for sale in August. The price cut for the plant, a joint venture between South Korea's Hyundai Motor (011760.KS) and Beijing Automotive Group Co, was disclosed in a filing on the China Beijing Equity Exchange late last month. Beijing Hyundai Motor is selling the land use rights, equipment and other facilities belonging to its plant as the South Korean automaker rejigs its strategy in China amid fierce price competition and slowing demand. The original asking price was 3.68 billion yuan, and the statement did not give a reason for the reduction.

Persons: Brenda Goh, Zhang Yan, Joyce Lee, Jamie Freed Organizations: Beijing Hyundai, REUTERS, Yilei, Rights, South Korea's Hyundai, Beijing Automotive Group, China Beijing Equity Exchange, South, Hyundai, U.S, Thomson Locations: Beijing, Chongqing, China, South, South Korean, Seoul

☆ China to be centre of Mercedes-Benz 2025 EV sales drive, Automobilwoche says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, July 23 (Reuters) - Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) is making China, the world's top auto market, central to its next electric vehicle (EV) campaign starting in 2025, its CEO told German magazine Automobilwoche. From 2025, all of Mercedes-Benz's new vehicle platforms will only make EVs under a strategy the German luxury automaker outlined in 2021. A senior executive told Automobilwoche the models the company plans to launch in China based on the upcoming MB.EA platform were being reviewed to ensure they better meet the needs of local customers, singling out space and digital content. China remains the most relevant market for Germany's automakers, but local brands are in control with an 81% share of the Chinese EV market in 2022, Counterpoint Research found. China also has a significant stake in Mercedes-Benz, whose top two shareholders are Beijing Automotive Group Co Ltd (1958.HK) and Geely (GEELY.UL) Chairman Li Shufu.

Persons: Ola Kaellenius, Automobilwoche, Li Shufu, Christoph Steitz, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Benz, Mercedes, EV, Research, Beijing Automotive Group Co, HK, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, China, Berlin, Ukraine

☆ Chinese delegation to meet with Germany's top corporate brass next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

FRANKFURT/BERLIN, June 16 (Reuters) - A Chinese delegation led by Premier Li Qiang will meet Germany's top CEOs next week as part of a visit to Europe, hoping to strengthen ties at a time when Berlin is pursuing a strategy to lessen its economic dependence on Beijing. A meeting between Li and a group of German and Chinese CEOs is scheduled for June 19, according to people familiar with the plans. Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE), SAP (SAPG.DE) and Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE) all confirmed that their CEOs would meet with the delegation. The CEO of Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) division Audi will also participate, a person familiar with the matter said. BASF (BASFn.DE), Bayer (BAYGn.DE), Infineon (IFXGn.DE), Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) and BMW (BMWG.DE), all companies with major business ties to China, declined to comment.

Persons: Premier Li Qiang, Li, Li Shufu, Mercedes, Roland Busch, Olaf Scholz, Robert Habeck, Andrew Small, Marshall, Siegfried Russwurm, Ilona Wissenbach, Hakan Ersen, Christoph Steitz, Ludwig Burger, Patricia Weiss, Christina Amann, Andreas Rinke, Rene Wagner, Sarah Marsh, Jan Schwartz, Alexander Huebner, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Louise Heavens Organizations: Premier, Mercedes, Benz, SAP, Siemens Energy, Volkswagen, Audi, Beijing Automotive Group Co, HK, Siemens, Pacific Committee, BASF, Bayer, Infineon, BMW, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, BERLIN, Europe, Berlin, Beijing, China, Asia, German, Germany, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich

☆ Cutting ties with China is 'unthinkable', Mercedes-Benz CEO tells Bild am Sonntag
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

But Ola Kaellenius said decoupling from China, the world's second largest economy, was "unthinkable for almost all of German industry". "The major players in the global economy, Europe, the U.S. and China, are so closely intertwined that decoupling from China makes no sense," he was quoted as saying. German carmakers depend on the Chinese car market, the world's largest, and Mercedes-Benz counts China's Beijing Automotive Group Co Ltd (1958.HK) and Geely Chairman Li Shufu as its two top shareholders. China accounted for 18% of revenues and 37% of car sales at Mercedes-Benz in 2022 and Kaellenius predicted more to come. "Our sales figures in China are increasing and I am quite optimistic that we will also grow this year.

☆ China's COVID curbs intensify as cases surge to highest since Shanghai lockdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Ryan Woo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Aly SongBEIJING, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Chinese authorities stepped up COVID-19 lockdowns and other curbs to halt clusters from spreading as China's case load soared to its highest since this year's Shanghai lockdown, with Beijing and Zhengzhou seeing record daily cases. China reported on Friday 10,535 new locally transmitted cases for Nov. 10, the highest since April 29, when the country's commercial hub, Shanghai, was battling its most serious outbreak. The southern city of Guangzhou, the current epicentre of China's COVID fight, reported 2,824 new local cases for Nov. 10, the fourth day in which infections exceeded 2,000. TIGHTER MEASURESOther major cities such as Beijing, Zhengzhou and Chongqing have tightened measures this week as daily cases renewed all-time highs. Beijing reported 118 new local cases for Nov. 10, a daily record but still low compared with other Chinese cities.

☆ Toyota to produce electric car powered by BYD batteries in China
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) announced on Monday the launch of a small electric sedan, which will be powered by BYD Co (002594.SZ) batteries and will be produced and sold in China. The Japanese automaker said the car would be called the Toyota bZ3. It is the second model in the new Beyond Zero (bZ) series of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from Toyota, which has been criticised by activists and green investors for not embracing BEVs quickly enough. The bZ3 was developed jointly by Toyota and BYD, Toyota said on Monday. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Norihiko Shirouzu and Ella Cao Editing by David Goodman and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Toyota to start selling small electric sedan in China by year-end - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Norihiko Shirouzu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The first bZ car - the bZ4X sport-utility vehicle - was to hit the market in China earlier this year, but a global recall of the car forced Toyota to suspend production of the model globally. The car is roughly the same size as Toyota's Corolla model but with a bigger back-seat section, the sources said. There are no plans for Toyota's other joint venture with GAC Motor to produce the bZ3, the three sources said. Toyota has long advocated a small car that does not compromise on comfort as the best way to popularise BEVs, but it has struggled to produce one. The bZ3's smaller sedan configuration has become feasible chiefly because of BYD's thinner lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) Blade battery technology.

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