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The global automotive industry may have just crossed another major turning point.

In Episode #255 of China EVs & More, Tu Le and Lei Xing examine why Ford and Geely are partnering in Europe, what it means for the future of global manufacturing, and why more legacy automakers are turning to Chinese technology despite growing geopolitical tensions.

The discussion also explores Mercedes-Benz's challenges with the proposed Connected Vehicle Security Act in the United States, Volkswagen's expanding partnerships in China, Honda's renewed commitment to its Chinese joint venture, Tesla's latest earnings, and whether the global industry has reached a point where competing with Chinese automakers alone is no longer enough.

This episode covers:

• Ford & Geely's new European joint venture
• Why Spain is becoming Europe's next automotive hub
• Mercedes-Benz and the Connected Vehicle Security Act
• Volkswagen's growing reliance on Chinese technology
• Horizon Robotics and Volkswagen's AI partnership
• Tesla's latest earnings and shrinking margins
• China's increasingly competitive EV market
• BYD's global ambitions
• Why more legacy automakers are partnering with Chinese companies
• What this means for Europe, North America and the future of global manufacturing

If you want independent analysis on where the automotive industry is heading—not where it has been—subscribe to China EVs & More.

Hosted by Tu Le (Sino Auto Insights) and Lei Xing, bringing decades of experience covering China's automotive industry from the inside.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to China EVs & More #255
00:50 The week's biggest stories: Ford, Mercedes & Volkswagen
02:10 Why Mercedes could be blocked from selling in the U.S.
06:30 How China and U.S. policy are squeezing German automakers
09:00 Mercedes' EV struggles continue in China
11:45 Ford & Geely team up in Europe
15:45 Why Spain is becoming Europe's next automotive hub
18:15 Is Ford's Geely partnership the future of the auto industry?
20:00 What's next for GM in China and Europe?
21:30 Why every legacy automaker is partnering with Chinese companies
23:45 Volkswagen doubles down on China
27:45 Has Volkswagen reached the bottom in China?
29:00 "If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them"
30:15 China's EV price war is becoming unsustainable
33:00 Tesla earnings: Sales up, margins down
35:50 Is Tesla's China advantage starting to fade?
37:30 Financial Times: Chinese premium brands target Europe
39:00 Can Chinese premium brands win outside China?
40:15 Live Q&A begins
41:00 XPeng X9 recall: Should buyers be worried?
44:15 Is XPeng really Tesla's biggest rival?
46:00 Can BYD overtake Toyota as the world's #1 automaker?
48:20 Why hybrids still dominate the U.S. market
50:10 Battery swapping vs. autonomous charging
52:10 Xiaomi's next big launch
53:15 Should we move the livestream to 12 PM Eastern?
55:20 Thanks for watching!

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XPeng just held the biggest launch event in company history—and they chose Munich, Germany, the heart of Europe's automotive industry.

In Episode #254 of China EVs & More, Tu Le and Lei Xing break down XPeng's global launch of the new MONA L03, why Europe has become the next major battlefield for Chinese EV makers, and what this means for Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and the rest of the legacy auto industry.

The discussion covers XPeng's pricing strategy, autonomous driving ambitions, Google Maps integration, charging infrastructure investments, software licensing opportunities with Volkswagen, and whether Chinese automakers are entering a new phase of global expansion.

They also examine:

• Why Munich—not Shanghai—became XPeng's biggest event ever
• How the MONA L03 compares with the Volkswagen ID.4, Tesla Model Y and BYD Atto 3
• XPeng's plans for advanced driver assistance across Europe
• Why BYD continues raising the bar globally
• Could Volkswagen eventually manufacture XPeng vehicles?
• The future of software-defined vehicles and AI-powered driving
• Bill Ford's comments about competing with Chinese automakers
• Why Europe may become the proving ground for autonomous driving before the United States

If you want to understand where the global automotive industry is heading—not where it has been—this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Subscribe for weekly analysis of the global EV, autonomous driving and mobility industries from two of the most experienced China automotive analysts anywhere.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction & Welcome

01:00 Lei reports live from XPeng's biggest global launch in Munich

03:05 Why launching in Volkswagen's backyard matters

04:35 XPeng MONA L03 pricing: Europe vs. China

06:15 XPeng's autonomous driving strategy for Europe

08:00 Google Maps, AI and XPeng's global software stack

09:45 Why Europe is becoming the autonomous driving battleground

11:25 Is XPeng taking direct aim at Tesla and Volkswagen?

13:00 XPeng's charging infrastructure plans for Europe

15:15 Can the L03 become XPeng's next blockbuster?

16:45 Why Paris Motor Show just became much more important

18:00 Will Chinese marketing strategies work in Europe?

20:20 Can XPeng succeed in 65 global markets?

22:05 XPeng's global expansion challenges beyond China

24:10 Europe could become the proving ground for AI driving

25:20 Could Volkswagen build XPeng vehicles?

26:30 Is software licensing the next big opportunity?

27:30 Why BYD deserves credit for paving the way

29:00 Bill Ford admits Chinese automakers can't be ignored

31:20 Volkswagen's future and BYD's race to become the world's #1 automaker

35:15 China's slowing auto market and what it means for global OEMs

37:20 Live audience Q&A

38:00 Is the U.S. really closed to Chinese automakers?

39:15 XPeng's X9 recall explained

43:00 Are XPeng and Tesla becoming true rivals?

45:30 Toyota vs. BYD: Can BYD really become #1?

47:45 The future of battery swapping and autonomous charging

49:45 Closing thoughts & next week's preview

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China's automotive market may have just crossed one of the most important milestones in modern automotive history.

In Episode 253 of China EVs & More, Tu Le and Lei Xing analyze the latest Chinese auto sales—and the numbers are staggering.

China's domestic ICE vehicle sales plunged 50% year-over-year, while Chinese automakers continue expanding globally at an unprecedented pace. Foreign automakers—including Volkswagen Group, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and BMW—are facing mounting pressure as Chinese brands continue taking market share.

This episode also covers:

✅ China's domestic ICE collapse and what it means for global automakers

✅ Why BYD, Geely, Chery and Leapmotor continue gaining momentum

✅ China's vehicle exports surpassing one million vehicles in a single month

✅ Volkswagen's latest board meeting and the difficult decisions ahead

✅ Why Porsche's China strategy continues to deteriorate

✅ NIO's product cadence, ES8 momentum and upcoming NIO Day

✅ Li Auto's launch strategy and how Chinese OEMs are changing product rollouts

✅ Reuters' recent reporting on China's auto industry and why the government is trying to slow the "involution" and price war

✅ How new safety regulations and payment reforms could reshape China's automotive market

✅ Why Western automakers still underestimate China's competitive advantages

Whether you're an automotive executive, investor, supplier or simply passionate about the future of mobility, this episode explains why the world's largest automotive market is entering an entirely new phase—and why its effects will be felt across Europe, North America and beyond.

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Chapters

00:00 Introduction

01:20 China's shocking June sales numbers

03:45 China's exports hit another milestone

05:45 Why German automakers are under unprecedented pressure

09:30 NIO's improving product strategy

12:30 Reuters' report on China's auto industry

17:30 China's price war and government intervention

24:00 Automotive News Congress recap

29:00 Are Western automakers still underestimating China?

34:30 Why China's competitive advantage continues to grow

37:30 Closing thoughts

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We're only halfway through 2026, but the global automotive industry is already revealing its biggest winners—and its biggest losers.

In Episode 252, Tu Le and Lei Xing break down why Polestar is exiting the U.S. market, Volkswagen is preparing one of the largest restructurings in automotive history, and BYD believes it can become the world's largest automaker before the end of the decade.

The discussion also explores why China's domestic market is slowing even as exports continue to surge, what NIO's recent momentum means for the premium EV segment, whether Li Auto is losing its edge, and how GM, Mercedes-Benz and other legacy automakers are responding to a rapidly changing competitive landscape.

They also hit:

• Why Chery's global manufacturing strategy keeps expanding
• BYD's bold 2030 ambitions—and whether they're realistic
• Volkswagen's restructuring and what it means for the future of legacy auto
• The growing rivalry between NIO and Li Auto
• GM Energy and the next phase of EV infrastructure
• Why China's EV leaders are entering a completely different phase of competition

If you want to understand where the automotive industry is headed—not just next year, but over the next decade—this episode connects the dots between product launches, geopolitics, manufacturing, software and global strategy.

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⏱️ YouTube Chapter Timestamps00:00 Welcome & Episode 252
01:20 Winners & Losers at Mid-Year
02:40 Why Polestar Is Leaving the U.S.
07:10 Slate Auto: Can Affordable EVs Work?
11:00 Volkswagen Cuts 100,000 Jobs
16:15 Is BYD's #1 Goal Realistic?
23:30 China's Slowing Domestic Market
27:10 NIO vs. Li Auto: Momentum Shifts
32:30 GM Energy & The Future of EV Infrastructure
36:40 Audience Q&A & Final Thoughts

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China’s EV industry isn’t slowing down—it’s becoming even more competitive.

In Episode 249, Tu Le and Lei Xing break down the escalating rivalry between NIO and Li Auto, examine why Chery is rapidly becoming one of China’s most successful global automakers, and discuss what Tesla, Mercedes and other legacy automakers are up against as Chinese brands expand at home and abroad.

The conversation explores Chery’s potential manufacturing partnership in the UK, the latest May sales results, NIO’s growing momentum with the ES9, Li Auto’s recent challenges, Mercedes’ next-generation EV strategy, and why intelligent driving, software and global manufacturing are becoming the next battlegrounds in the automotive industry.

If you want to understand where the global auto industry is headed—and which companies are building long-term advantages—this episode connects the dots beyond the headlines.

They also hit:

• Why Chery’s export strategy is reshaping its global ambitions
• Whether NIO’s recent product launches have finally changed its trajectory
• The growing tension between NIO and Li Auto—and what it says about China’s increasingly competitive EV market
• Why Mercedes is betting heavily on Chinese software and intelligent driving
• Tesla’s resilience in China despite a flood of new competitors
• How intelligent driving has become the industry’s newest competitive battlefield
• Why China’s leading EV makers are preparing for a very different next phase of growth.

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Suggested YouTube Chapters00:00 Welcome & Episode Setup
01:30 Chery’s UK Manufacturing Move
03:10 Chery’s Export Strategy & Global Push
05:15 Is Chery Too Dependent on Exports?
07:35 BYD, Geely, Chery & China’s Global Automakers
09:40 May Sales: Tesla, LeapMotor, Xiaomi & NIO
10:55 NIO Momentum: ES8 / ES9 Update
11:15 NIO vs. Li Auto Suspension Test Controversy
13:15 Li Auto Under Pressure
15:55 Xiaomi, HIMA & the 30K+ Monthly Sales Club
17:30 Mercedes GLC, Momenta & China-Specific EV Tech
20:50 XPeng, FSD & China’s Intelligent Driving Race
23:10 China EVs Entering Canada
25:00 USMCA, Canada & Chinese EV Investment
26:35 Honda’s China Collapse
27:25 Legacy Automakers’ Only Path Forward in China
29:45 Fast Charging, Battery Life & Viewer Q&A
31:30 Built-In Fridges, BYD, NIO & Closing Thoughts

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Episode 250 marks a major milestone for China EVs & More—and fittingly, the discussion centers on one of the boldest announcements yet from China’s automotive industry.

BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu publicly declared that BYD intends to become the world’s largest automaker by 2030, setting its sights on Toyota and signaling that the company’s global ambitions are only accelerating. But is that goal realistic? Tu Le and Lei Xing break down what it would actually take to sell more than 10 million vehicles annually—and why battery production, overseas manufacturing, charging infrastructure and geopolitics could become BYD’s biggest challenges.

The conversation also explores:

• China’s slowing domestic auto market despite record NEV adoption
• Why exports continue to hit new highs
• NIO’s growing momentum with the ES8 and ES9
• The intensifying rivalry between NIO and Li Auto
• GM’s new energy strategy and what it means for EV adoption
• Mercedes, Honda and other legacy automakers navigating China’s rapidly changing market

From global expansion and intelligent driving to battery strategy and industry consolidation, Episode 250 examines the next phase of China’s automotive transformation—and why the rest of the world can’t afford to ignore it.

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Chapter Timestamps (45-minute episode)00:00 Episode 250 & Welcome
01:20 China’s Domestic Market Slows
04:10 Why EV Exports Keep Growing
08:00 BYD’s Goal: Become #1 by 2030
14:15 Can BYD Really Pass Toyota?
20:30 NIO’s ES8 & ES9 Momentum
25:30 NIO vs. Li Auto Intensifies
31:20 GM Energy & The Next EV Strategy
36:15 Legacy Automakers’ China Challenge
41:00 Final Thoughts & Episode 250 Reflection

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China’s EV market is entering a new chapter—and it could be the toughest one yet.

In Episode 251, Tu and Lei break down why BMW’s latest guidance may be one of the clearest signals yet that China’s traditional ICE business is deteriorating faster than many expected. As NEV penetration accelerates and ICE sales continue to shrink, legacy automakers face mounting pressure to reinvent themselves while Chinese brands battle for survival in an increasingly competitive market.

The discussion explores why China’s slowing economy affects foreign brands differently, how the latest sales trends are accelerating industry consolidation, and why companies like BYD, NIO, XPeng and Li Auto are entering a critical new phase. Tu and Lei also debate Volkswagen’s manufacturing reset, BYD’s global ambitions, BMW’s warning on China, and whether the current price war is giving way to a fight over profitability, capacity and long-term survival.

If you want to understand where the global automotive industry is heading next, this episode explains why China’s market remains the industry’s most important battleground.

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⏱️ Suggested Chapter Timestamps

00:00 BMW Sounds the Alarm
02:10 China’s Economy and the Auto Market
06:00 Why ICE Sales Keep Falling
10:20 NEV Penetration Hits Another Milestone
15:15 Volkswagen’s Manufacturing Reset
20:10 BYD’s Capacity Challenge
26:00 Can Europe Slow Chinese EVs?
31:30 NIO, XPeng & Li Auto Update
37:45 Will Consolidation Finally Begin?
44:30 Who Wins the Next Phase of China’s EV Market?
49:30 Final Thoughts

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Back from China, Tu Le and Lei Xing unpack one of the most consequential shifts happening in the global automotive industry: the technology relationship between China and Western automakers has completely flipped.

What began decades ago as Western companies bringing technology into China has become something very different. Today, automakers including Volkswagen, Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Nissan and others are increasingly relying on Chinese batteries, software, ADAS systems, LiDAR suppliers, and EV platforms to remain competitive.

In this episode, Tu and Lei discuss:

• Why Ford, GM, Volkswagen and Stellantis increasingly need Chinese technology
• The growing influence of XPeng, BYD, CATL, Huawei, Momenta, Hesai and Horizon Robotics
• Waymo’s rapid expansion and why autonomous driving is becoming impossible to ignore
• The reality of FSD versus China’s rapidly improving intelligent driving systems
• The implications of the Trump-Xi summit for the automotive sector
• Canada’s evolving strategy toward Chinese EV imports
• What the Beijing Auto Show revealed about the future of the industry
• Why the next battle is no longer about EVs — it’s about software, AI and autonomy

The conversation also explores whether legacy automakers risk becoming hardware manufacturers while Chinese companies increasingly control the technology stack powering the future of mobility.

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⏱️ YouTube Chapter Timestamps

00:00 The New World Order in Auto
02:00 Trump-Xi Summit and Industry Implications
05:00 Why China Now Exports Technology
09:00 Ford, GM, Volkswagen and China’s Growing Influence
13:00 XPeng, Huawei, Momenta and China’s ADAS Race
17:00 Tesla FSD vs China’s Intelligent Driving Systems
22:00 Why Lei Thinks WeRide Is Closest to FSD
27:00 Waymo’s Expansion and Robotaxi Reality
31:00 What Tu Saw in San Francisco
35:00 Canada’s Chinese EV Strategy
38:00 Why Europe Is Embracing Chinese Technology
41:00 Beijing Auto Show Reflections
44:00 What Comes Next for Global Automakers
47:00 Final Thoughts

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The balance of power among China’s leading EV makers may be shifting.

This week on China EVs & More, Tu Le and Lei Xing break down a remarkable set of earnings results that reveal very different trajectories for China’s EV leaders.

NIO appears to be emerging from one of the most challenging periods in its history, delivering consecutive profitable quarters while building momentum behind the ES9, ONVO, and Firefly brands.

Meanwhile, Li Auto finds itself in an unfamiliar position. Margins are under pressure, earnings disappointed, and the company is increasingly relying on the success of its new BEV lineup to reignite growth.

And then there’s BYD.

While competitors focus on selling cars, BYD continues expanding deeper into batteries, semiconductors, AI, and autonomous driving technology. The company recently unveiled its own advanced automotive chips, reinforcing its position as one of the most vertically integrated technology companies in the automotive industry.

Tu and Lei also discuss:

⚡ NIO’s surprising turnaround and profitability outlook
⚡ Li Auto’s reset and what comes next for the L-Series and i-Series
⚡ BYD’s chip ambitions and technology strategy
⚡ XPeng’s robotaxi and robotics plans
⚡ Stellantis’ €60 billion strategy and deepening China partnerships
⚡ Volvo’s U.S. approval and what it means for Chinese technology in North America
⚡ Tesla FSD vs China’s rapidly evolving intelligent driving systems
⚡ Why the next automotive battle is about AI, software, autonomy, and scale

The EV race isn’t slowing down. But the leaderboard may be changing faster than most people realize.

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⏱️ YouTube Chapter Timestamps

00:00 The Auto Industry Has Flipped
02:00 Trump-Xi Summit & Global Auto Implications
05:00 NIO Earnings: Is the Turnaround Real?
09:00 Li Auto’s Challenges & Margin Pressure
13:00 XPeng’s Robotaxi & Robotics Ambitions
17:00 Why BYD Is Becoming a Chip Company
21:00 CATL, Chips & China’s Tech Arms Race
25:00 Stellantis’ €60 Billion China Strategy
30:00 Why Europe Needs Chinese Technology
34:00 Tesla FSD vs China’s Intelligent Driving Systems
38:00 Waymo’s Momentum & Autonomous Driving Reality
41:00 Volvo Approval & Future Chinese Market Access
44:00 What Happens Next for Global Automakers?
47:00 Final Thoughts

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ChinaEVs #NIO #BYD #LiAuto #XPeng #Tesla #ElectricVehicles #Robotaxi #AutonomousDriving #ChinaEVsAndMore

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In this special on-the-road episode of China EVs & More, Tu Le and Lei Xing drive a Li Auto i6 from Beijing to Shanghai using Li Auto’s latest hands-free VLA intelligent driving system — experiencing firsthand how quickly China’s EV ecosystem is evolving.

The trip comes immediately after the massive Beijing Auto Show, where over 1,400 vehicles, 180+ debuts, and dozens of new brands highlighted how intense and competitive China’s EV market has become.

Tu and Lei break down:

• Li Auto’s new VLA Driver Model and real-world NOA performance
• XPeng’s latest VLA 2.0 rollout and robotaxi ambitions
• BYD and CATL’s escalating battery and charging war
• Why large Chinese SUVs are now targeting North America’s most profitable segments
• The rise of Huawei-backed brands and the growing influence of Chinese tech suppliers
• How global automakers are increasingly relying on Chinese software, batteries, and ADAS systems to stay competitive

The episode also captures the realities of driving EVs in China today — ultra-fast charging, crowded charging stations, nonstop product launches, and a level of EV infrastructure that still feels years ahead of most global markets.

From autonomous driving and battery breakthroughs to the growing divide between China and the West, this episode offers a rare, firsthand look into the future of mobility — from inside the driver’s seat.

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⏱️ YouTube Chapter Timestamps00:00 🔥 Hook: 800KM hands-free road trip
00:30 Intro from inside the Li Auto i6
02:00 Beijing → Shanghai EV road trip explained
04:00 Li Auto VLA Driver Model hands-free demo
07:00 Charging experience in China today
10:00 Beijing Auto Show biggest takeaways
14:00 XPeng VLA 2.0 and robotaxi future
18:00 BYD vs CATL battery war
22:00 Huawei’s massive presence at the show
26:00 Why Chinese SUVs are targeting North America
30:00 Tesla vs China EV ecosystem discussion
34:00 EV infrastructure comparison: China vs West
38:00 The future of autonomous driving
42:00 Final thoughts from the road trip

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Episode #245 of China EVs & More dives into a turning point moment for the global auto industry as China’s EV market enters a new phase ahead of the Beijing Auto Show.

Tu Le and Lei Xing break down an explosion of flagship SUV launches across Chinese brands — from NIO, XPeng, Zeekr, and LeapMotor — all competing in the same $40K–$60K range with similar tech, features, and performance. The result? A hyper-competitive market where price has become the ultimate differentiator.

But that’s just one side of the story.

The episode also explores:

• Why Chinese EVs are converging on identical feature sets (800V, ADAS, AI chassis)
• How foreign automakers (VW, Nissan, Audi) are attempting a comeback in China
• Why marketing costs and partnerships may determine survival for legacy OEMs
• And how China’s EV ecosystem is shifting from price wars → brand differentiation

This is not just about China anymore — it’s about who wins the global auto reset.

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⏱️ YOUTUBE TIMESTAMPS00:00 Intro + Beijing Auto Show setup
01:30 Explosion of new EV launches in China
03:00 Flagship SUV battle ($40K–$60K segment)
05:30 Why Chinese EVs are becoming “the same”
07:30 Feature parity: 800V, ADAS, AI chassis
09:00 The real differentiator: PRICE
11:00 Why quality is no longer the issue
12:30 Rapid refresh cycles (12–14 months)
14:00 Consumer choice overload in China
15:30 Foreign automakers strike back (VW, Nissan, Audi)
18:00 Why partnerships are the only path forward
20:00 Final thoughts: global EV reset underway

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In Episode 244, Tu Le and Lei Xing break down a major escalation in the global EV race: Chinese automakers are now targeting the most profitable segment in North America — large SUVs and trucks.

NIO’s new ES9 flagship SUV delivers Tahoe-level size and luxury at a fraction of the price in China, signaling a direct challenge to the profit engines of GM, Ford, and Stellantis.

The episode also explores:

• The continued collapse of premium brands in China, including Porsche and Mercedes
• Rising export dependence as domestic competition intensifies
• The next wave of product launches ahead of the Beijing Auto Show
• Tesla’s strategy amid stagnating product refresh cycles
• How global macro forces — including the Iran war — are impacting EV demand and costs

Tu and Lei highlight a critical shift:

👉 The EV race is no longer about entry-level cars — it’s about owning the most profitable segments globally.

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⏱️ Chapter Timestamps00:00 🔥 Hook: China targets SUVs

00:12 Intro and episode overview

01:00 NIO ES9 breakdown (Tahoe comparison)

04:00 SUV segment disruption explained

08:00 Porsche, Mercedes struggles in China

12:00 Export growth vs domestic pressure

16:00 Tesla strategy & product gaps

20:00 Iran war impact on EV demand & costs

24:00 Beijing Auto Show preview

28:00 Global EV competition outlook

32:00 Q&A and wrap-up

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In Episode 243, Tu Le and Lei Xing break down a defining shift in the global EV industry: China’s EV growth is now being driven by exports as much as domestic demand. 

March sales rebounded strongly, but the real story is export share. Companies like BYD, Geely, Chery, and Great Wall are now exporting 30% to over 60% of their vehicles, signaling both global expansion and rising competition at home.

Tu and Lei explore what this means for Tesla, legacy automakers, and global markets, as Chinese EV companies scale faster and push into new regions.

Key discussions include:
• Why rising exports may reflect pressure inside China’s domestic market
• The flood of new models ahead of the Beijing Auto Show
• Tesla’s positioning amid growing global competition
• Canada’s EV policy shift and implications for North America
• Why value — not brand — will ultimately decide winners

This episode highlights a turning point:
👉 The EV race is now global — and accelerating fast.

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⏱️ Chapter Timestamps

00:00 🔥 Hook: Americans want value, not origin
00:12 Intro and episode setup
02:00 March EV sales rebound
04:30 Export share surge explained
08:00 BYD, Geely, Chery global trends
12:00 Domestic pressure vs global expansion
16:00 Beijing Auto Show preview
20:00 Tesla positioning and outlook
24:00 Canada policy and North America impact
28:00 Global EV strategy discussion
32:00 Q&A and wrap-up

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In Episode 242 of China EVs & More, Tu Le and Lei Xing break down a pivotal week in the global EV industry — one defined by accelerating innovation, new partnerships, and intensifying competition across China, the U.S., and beyond.

XPeng reaches a major milestone with its first quarterly profit, joining NIO, Li Auto, and Leapmotor in demonstrating that China’s EV startups can achieve profitability — even amid one of the most competitive markets in the world.

Meanwhile, Rivian secures a $1.25 billion partnership with Uber, signaling a major push into the robotaxi ecosystem and raising questions about whether EV startups can remain viable without tapping into autonomy and mobility platforms.

The hosts also dive into Xiaomi’s refreshed SU7 launch, the growing wave of EV announcements ahead of the Beijing Auto Show, and how Chinese automakers continue to iterate products 2–3x faster than legacy competitors.

Other key topics include:

• The rise of “physical AI” and next-generation autonomy platforms from XPeng
• NVIDIA’s expanding role in global AV ecosystems
• The future of robotaxis and whether margins will hold as competition grows
• The coming battle for large electric SUVs in China and globally
• How Chinese EV technology is increasingly influencing global vehicle design and development

With Chinese OEMs scaling faster, launching more products, and expanding globally, Tu and Lei highlight a clear shift: the EV race is no longer about catching up — it’s about survival and adaptation.

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⏱️ Chapter Timestamps00:00 Intro and episode overview

01:10 XPeng achieves first quarterly profit

03:30 Why EV startup profitability matters

06:00 Xiaomi SU7 refresh and competitive landscape

10:00 China EV innovation speed vs legacy automakers

14:00 XPeng’s “physical AI” strategy explained

18:00 NVIDIA’s growing role in autonomy

22:00 Rivian–Uber $1.25B partnership breakdown

26:00 Robotaxi economics and competition

30:00 Can EV startups survive without autonomy?

34:00 Large SUV EV battle in China

38:00 Global EV competition outlook

41:00 Q&A: LiDAR, Rivian strategy, autonomy

45:00 Final thoughts and wrap-up

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This week on China EVs & More, Tu and Lei break down one of the most turbulent weeks yet for the global auto industry.

Honda stunned the industry by announcing $15.7 billion in EV write-downs and abandoning its “Zero” EV program, marking the company’s first loss in its 70-year history. Porsche and Volkswagen Group also revealed dramatic profit declines as EV investments, tariffs, and China market pressures weigh heavily on legacy automakers.

Meanwhile, China’s EV sector continues to move at breakneck speed. NIO and Li Auto both reported earnings and ambitious 2026 growth targets, while a new wave of large luxury SUVs — from AITO, BYD, Xpeng, and others — intensifies competition in China’s most profitable segments.

The hosts analyze how China’s relentless product cycles and rapid innovation are redefining the global automotive landscape, leaving Western automakers scrambling to catch up.

Other key topics include:

• Why the Tesla Model 3 could face pressure from Xiaomi’s refreshed SU7
• The coming explosion of large electric SUVs at the Beijing Auto Show
• Whether Chinese EVs could soon challenge U.S. truck and SUV dominance
• The role of partnerships and acquisitions as Chinese and Western automakers increasingly collaborate
• How Canada’s new EV policy could open the door to Chinese brands in North America

From collapsing profits to accelerating innovation, this episode highlights a stark reality: the global EV race is no longer just about electrification — it’s about technology speed, scale, and survival.

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⏱️ YouTube Chapter Timestamps00:00 Intro and episode overview

01:10 Honda’s $15.7B EV write-down explained

03:30 Porsche profit collapse and China sales decline

05:40 Volkswagen Group earnings and EV investment impact

08:20 NIO earnings and growth targets for 2026

12:00 Li Auto earnings and strategy reset

15:00 Explosion of large electric SUVs in China

18:30 Why Xiaomi’s SU7 refresh could challenge Tesla Model 3

22:00 Tesla’s product strategy and lack of refreshes

25:30 The coming SUV battle in China’s EV market

29:00 Canada opening the door to Chinese EV imports

33:00 Partnerships between Chinese and Western automakers

36:30 Future of global EV competition

38:30 Wrap-up and final thoughts

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In this episode of China EVs & More, Tu Le and Lei Xing break down one of the most eventful weeks in the EV industry — from NIO reaching major milestones to new rumors of partnerships between Chinese and Western automakers.

NIO is on the verge of two historic achievements: its first profitable quarter and its 100 millionth battery swap. For a company that helped pioneer China’s smart EV startup movement, the milestone represents both redemption and a new beginning.

The hosts also unpack a series of industry-shaking developments:

• Rumors of potential Xiaomi–Ford and Geely–Ford collaborations
• Canada’s evolving EV policy and the implications for Chinese automakers entering North America
• The ongoing EV price war in China and how it’s reshaping the global auto market

Tu and Lei explain why Chinese automakers are rapidly becoming global competitors — not just through vehicle exports, but through technology partnerships, battery supply chains, and software ecosystems.

The conversation also highlights the next wave of EV competition: affordable electric vehicles. Rivian’s highly anticipated R2 SUV, Ford’s upcoming EV platform, and the Chevrolet Equinox EV could become critical in determining whether U.S. automakers can compete against Chinese EV makers in the next decade.

The episode concludes with a look at China’s fast-changing regulatory environment — from new vehicle safety rules to battery technology innovation — and why the Beijing Auto Show could reveal the next major shift in the EV industry.

From battery swapping and profitability milestones to geopolitical trade dynamics and the future of affordable EVs, this episode captures a moment when the global auto industry is rapidly transforming.

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In this episode of China EVs & More, Tu Le and Lei Xing break down the latest developments in the global EV industry as 2026 begins — including the evolving competition between Tesla, Xiaomi, BYD, and other Chinese automakers.

January sales numbers from China reveal a complex picture. Xiaomi’s YU7 SUV surged to become the best-selling vehicle in China across all powertrains, while Tesla’s domestic demand appears to be weakening as more vehicles produced in Shanghai are exported overseas.

Tu and Lei analyze what this means for Tesla’s strategy in China and why export growth can mask softness in the world’s largest EV market.

The discussion also explores the ongoing EV price war in China, where ultra-low financing offers and aggressive discounting are putting pressure on automakers’ margins and long-term profitability. As the hosts explain, China’s EV market has entered a new phase where companies must fight not just for growth — but for survival.

The episode then shifts to the future of EV technology and battery innovation. With BYD continuing to push fast-charging infrastructure and next-generation batteries, the hosts debate whether ultra-fast charging could eventually make battery swapping less relevant outside China.

Finally, Tu and Lei turn to the North American EV market. With Rivian’s highly anticipated R2 SUV, Ford’s upcoming affordable EV platform, and Tesla’s continued dominance with the Model Y, the next few years may determine whether U.S. automakers can remain competitive as Chinese EV manufacturers expand globally.

From battery innovation and pricing wars to global expansion strategies, this episode offers a clear look at how China EV Inc. continues to reshape the global auto industry.

🔑 SEO Keywords (for description and podcast search)China EVs & More, Tu Le, Lei Xing, Xiaomi YU7 sales China, Tesla China demand decline, BYD fast charging battery tech, China EV price war, Chinese electric vehicles global expansion, EV market China 2026, Rivian R2 review discussion, Ford affordable EV platform, battery swapping vs fast charging, Chinese EV exports, EV competition Tesla vs China, global EV industry trends, electric vehicle market analysis

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In this episode of China EVs & More, Tu and Lei unpack a rapidly changing global automotive landscape where Chinese EV technology is increasingly powering the future of the industry — even outside China.

The discussion begins with a major shift: European and global automakers are increasingly adopting Chinese EV platforms, batteries, and autonomous driving technology. Stellantis is now exploring LeapMotor technology for Europe, Ford is integrating Chinese battery tech into its upcoming affordable EV, and even German brands are leaning heavily on China to stay competitive.

Tu and Lei argue that “China for China” has evolved into “win in China to win globally.” German automakers remain deeply dependent on China for growth, while American automakers face a different challenge: how to remain competitive as Chinese innovation accelerates.

The episode also dives deep into the global autonomous vehicle race. Waymo continues scaling robotaxi operations across multiple cities, while Baidu, Pony.ai, and WeRide expand internationally and rapidly accumulate real-world autonomous miles. Meanwhile, new players like Wayve are emerging as potential challengers in the autonomy software space.

The hosts explore whether Tesla’s robotaxi ambitions can disrupt the existing ecosystem — and why platform players like Uber could ultimately become the dominant intermediaries in autonomous mobility.

Finally, Tu and Lei reflect on the future of robotics, automation, and autonomous logistics — from robotaxis to autonomous snowplows, delivery robots, railcars, and even wheelchairs — raising an important question: will autonomy create abundance or major labor disruption?

This episode captures a pivotal moment in the EV and autonomy revolution, where the competition is no longer about powertrains — it’s about technology ecosystems, speed of innovation, and global scale.

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This week on China EVs & More, Tu and Lei break down one of the biggest developments of the year in the global EV industry: BYD’s massive technology reset and charging breakthrough.

Facing slowing domestic sales and intensifying competition in China’s brutal EV price war, BYD responded with a sweeping announcement: a second-generation Blade Battery, ultra-fast 1500 kW flash charging, and plans to build 20,000 ultra-fast charging stations to support it. The message was clear—BYD intends to stay ahead of rivals like CATL, Geely, and Tesla by pushing the technological frontier.

Tu and Lei unpack what this means for China’s EV ecosystem, including how ultra-fast charging could challenge battery swapping models and reshape charging infrastructure globally.

The episode also explores the widening gap between China’s hyper-competitive EV market and the West, where Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y still dominate despite limited product updates. They discuss why Tesla remains the benchmark in autonomy and software—even as Chinese OEMs rapidly close the gap with AI-driven platforms and advanced ADAS systems.

Other topics include:

The scale of China’s EV price war and BYD’s strategy to regain momentum

• RoboSense becoming a major LiDAR supplier for BYD’s new vehicles
• Why legacy automakers are struggling to keep pace with Chinese EV innovation
• The rise of ultra-affordable EVs like the Geely Xingyuan
• And how EV ownership experiences differ dramatically between China and the United States

With Tu now on his second EV and Lei about to take delivery of his first Tesla Model Y, the hosts also share real-world perspectives on EV ownership, charging infrastructure, and autonomy features.

Fast-moving, analytical, and sometimes provocative, this episode captures the moment when the EV industry’s center of gravity continues shifting toward China EV Inc.

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In Episode 236, Tu and Lei deliver one of their most wide-ranging and revealing conversations yet—covering Tesla’s strategic retreat from cars, China’s accelerating dominance in EVs, autonomy, and robotics, and unveiling the inaugural China EVs & More Awards - the EVies

The episode opens with Tesla’s bombshell earnings call: the Model S and Model X are effectively retired, revenues decline for a second straight year, yet the stock rallies on promises of robotaxis, robotics, and AI abundance. Tu and Lei explain why Wall Street is betting on a future Tesla that is no longer a car company—and why China’s crowded robotaxi and robotics markets make that future far less certain than investors believe.

They contrast Tesla’s promises with reality on the ground in China, where BYD, NIO, XPeng, Huawei, Geely, and Xiaomi are rapidly upgrading ADAS, launching new models, and redefining value. The discussion highlights how Western media is only now “discovering” vehicles like the Xiaomi SU7 and YU7, despite Chinese OEMs offering Model 3/Y-level features at half the price.

The second half of the episode introduces the China EVs & More Awards, recognizing the companies, products, and people that defined the year—while exposing who fell behind. From Zombie Company of the Year to EV of the Year, the awards spark debate around survival, execution, and scale in the world’s most competitive auto market.

The episode closes with a sober look at automation, delivery, labor displacement, and UBI, asking whether autonomy will ultimately create abundance—or social shock—across global mobility systems.

Insightful, provocative, and data-driven, this episode explains why China EV Inc. is no longer the future—it’s the present.

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⏱️ Chapter Timestamps (for YouTube description)

00:00 – Welcome & episode overview

01:10 – Tesla earnings shock: Model S & X phased out

03:00 – Tesla as a holding company, not a car company

05:20 – Why Wall Street still rewards Tesla

07:00 – FSD approval in China: promise vs reality

09:00 – China ADAS arms race: BYD, NIO, Huawei, XPeng

11:00 – Western media “discovers” Xiaomi EVs

13:00 – Why Chinese EV features cost half as much

15:10 – Robotaxis: Waymo vs Tesla vs China

17:00 – China EVs & More Awards intro

18:15 – Zombie Company of the Year: WM Motor

19:50 – Who Dis Award: Dreame

22:30 – Tech That Matters: Momenta

25:00 – Company That Needs a Hug: Porsche

27:20 – Flop of the Year: Li Auto i8

29:40 – Dark Horse of the Year: Leapmotor

32:10 – Comeback Kid: NIO ES8

35:00 – Executive of the Year: Zhu Jiangming (Leapmotor)

36:30 – Luxury Car of the Year: Aito M9

38:30 – MPV of the Year: Buick GL8

40:00 – SUV of the Year: Xiaomi YU7

41:40 – EV of the Year: Geely Xingyuan

44:00 – Automation, delivery & labor disruption

47:00 – UBI, AI abundance & social impact

49:00 – Final thoughts & call for audience input

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In Episode 235, Tu and Lei break down a pivotal week for autonomous driving, global EV competition, and the future of premium automakers—from Silicon Valley to China and Europe.

The conversation opens with a surge of AV and robotaxi news: Tesla removing safety drivers in Austin, shifting FSD to a subscription model, and signaling potential approval in China and Europe; Waymo expanding into Miami; DiDi launching a new robotaxi platform in China; and large-scale robo-van ambitions from Mobileye–Volkswagen and Geely’s Caocao Mobility. Together, these moves signal that autonomy is no longer experimental—it’s scaling.

Tu frames autonomy through four lenses: technology readiness, silicon and cloud stacks, regulatory approval, and societal impact, including job displacement and cost reduction through scale. While Tesla remains the benchmark, Chinese players like XPeng, Huawei, and Baidu are rapidly closing the gap—supported by a more permissive regulatory environment in China.

The episode then pivots to a blunt assessment of the premium auto sector. Porsche’s collapse to ~42,000 units in China, deep price cuts from BMW and Mercedes, and the stark comparison between Porsche’s Macan EV and Xiaomi’s YU7 highlight how “premium” is being redefined by software, features, and price—not heritage.

Tu and Lei argue that the high-margin glory days for German luxury brands are over, not just in China but globally, as Chinese OEMs demonstrate faster iteration, lower costs, and mass-market appeal—especially to younger and female buyers. The discussion closes with battery swapping (BAAS), cold-weather EV realities, and whether Chinese automakers could realistically build trust and scale in North America.

Strategic, candid, and forward-looking, this episode explains why autonomy and affordability—not badges—will define the next era of the auto industry.

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🔑 SEO-Friendly Keywords (for description / Apple Podcasts)

China EVs & More, Tu Le, Lei Xing, Sino Auto Insights, autonomous vehicles 2026, robotaxi expansion, Tesla FSD subscription, Tesla autonomy China Europe, Waymo Miami, DiDi robotaxi, Mobileye Volkswagen robovan, Geely Caocao Mobility, XPeng autonomous driving, Baidu Apollo, AV regulation China, L3 L4 autonomy, Porsche China sales collapse, BMW China price cuts, Mercedes China sales, Xiaomi YU7, Porsche Macan EV China, premium EV market China, affordable EVs, battery swapping BAAS, NIO battery swap, future of mobility

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⏱️ Chapter Timestamps (for YouTube description)

00:00 – Welcome & episode overview

02:20 – January slowdown in China EV sales explained

02:45 – Tesla autonomy headlines & safety driver removal

04:10 – FSD approval talk in China & Europe

05:25 – Cannonball Run: Tesla zero-intervention drive

06:45 – Framing autonomy: tech, policy, jobs & scale

09:30 – Robotaxi expansion: Waymo, DiDi & China vs US

10:50 – Robo-vans at scale: Mobileye–VW & Geely plans

12:30 – Regulation: why China is moving faster on L3/L4

14:15 – Tesla vs Chinese AV players: closing the gap

16:10 – Porsche’s collapse in China

17:45 – Are the best days over for BMW, Mercedes & Audi?

18:30 – Macan EV vs Xiaomi YU7: a brutal comparison

20:30 – How China is redefining “premium”

22:15 – Renault’s China R&D model as a blueprint

24:00 – Pricing traps: halo cars & product cannibalization

26:00 – Volkswagen ID.ERA 9X and pricing pressure

28:00 – Margin compression & operating like a startup

30:15 – Cadillac, GM & Chinese tech partnerships

31:50 – Battery swapping & cold-weather EV realities

34:30 – BAAS in North America: why it’s hard

37:00 – Can Chinese brands win trust in the West?

39:30 – Audience Q&A

42:00 – Final thoughts & what’s n

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Episode 234 may go down as one of the most consequential conversations yet on China EVs & More. Tu and Lei unpack the Canada–China trade truce that effectively opens the door for Chinese EV imports into North America—and why this moment could trigger a chain reaction across the U.S., Mexico, and global auto markets.

Canada’s decision to allow up to 49,000 Chinese EVs at just 6.1% tariffs isn’t about volume—it’s about symbolism. Once the door opens, it rarely closes. The hosts explain why this move pressures the U.S. ahead of USMCA renegotiations, accelerates conversations around Chinese manufacturing in Canada, and raises the stakes for GM, Ford, and the German luxury brands already losing ground in China.

The episode also breaks down 2025 China auto and NEV sales, showing a maturing but brutally competitive market where growth now comes from stealing share, not market expansion. With BYD, Geely, Chery, Leapmotor, and Huawei-backed brands targeting aggressive 2026 volumes, the pressure on legacy OEMs—especially BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and Porsche—has never been higher.

Tu and Lei debate which Chinese OEMs are best positioned for Canada and eventually the U.S., why affordable EVs in the $30–40K range are the real battleground, and how price cuts of 10–25% by German brands reveal structural inefficiencies long masked by premium margins.

Strategic, provocative, and deeply grounded in real data, this episode explains why North America just entered a new phase of the China EV story—and why the next 12–18 months may redefine the global auto industry.

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China EVs & More, Tu Le, Lei Xing, Sino Auto Insights, Canada China EV trade deal, Chinese EVs Canada, Canada EV tariffs, USMCA renegotiation, Chinese automakers North America, BYD Canada, Geely North America, Chery EVs, Great Wall Motor EV, China auto sales 2025, China NEV sales, EV price war China, BMW China sales decline, Mercedes China sales, Porsche China collapse, affordable EVs North America, $30,000 EV, EV market maturity China, global auto competition, Chinese EV manufacturing Canada

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⏱️ Chapter Timestamps (for YouTube description)

00:00 – Welcome & episode overview

01:30 – Personal EV ownership pain: Hyundai IONIQ 5 breakdown story

05:55 – Breaking news: Canada–China EV trade truce explained

07:40 – Why 49,000 EVs matters more symbolically than numerically

09:30 – What this means for the U.S. & USMCA negotiations

11:30 – Could Chinese automakers build in Canada next?

13:45 – Which Chinese OEMs are best positioned for North America

16:10 – Canada vs U.S. consumer demand & EV affordability

18:50 – 2025 China auto & NEV sales breakdown

21:30 – A maturing market: growth vs market-share battles

24:10 – BYD, Geely, Chery & Leapmotor’s 2026 ambitions

27:10 – German automakers’ reckoning in China

30:20 – BMW & Mercedes price cuts expose margin pressure

33:15 – Porsche’s dramatic collapse in China

35:50 – Flagship EVs eating into German luxury sedans

38:20 – Why affordable EVs are the real global battleground

41:10 – Chinese speed vs legacy inefficiency

44:30 – Audience Q&A: unions, manufacturing & homologation

48:00 – Can Chinese EVs be driven into the U.S. from Canada?

51:30 – Final thoughts & what to watch next

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Kicking off 2026, Tu and Lei return from CES in Las Vegas with firsthand insights into how the global auto industry’s center of gravity continues to shift toward China, AI, autonomy, and robotics.

This episode unpacks why CES is no longer about cars, but about who controls the software, silicon, sensors, and robots that will define the next decade of mobility. From Geely and Great Wall’s growing U.S. ambitions, to Hyundai’s robot-only keynote, to Ford’s quiet but meaningful autonomy reset, the hosts connect dots that most headlines missed.

Tu and Lei also break down the Geely “coming to the U.S.” scoop, Rivian-style AI days spreading to legacy OEMs, and why Western automakers are increasingly borrowing from China’s playbook—from ADAS and silicon strategy to embodied AI and robotics.

The episode closes with a deep dive into autonomy’s three tracks (L2++, consumer L3/L4, and robotaxis), the growing importance of LiDAR scale, and why Donut Labs’ solid-state battery and in-wheel motor reveal could become a true industry disruptor—if it scales.

Fast, candid, and packed with on-the-ground context, this episode explains why CES 2026 marked a turning point—and why the race is no longer just EVs vs ICE, but ecosystems vs incumbents.

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In this episode, Tu and Lei dive into a week dominated by autonomy, AI, and a widening gap between China’s EV ecosystem and the rest of the world.

The episode opens with a deep reaction to Rivian’s Autonomy AI Day—why it felt like déjà vu for anyone following China’s smart-EV space, and how Rivian’s announcements mirror what Chinese players like XPeng, NIO, and Li Auto have already been deploying. The hosts debate whether Rivian’s approach represents real leadership or simply entry into the top tier.

From there, the conversation expands to L4 autonomy momentum: WeRide launching passenger rides with Uber in Dubai, Mercedes partnering with Momenta in Abu Dhabi, and Waymo accelerating multi-city deployments while publishing safety data others still keep opaque.

Tu and Lei also tackle the LiDAR vs. vision debate, Volkswagen’s unusual dual bet on Rivian (US) and XPeng (China), and why silicon strategy—not just batteries—will decide winners. The discussion closes with affordability: why 300-mile EVs under $40K are existential for Western OEMs, and why China’s cost structure makes that challenge unavoidable heading into 2026.

Candid, comparative, and forward-looking, this episode explains why autonomy and AI—not just electrification—will define the next phase of the global auto industry.

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China EVs & More, China EVs, Tu Le, Lei Xing, Sino Auto Insights, Rivian, Rivian AI Day, Rivian R2, autonomous vehicles, robotaxi, WeRide, Uber robotaxi, Waymo, Mercedes Momenta, XPeng, NIO, Li Auto, Volkswagen Rivian, Volkswagen XPeng, LiDAR vs vision, RoboSense, Hesai, EV silicon, affordable EVs, 300 mile EV, future of mobility, EV autonomy, global auto industry, China vs US EVs

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In Episode 229, Tu and Lei unpack the November China EV sales inflection point and what it reveals about the next phase of the global auto industry.

With subsidies set to expire in 2026, November marked the real start of China’s year-end “mad dash.” The numbers show a clear split: Xiaomi, XPeng, Leapmotor, Geely, and NIO accelerating, while BYD and Li Auto lose momentum and Tesla slips into negative growth territory in China.

The hosts explain why Xiaomi’s YU7 and SU7 have proven unusually resilient, how XPeng’s AI-first strategy is paying off, and why Leapmotor and Geely are now knocking on the million-unit club—a threshold that even legacy premium brands have failed to reach in China.

They also tackle the bigger strategic question facing Western automakers: Is it still worth competing in China? Tu and Lei argue that China remains irreplaceable as the world’s largest single passenger-vehicle market—and that exporting from China, leveraging local tech partners, and embracing “China-for-China” design is no longer optional.

The episode closes with a deep discussion on embodied AI, smart glasses, silicon strategy, and why companies like Xiaomi, XPeng, and Li Auto are no longer just carmakers—but ecosystem builders trying to define the future of mobility.

Insightful, data-driven, and grounded in real market dynamics, this episode explains why 2026 may be the most decisive year yet for both Chinese EV leaders and global legacy automakers.

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China EVs & More, China EVs, China EV market, Chinese EVs, EV sales China,
Tu Le, Lei Xing, Sino Auto Insights, Xiaomi EV, Xiaomi YU7, Xiaomi SU7,
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robotaxi China, embodied AI, automotive AI, smart vehicles, EV silicon,
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Tu and Lei close out 2025 with a sweeping, on-the-ground review of the most consequential year yet for China’s EV, AV, and mobility ecosystem — and why its ripple effects are now impossible for the rest of the world to ignore. 

From CES to Shanghai, Munich, and New York, the hosts reflect on firsthand experiences that defined the year: China’s EV export surge, the maturation of robotaxis, the cooling of the domestic price war, and the emergence of clear winners — and vulnerabilities — among Chinese and global automakers.

They break down why BYD became a true global volume force, how XPeng, Geely, and Zeekr gained momentum, why NIO’s long game is finally paying off, and what the rise of autonomous mobility outside China (Waymo, Baidu, WeRide, Pony.ai) means heading into 2026.

The episode also revisits major inflection points:
• Chinese EV exports flooding Europe, Latin America, Russia, and the UK
• The beginning of an exported price war
• Robotaxis moving from pilots to real commercial expansion
• Why average vehicle prices topping $50,000 in the U.S. is unsustainable
• How geopolitics, tariffs, and supply chains reshaped strategy
• Why 2026 could be the year autonomy truly breaks through

Candid, data-driven, and reflective — this episode connects the dots on how 2025 reshaped the global auto industry and sets the stage for what comes next.

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China EVs & More, China auto industry, Chinese EVs, EV market 2025, Tu Le, Lei Xing, Sino Auto Insights, BYD, XPeng, NIO, Geely, Zeekr, Li Auto, Leapmotor, Xiaomi EV, Huawei HIMA, AITO, EV exports, Chinese EV exports, EV price war, global EV market, electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, robotaxi, Waymo, Baidu Apollo, WeRide, Pony.ai, battery swapping, NIO battery swap, CATL, CES 2025, Shanghai Auto Show, IAA Mobility Munich, EV geopolitics, future of cars

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China EVs & More is back with a special Thanksgiving episode — and the China auto world did not take the week off. 🚗⚡🦃

Tu & Lei break down Li Auto’s shocking Q3 collapse, CEO Li Xiang’s pivot to “embodied AI,” and why the brand is losing momentum to Xiaomi, XPeng, NIO, and Huawei-backed models.

We analyze XPeng’s aggressive 2025–26 EREV + BEV rollout, including seven new models and its “super range extender” strategy, plus the deepening Turing chip adoption and XPeng’s personal L4 + RoboTaxi ambitions.

Then we dive into the Guangzhou Auto Show, Huawei’s expanding HIMA ecosystem, the launch of new Yijin and Qijin brands, and how Huawei QianKun ADAS is quickly spreading across Nissan, Audi, GAC, Toyota, and more.

We close with NIO’s Q4 breakeven challenge, Firefly’s global potential, Stellantis–Leapmotor tensions in Latin America, and updates on Waymo, Zeekr RT, Aito M5, robotaxis, and physical AI’s impact on factory jobs.

Insightful, energetic, and brutally candid — your weekly download on the global EV and mobility power shift.

🕒 Timestamps / Chapters00:00 – Intro & Thanksgiving kickoff

01:30 – Li Auto’s disastrous Q3: losses, Mega fire fallout & EREV reset

03:30 – Li Xiang goes “embodied AI” + M100 chip vision

05:30 – Li Auto’s 2026 L-Series refresh & Russian Doll design rethink

07:50 – “Who’s hot, who’s not” — Xiaomi, XPeng, Leapmotor surge

08:30 – XPeng’s 7-model onslaught: BEV + EREV + L4 plans

10:10 – XPeng Turing chip, humanoid robot & L4 Robo versions

12:00 – Physical AI: robots, automation & factory disruption

15:10 – NIO earnings: Q4 breakeven, SG&A burn & ES8/Onvo push

16:50 – Firefly’s growing overseas role & NIO’s three-brand prioritization

19:30 – Leapmotor–Stellantis expansion and emerging market friction

21:00 – Xiaomi’s immunity to PR crises & massive user base advantage

23:00 – “Five to ten years to know the winners” — William Li’s marathon analogy

24:00 – New brands at GZ Auto Show: Yijin, Qijin & Huawei’s expanding influence

28:00 – Huawei QianKun ADAS spreads to Nissan, Audi, Toyota

30:00 – AV/ADAS wars: Momenta, Horizon, DeepRoute rising

32:00 – LiDAR drama: Hesai vs RoboSense & chaos in the lidar space

35:00 – Robotaxis: WeRide–Uber launch, Pony & LA/SD growth

37:00 – Tu drives the Aito M5 in California

38:00 – Waymo coverage expands: airports + 2026 Detroit launch

42:00 – Zeekr RT issues & Tesla vs Waymo RoboTaxi paths

47:00 – AV startups struggle: Haomo AI collapse & Great Wall pivot

50:00 – GM “Game of Thrones”: executive shakeups & culture reset

53:00 – Volkswagen speeds up China dev cycles & exports back out

55:00 – Audience Q&A & Thanksgiving wrap

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In Episode 227, Tu and Lei break down a massive week in the global EV industry — one where China’s innovation pace keeps accelerating while Western automakers scramble to respond.

Xiaomi’s YU7 officially outsells the Tesla Model Y in October, marking a symbolic shift in China’s most competitive EV segment. Meanwhile, Tesla’s domestic sales slump to 26,000, signaling that aggressive price cuts and financing perks may not be enough as Chinese challengers tighten the pressure.

The hosts also unpack XPeng’s viral AI Day, featuring the “Iron Lady” humanoid robot, new L4 capable RoboTaxi prototypes, the Turing chip’s rising importance, and XPeng’s “physical AI” strategy — positioning the company as a vertically integrated mobility+AI platform rather than just an automaker.

On the U.S. side, GM sparks headlines after reportedly urging suppliers to “de-China” their supply chains by 2027 — a massive, risky reshoring effort that could reshape cost structures across North America. Tu and Lei discuss the feasibility and geopolitical backdrop, including the Nexperia crisis, ICE tariff pressures, and USMCA uncertainty.

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They also hit:

🚗 China’s EV sales still climbing globally despite misleading “EV slump” narratives

⚠️ Li Auto’s Mega fire, quality issues & employee discipline fallout

🔥 Another Xiaomi fire incident and the scrutiny on China-speed development

🧠 Volkswagen’s growing reliance on XPeng + Rivian for AD and software

🛰️ XPeng eVTOLs, land aircraft carriers, and new robotics demos

🔋 CATL’s stunning 1,122 GWh of battery output YTD

📉 Tesla incentives in the U.S. as Q4 softness appears

🛠️ Battery-swap wars: CATL Choco-Swap vs NIO’s network

📈 NIO surging past XPeng in monthly deliveries inside China

Fast-paced, brutally honest, and packed with first-hand insight — this episode explains the power dynamics shaping EVs, autonomy, supply chains, and the global auto industry’s next decade.

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Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to the EV Landscape
02:08 October Sales Insights
06:03 Global EV Sales Trends
08:36 GM's Supply Chain Strategy
12:36 Challenges in Reshoring Supply Chains
14:31 Volkswagen's Chip Strategy
20:31 Xpeng's AI Day Highlights
25:19 The Launch of LS9 and Its Features
26:52 The Evolution of Chinese Flagship Vehicles
28:04 Understanding the Tuhao Culture in China
29:14 Recent Events and Quality Issues in the Automotive Industry
31:16 The Rise of Autonomous Vehicles and Global Expansion
34:28 Insights from the Florida Autonomous Vehicle Summit
36:29 The Competitive Landscape of Autonomous Driving
39:33 The Future of Autonomous Vehicles and Market Trends
43:51 NEO vs. XPeng: A Shift in Market Dynamics

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This week on China EVs & More, Tu and Lei unpack a scary set of Q3 results for global automakers. Porsche’s operating profit nearly vanishes, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen Group struggle, and BYD reports its first major profit decline in years. Meanwhile, Li Auto faces a costly Mega recall after a battery-coolant fire, raising new questions about safety and supply-chain quality.

Tu shares insights from the Reuters Automotive Summit, including what executives from Rivian, Lucid, and Mercedes-Benz USA had to say about current challenging environment — plus takeaways from Ganesh Iyer of NIO USA.

The hosts also discuss how Chinese tech players like Xiaomi and Geely are resetting global expectations, why CATL’s battery dominance will continue for the next decade, and what the West must learn from China’s hyper-competitive EV market.

Chapters
02:16 Halloween Reflections and Market Concerns
05:04 Li Auto's Recall and Safety Issues
08:00 Financial Performance of Major Automakers
11:03 Competitive Landscape in the EV Market
13:49 Restructuring of German Automakers
16:46 Insights from the Reuters Conference
19:59 Level 4 Autonomy and Future Trends
30:03 The Evolution of Autonomy
34:50 Mapping the Future of Autonomous Vehicles
39:51 Marketing Strategies in a Multicultural Landscape
44:31 Consumer Data Privacy and Trust
54:08 The Future of Battery Technology

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Stay tuned for sharp analysis on involution, layoffs at GM, brand marketing shifts, and how the next generation of EVs from Mercedes, Hyundai, and NIO will shape 2026.

Companies & Topics Discussed:

BYD | Li Auto | CATL | Porsche | Mercedes-Benz | Volkswagen Group | Audi | BMW Group | Beijing Hyundai | NIO | Xiaomi | Geely | Luxeed | DJI | Momenta | FinDreams | Rivian | Lucid | Stellantis | Uber | Nvidia | GM | Honda | Apple | AESC | Gotion | Calb

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Tu Le and Lei Xing dive into one of the busiest weeks yet in the global EV world — from corporate drama to policy blueprints shaping the next 15 years. 🇨🇳⚙️🌎

Carlos Tavares’ bombshell remarks on a possible breakup of Stellantis spark debate: could a Chinese automaker one day buy Peugeot or Citroën? The hosts unpack Europe’s fragile position amid new export restrictions and the Nexperia chip crisis, which has idled factories and exposed just how dependent global OEMs are on Chinese-owned supply chains.

Then the conversation turns to China’s new SAE roadmap 3.0, outlining a sweeping plan through 2040 — including 80 % NEV adoption, peak carbon by 2028, and 70 % of new cars achieving Level 3–4 autonomy by 2035. Tu and Lei discuss what that means for Tesla, GM, VW, XPeng, and BYD, and why Western automakers still underestimate China’s speed and discipline.

They also hit:

⚙️ GM’s “Tech Day” and its Level 3 Escalade IQ launch — is Detroit finally catching up?

🏭 Volkswagen’s XPeng and Rivian alliances — lifeline or identity crisis?

🔋 CATL’s record 1,122 GWh battery output and Q3 earnings

🔥 The Li Auto MPV and Xiaomi SU7 fire controversies — and what they reveal about China’s speed vs safety trade-off

📈 NIO’s 40 K per-month production push and China’s Q4 sales surge

🚙 Why GM and Ford remain profitable in China despite sales declines

Smart, fast-paced, and unfiltered — this episode connects the dots between geopolitics, tech disruption, and the global EV power shift.

🔑 SEO Keywords

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#️⃣ Tags

ChinaEVs & More, ChinaEVs, Stellantis, CarlosTavares, Volkswagen, XPeng, Rivian, GM, EscaladeIQ, CATL, BYD, Tesla, NIO, LiAuto, XiaomiSU7, EVRoadmap, AutonomousDriving, BatteryTech, EVSupplyChain, ChinaAuto, TuLe, LeiXing, SinoAutoInsights, GlobalMobility

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In Episode 222 of China EVs & More, Tu Le and Lei Xing tackle a packed week in China’s EV world as the industry faces mounting headwinds at home and abroad.

They break down the major developments impacting China’s auto sector:

• 🚘 NIO Day 2025 Preview & Stock Surge – NIO heads into its biggest event of the year on a high after a 120 % rally and strong demand for the new ES8.
• 🏁 Li Auto i6 Launch & “Cadence” Shift – Chinese EV brands adopt Tesla-style instant launch-and-deliver strategies.
• 📉 Reuters “Tailspin” Report on China’s Auto Industry – a deep look at overcapacity, price wars, and government pressure on OEMs and suppliers.
• 🏦 Policy Tightening & New MIIT Safety Rules – China moves to rein in involution and strengthen ADAS and connected-vehicle safety standards.
• 🌏 Export Shifts & Tariff Pressures – Mexico mulls higher duties, Canada goes zero, and Chery faces possible exit from Russia ahead of its Hong Kong IPO.
• ⚙️ BYD Targets 5 Million Units – non-price cut discounts and supplier-payment pledges amid a challenging Q4.
• 🧠 ADAS & Chip Wars Update – Momenta, Horizon Robotics, and Nvidia square off as Chinese and German OEMs race to catch up.
• 🇩🇪 Munich & Detroit Takeaways – Tu’s Automotive News Congress panel, Hyundai Chairman Chung’s appearance, and why U.S. leaders still underestimate Chinese EVs.

👉 Get Tu and Lei’s front-line insight on where China’s EV industry is headed next — and what Western automakers need to learn fast.

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🔑 Keywords

China EVs, China NEVs, NIO Day 2025, NIO ES8, Li Auto i6, Li Auto i8, BYD sales forecast, XPeng, Xiaomi SU7, Chery IPO, Chery Omoda, BYD exports, Reuters China EV tailspin, China auto overcapacity, EV price war, China ADAS policy, MIIT safety rules, Momenta ADAS, Horizon Robotics, Nvidia H20, Chinese EV exports, Mexico tariffs, Canada EV policy, Automotive News Congress, Hyundai Chung, Tu Le, Lei Xing, Sino Auto Insights Podcast, China EV podcast, EV market analysis.

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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to the EV Landscape
02:43 NIO Day and Market Dynamics
06:58 Involution and Market Challenges
10:09 Global Market Trends and Protectionism
13:22 Corporate Strategies and Price Wars
16:27 Industry Perspectives and Future Outlook
19:49 Automotive News and Events
23:15 Insights from the Automotive News Congress
27:48 Geopolitical Impacts on the EV Market
37:10 Conclusion and Future Discussions

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Tu Le and Lei Xing unpack a pivotal month for China’s EV sector — one defined by slowing giants, fast-rising challengers, and a global export push that’s reshaping the industry. 🇨🇳⚡️🌍

BYD’s domestic sales cool even as exports near 1 million units; Leapmotor doubles output, partners with Stellantis, and becomes the new benchmark for cost-controlled EV manufacturing; and Chery’s Hong Kong IPO cements its role as China’s global mass-market powerhouse. Meanwhile, Li Auto stalls, XPeng and NIO regain momentum, and legacy brands from Audi to Ford scramble to stay relevant in China’s hyper-competitive market.

They also hit:

🚙 BYD’s 53 % export mix and rising protectionism in Russia and Mexico

🔋 Leapmotor’s 2026 roadmap and Stellantis licensing play

📈 Chery’s Jaecoo, Omoda and Jetour brands expanding in Europe

⚙️ Li Auto’s i6 launch vs XPeng’s profit push

🏁 Ford’s Bronco EREV for China and Audi’s image reboot

💬 Why Western OEMs must match China’s speed and discipline to compete

Insightful, fast-moving, and grounded in on-the-ground reporting — this is your weekly download on how China’s EV revolution is transforming the global auto industry.

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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Hosts
02:17 Current Trends in EV Sales
04:37 Market Dynamics and Competitive Landscape
07:18 Focus on Leap Motor and BYD
10:09 Li Auto's Strategy and Challenges
12:31 Legacy Brands and Their Adaptation
15:08 Cherry's IPO and Historical Context
17:36 Cherry's Global Strategy and Market Positioning
27:33 The Price War in the Automotive Industry
29:23 Quality Improvements in Chinese Automakers
31:13 Manufacturing Complexity and Market Adaptation
33:00 Challenges in Product Iteration and Consumer Demand
35:58 Global Competitiveness and Market Dynamics
38:35 The Future of BYD and Market Competition
44:14 International Expansion and Regulatory Challenges
45:49 Audience Engagement and Future Discussions

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Keywords:

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Tu and Lei unpack a pivotal week in global EVs — where Germany’s giants stumble and China keeps charging ahead. 🇨🇳⚡️🇩🇪

Volkswagen’s BEV sales plunged 42 % in China, Mercedes and Porsche posted double-digit declines, and BMW trimmed profits as BYD surged abroad — up 880 % in the UK and 2,250 % in Germany. The hosts explore why legacy brands are losing momentum, how BYD’s rise is rewriting the cost game, and what the next-gen CLA, iX3 Neue Klasse, and MEB Plus platforms must prove in 2026.

They also hit:

🔋 China’s Golden Week charging surge (123 M kWh)

🚙 Tesla’s “de-contented” Model 3 & Y vs GM’s $29K Bolt 2027

⚙️ New Chinese energy-efficiency rules

🤖 Lyft × NVIDIA × TensorAuto’s “personal AVs”

🔬 Solid-state battery breakthroughs & CATL’s skateboard play

Insightful, fast-moving, and packed with data & industry-insider perspectives — all in under an hour.

Your weekly download on the global EV power shift.

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Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to the China EV Landscape

01:46 Challenges for German Automakers in China

08:13 Tesla vs. BYD: The EV Sales Race

10:30 Impact of Chinese EVs on Global Markets

13:53 Charging Infrastructure and Consumer Behavior

17:29 New Energy Efficiency Regulations in China

22:16 Tesla's Decontented Model 3 and Model Y Launch

24:25 Tesla's Market Dynamics in China

27:33 The Impact of New EV Models

29:41 Battery Technology Innovations

32:14 The Future of Autonomous Vehicles

34:34 Car Buying Adventures and Market Trends

36:31 Battery Swapping and Industry Insights

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Key words:

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Tu Le and Lei Xing bring you inside Europe’s biggest auto show where Chinese EV makers and global legacies collide.

We break down:
• Volkswagen Group’s push into €25K EVs (Cupra, ID Polo, Skoda Epiq)
• BMW’s Neue Klasse iX3 vs. Mercedes’ all-new GLC EV
• Polestar 5 sedan launch — is it too late?
• BYD’s massive European push (Seal 6 DMI Touring, Dolphin Surf, Denza flash-charging)
• XPeng, Changan, Leapmotor and the “second wave” of Chinese OEMs storming Europe
• Partnerships everywhere: Valeo–Momenta, Bosch–WeRide, Qualcomm–QCraft
• The rise of Chinese lidar (Hesai, RoboSense) and chipmakers (Horizon, Black Sesame)

00:00 Introduction to Mobility Munich Special Edition

01:44 Volkswagen Group's New Electric Vehicles

05:22 BMW vs. Mercedes: Competing Electric Models

10:26 Chinese OEMs Making Their Mark in Europe

15:35 Reflections on Day One of the Event

20:40 The Future of EVs and Industry Partnerships

25:37 Closing Thoughts and Future Events

👉 Subscribe for unfiltered insights on how China’s EV juggernauts and Europe’s auto giants are battling for the future of mobility.

🔑 SEO Keywords
China EVs & More, Tu Le, Lei Xing, Sino Auto Insights, IAA Mobility Munich 2025, Volkswagen Group EVs, Cupra EV, VW ID Polo, Skoda Epiq, BMW Neue Klasse iX3, Mercedes GLC EV, Polestar 5, BYD Seal 6 DMI, BYD Dolphin Surf, Denza EV Europe, XPeng Europe strategy, Changan Deepal S05, Leapmotor Europe launch, Horizon Robotics, Black Sesame Tech, Momenta ADAS, Bosch WeRide, Qualcomm QCraft, Hesai lidar, RoboSense lidar, Chinese EVs in Europe, EV price war Europe

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In Episode 218 of China EVs & More, Tu Le and Lei Xing break down one of the most heated summers yet in China’s EV world — a season of price wars, social media battles, and momentum shifts.

We cover:

• ⚔️ Onvo L90 vs. Li Auto i8 rivalry – aggressive pricing, messy launches, and social media smear campaigns.
• 🚗 NIO’s momentum with Onvo L90 – 10,000+ monthly deliveries expected after a near-flawless launch.
• 📉 Li Auto’s missteps – i8 pricing controversy, heavy-duty truck collision stunt backlash, and slowing L-series sales.
• 🔋 EV price war fatigue – central government scrutiny, “non-price cut price cuts,” and supply chain strains.
• 🌍 VinFast’s dominance in Vietnam – how the VF5 is becoming the Grab/taxi of choice and what it means for Southeast Asia.
• ⚡ Charging networks in China vs. the West – interoperability, NIO swap stations, Li Auto superchargers, and why Xiaomi succeeds without its own network.
• 🤖 Robots & Lidar – Hesai and RoboSense pivoting from EVs to robots at the World Robot Conference.

👉 Join Tu and Lei for sharp analysis on the companies, policies, and global forces shaping the EV future.

🔑 Keywords

China EVs, China NEVs, Onvo L90, NIO, Li Auto i8, Li Auto L9, Li Auto Mega, XPeng G7, XPeng P7, Xiaomi SU7, BYD, VinFast VF5, VinFast Vietnam, EV price war China, Chinese EV market, Southeast Asia EVs, EV charging networks, NIO battery swap, Li Auto supercharging, Xiaomi EV strategy, Hesai, RoboSense, World Robot Conference, Sino Auto Insights, Tu Le, Lei Xing.

Would you like me to also create a set of timestamped YouTube chapters for Episode 218 (like I did for Ep. 220) so viewers can jump straight to the L90/i8 fight, VinFast in Vietnam, and charging wars?

Timestamp

0:00 – Welcome & intro

1:10 – A momentum-shifting summer for China’s EV market

3:00 – Li Auto i8 vs. Onvo L90 rivalry heats up

6:30 – Li Auto’s truck collision stunt & social media backlash

8:50 – Water armies explained & smear campaigns in China’s EV sector

10:30 – NIO’s Onvo L90 launch strategy & perfect execution

14:50 – L90 pricing disrupts multiple segments

18:40 – Supply chain discipline & standardization (fridges, features, SKUs)

20:30 – Lessons from Apple, Xiaomi & BYD on execution and profitability

22:30 – How long can Onvo’s momentum last?

23:40 – Li Auto i8 repricing & Pro/Max/Ultra confusion

25:00 – Emotional value in branding: frunks, memes & AR HUDs

27:30 – EV brands evolving from price to brand identity

30:00 – Launch events compared: NIO, Li Auto, XPeng P7

33:00 – Reflections from Singapore & Vietnam trip (Tu Le)

35:30 – VinFast VF5 as Vietnam’s Grab/taxi car of choice

37:00 – VinFast challenges outside Vietnam vs. BYD competition

40:30 – Why VinFast can’t replicate BYD’s scale in Vietnam

43:30 – Charging network interoperability in China vs. the West

46:30 – Why some OEMs still build proprietary charging networks

48:30 – U.S. charging infrastructure vs. China’s WeChat simplicity

49:45 – World Robot Conference recap: Hesai, RoboSense & the robot pivot

51:30 – Closing thoughts & what’s next

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In this episode, Tu Le and Lei Xing unpack a busy week in the global EV world — from the Chengdu Motor Show to the explosive 42,000 Zeekr 9X reservations in just one hour.

We dive deep into:

• 🚙 Zeekr 9X launch & aggressive pricing strategy – the “Hangzhou Bay Cullinan” takes aim at premium SUVs.
• 🇨🇳 Chengdu Motor Show highlights – Volvo XC70, Ford Bronco BEV/PHEV, Exeed ET5 with Horizon Robotics chip, Roewe M7 DMH, and Huawei-backed HypeTech A800.
• 🌍 Global expansion moves – BYD, Leapmotor, and others ship kits abroad (Thailand, India, Hungary, Spain) to skirt tariffs.
• 🧠 China’s chip push – Horizon Robotics, Black Sesame, Huawei, XPeng, Li Auto and others design their own silicon, challenging NVIDIA & Qualcomm.
• 📉 EV price war 2.0 – NIO standardizes 100 kWh packs, Li Auto struggles, XPeng hits 30k+ monthly sales, and Xiaomi momentum builds.
• 🚀 New entrants – DreamE (yes, the robot vacuum company!) jumps into the ultra-luxury EV space, aiming at Bugatti.
• 🔋 Battery tech trends – Sodium-ion, LMR, dual-chemistry packs, and how EREV strategies could influence U.S. trucks.

👉 Join us for sharp insights on China’s fast-evolving EV sector and what it all means for the global auto industry.

🔑 Keywords

China EVs, China NEVs, Zeekr 9X, Geely, Volvo XC70, Ford Bronco EV, Exeed ET5, Roewe M7, HypeTech A800, Huawei ADS, BYD, Leapmotor, XPeng P7, NIO ES8, NIO Onvo L90, Li Auto i6 i8, Xiaomi SU7, DreamE EV, Bugatti challenger, Chengdu Motor Show 2025, IAA Munich preview, Horizon Robotics, Black Sesame, Hesai, RoboSense, Nvidia, Qualcomm, China EV chip war, EV price war, Sino Auto Insights podcast, Tu Le, Lei Xing.

Time stamps:

0:00 – Welcome & intro (Qixi “Valentine’s Day” edition)

1:30 – Zeekr 9X launch & 42,000 reservations in 1 hour

4:30 – Design, pricing & “Hangzhou Bay Cullinan” positioning

6:30 – Chengdu Motor Show overview & significance

10:10 – Volvo XC70 launch & Ford Bronco EV/PHEV reveal

12:00 – Exeed ET5 with Horizon Robotics chip & Roewe M7 DMH

12:45 – Huawei-backed HypeTech A800 flagship sedan

15:30 – BMW Neue Klasse, IAA Munich preview & European competition

16:30 – BYD, Leapmotor & kit assembly abroad (Thailand, India, Hungary, Spain)

20:00 – Chinese Tier 1s at IAA: CATL, Horizon Robotics, Hesai, RoboSense & more

22:00 – China’s chip wars: Horizon, Black Sesame, Huawei, XPeng, Li Auto vs. Nvidia & Qualcomm

26:30 – NIO standardizes 100 kWh packs & the “non-price cut price cut”

28:00 – Li Auto i6/i8 challenges, XPeng momentum, NIO L90 vs. Li Auto L9

31:00 – He Xiaopeng interview: “only 5 automakers will remain” debate

33:10 – SOE restructuring: Dongfeng, FAW, Changan consolidation

34:30 – New entrants: DreamE (robot vacuum maker) takes aim at Bugatti

39:00 – XPeng P7 vs. Xiaomi SU7 – which would you choose?

44:30 – NIO delays L80 launch to prioritize L90 demand

45:30 – Battery tech trends: Sodium-ion, LMR, dual chemistry & U.S. truck lessons

48:30 – Big picture: SUVs, EREVs, BEVs & China’s consumer preferences

49:54 – Wrap up & preview of next week’s IAA coverage from Munich

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In this episode of China EVs & More, Tu (Sino Auto Insights) and Lei (former Editor-in-Chief of China Auto Review) dive deep into the latest developments in the global EV and mobility sector.

From NIO’s bold ES8 relaunch and pricing strategy to XPeng’s surprising earnings and Leapmotor’s raised sales forecasts, the conversation spans China’s ultra-competitive EV market, Tesla’s Model Y L update, and how foreign automakers like Ford, GM, Volkswagen, Audi, and Buick are fighting to stay relevant.

The hosts also discuss battery swapping milestones, government price-cut scrutiny, global tariff shifts, and the EV retail channel wars (4S vs. D2C). To wrap, Tu shares his personal EV shopping experience in the U.S. (Cadillac Optiq, BMW i4, Chevy Blazer EV, Hyundai IONIQ 5).

If you’re tracking China’s EV giants and their impact on the global auto market, this is a must-listen.

Keywords:

China EV market, NIO ES8 2025, Onvo L90, Tesla Model Y L China, Li Auto i8, XPeng P7, Leapmotor sales forecast, BYD Yangwang, Xiaomi SU7, Aito M8, Ford EV platform, CATL battery, Volkswagen XPeng partnership, Buick Electra, Audi E5 Sportback, AutoX robotaxi, Geely satellites, Tesla DeepSeek, EV price war China, battery swapping, NEV sales China, EV breakeven 2025

Companies discussed:

• Chinese OEMs: NIO, Onvo, Li Auto, XPeng, Leapmotor, BYD (Yangwang, Denza, Fang Cheng Bao), Aito, Xiaomi Auto, Geely, Huawei (Momenta, Hesai)
• Global OEMs: Tesla, Ford, GM (Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet), Volkswagen, Audi, Hyundai, BMW, Lucid, Rivian, Stellantis, Volvo, Polestar
• Suppliers & Partners: CATL, DeepSeek, Doubao, SpaceX/Starlink

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to the EV Landscape

01:52 NIO's ES8 Launch and Market Impact

09:21 Pricing Strategies and Market Dynamics

18:46 Legacy Automakers and Their Adaptation

28:09 Future Trends in the EV Market

36:04 Tech Upgrades and Market Trends

37:47 Pricing Strategies and Market Positioning

39:38 Brand Differentiation and Consumer Perception

42:33 Competition in the EV Market

47:55 Consumer Preferences and Brand Loyalty

49:42 Localization and Market Adaptation

51:12 Profitability and Production Strategies

55:15 Sales Channels: D2C vs. Traditional Models

57:58 Future of EVs and Consumer Expectations

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In this episode, Tu and Lei focus on Tesla's recent earnings, the results of an advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) test conducted by Dong Che Di, and the ongoing price war in the EV market.

They analyze the implications of these developments for the industry, including the challenges of intelligent driving systems and the strategies employed by various EV makers to gain market share.

The conversation also touches on global expansion efforts, sponsorships, and audience insights, culminating in a comprehensive overview of the current state of the EV landscape.

Keywords

EV, ADAS, Tesla, Dong Che Di, intelligent driving, price war, global expansion, sponsorships, market strategies, audience insights

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In this episode, Tu Le and Lei Xing dive deep into:

✅ China’s EV Inflection Point – NEVs now account for over 60% of new car sales in China. What does this mean for global automakers?

✅ NIO’s Onvo L90 Launch – Priced under RMB 200K, this family-sized SUV is positioned to challenge Tesla and Li Auto head-on.

✅ Li Auto i8 vs. NIO Onvo L90 vs. Tesla Model Y L – Which wins the battle for China’s most competitive segment?

✅ BYD Strategy Shift – From aggressive pricing to premium branding and new models.

✅ Xiaomi’s EV Momentum – SU7 success and what’s next with YU7 and YU9.

✅ Foreign OEM Response – Buick Electra series, Ford’s electric Bronco concept, and BMW’s China strategy.

✅ Smart Driving & ADAS – Why Nvidia, Huawei, and Momenta dominate the conversation in intelligent driving.

✅ Robotaxi & Autonomy Race – Tesla, Waymo, Pony.ai, and Lucid’s Uber tie-up—who’s ahead?

✅ Policy & Trade – How China’s anti-price-war directive and U.S. tariffs on graphite could disrupt supply chains.

Companies Mentioned in This Episode

• Chinese Automakers & Tech: BYD, NIO (Onvo), Li Auto, XPeng, Xiaomi, Leapmotor, Aito (Huawei), Zeekr, IM Motors, Firefly
• Global Automakers: Tesla, Buick (GM), BMW, Ford
• Tech & Mobility: Nvidia, Huawei, Momenta, Waymo, Uber, Nuro
• Others: Lucid Motors, Rivian, Magna, Pony.ai

👉 Subscribe now for expert analysis on EVs, mobility tech, and the companies shaping the future of transportation.

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In this episode of China EVs & More, Tu and Lei dive into the latest from China’s fast-moving EV market. They explore the intense price war that’s reshaping the industry, why Tesla’s Model Y remains resilient despite new competition, and the incredible rise of Xiaomi with the SU7.

They break down June sales data, BYD’s dominance, new EV and EREV launches, and why foreign automakers like Porsche, BMW, and Mercedes are struggling in China. Plus, they talk about Onvo L90’s high-stakes debut, Xpeng’s EREV strategy, and how cities like Wuhan have become ground zero for robotaxi innovation.

• Chinese EV & Tech Brands: BYD, NIO, XPeng, Li Auto, Xiaomi, Zeekr, Leapmotor, Chery, Onvo (NIO sub-brand), AutoX, DeepRoute.ai, Baidu (Apollo Go), Car Inc., Hengchi
• Foreign Automakers: Tesla, Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Maserati
• Tech & Mobility Players: Momenta
• Rental/Service Platforms: Car Inc., China Driven (media/content)

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Tu and Lei continue the discussion with Jill Shen - Technode, Ethan Robertson - Wheelsboy, and Ed White - Financial Times and in Part #2, the conversation delves into the complexities of the Chinese automotive market, focusing on international expansion, technology infrastructure, battery innovations, brand strategies, and the impact of global market trends.

The speakers discuss the challenges faced by legacy brands and the rise of new brands, highlighting the dynamic nature of the industry and the anticipated vehicle launches that could shape the future of the market.

Keywords

EVs, international markets, battery technology, brand strategies, Chinese automotive industry, market dynamics, vehicle launches, consumer insights, technology infrastructure, legacy brands

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In this episode, Tu and Lei discuss the latest developments in the electric vehicle (EV) market, focusing on the launch of Xiaomi's YU7 and its implications for competitors like Tesla.

They share insights from their experiences with Waymo in Phoenix, analyze production capacities, and explore the dynamics of the EV market, including the rise of robotaxis and the challenges faced by traditional automakers.

The conversation highlights the importance of marketing strategies and consumer engagement in the rapidly evolving automotive landscape.

Keywords

Xiaomi YU7, Tesla, EV market, Waymo, robotaxi, automotive industry, China, electric vehicles, market analysis, mobility

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In this episode, Tu and Lei discuss the latest developments in the electric vehicle (EV) sector, focusing on Tesla's upcoming robotaxi launch, the competitive landscape in China, and the implications of price wars among EV manufacturers.

They explore the challenges of transitioning to Level 4 autonomy, Tesla's valuation in comparison to competitors, and the milestones achieved by various EV companies.

The conversation also touches on Xiaomi's ambitions in the EV market and Renault's leadership changes, providing insights into the future of the automotive industry.

Keywords

EV, Tesla, Robotaxi, Level 4 Autonomy, China, Price War, FSD, Market Dynamics, Xiaomi, Renault

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In this episode, Tu and Lei discuss the latest developments in the electric vehicle (EV) sector, focusing on the impact of historical automotive brands like Chrysler, current market challenges in the US, and the implications of recent sales trends. They delve into the fallout from the social media spat between Trump and Elon Musk, the significance of China's rare earth restrictions, and emerging trends in EV technology. The conversation also highlights insights from recent automotive conferences and engages with audience questions about the future of the industry.

Keywords

EV, automotive industry, Chrysler, Tesla, Trump, China, rare earths, sales trends, technology, conferences

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In this episode, Tu and Lei discuss the latest developments in the electric vehicle (EV) and automotive industry in China. They delve into the implications of new payment terms for suppliers, the competitive landscape among Chinese automakers, and the global strategy of BYD. The conversation also touches on the future of internal combustion engines, Tesla's advancements in autonomous driving, and XPeng's AI innovations. Additionally, they address quality control challenges and the regulatory environment affecting the industry.

Keywords / Companies:

China EVs, automotive industry, payment terms, suppliers, BYD, Tesla, XPeng, quality control, market strategy, electric vehicles

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Tu and Lei invite Jill Shen, Ethan Robertson and Ed White - three China locals to talk ALL THINGS China EV Inc and, boy did they have a lot to say. So much so that we needed to divide this episode into two parts. This is Part #1.

This conversation delves into the recent Shanghai Auto Show, highlighting the evolving landscape of the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) market. The discussion covers regulatory changes impacting safety standards, shifts in marketing focus from technology to safety, and the competitive dynamics between legacy automakers and emerging brands. Key players like Tesla and BYD are analyzed in terms of their market strategies and future challenges, with insights into the global expansion of Chinese EV brands and the implications of geopolitical factors on their growth.

Keywords
China, EVs, Shanghai Auto Show, regulatory changes, safety, Tesla, BYD, automotive industry, electric vehicles, market trends

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Tu Le and Lei Xing return with a high-voltage episode unpacking the latest chaos in China’s EV market. From BYD’s aggressive price cuts and zero-mileage car controversy to the Xiaomi SU7 saga and Geely’s counterattacks, the battle for dominance is heating up. They also dive into Li Auto’s latest earnings, NIO’s intelligent driving rollout, and XPeng’s momentum in tech and exports.

Plus: reflections from Tu’s panel at the Mackinac Policy Conference, GM’s retreat in China, and why Michigan must lead the U.S. into the next era of mobility.

🔋 Topics include:

• BYD’s price war escalation and “Evergrande of autos” accusation
• China’s zero-mileage car controversy and export gamesmanship
• Xiaomi’s rebound with the YU7
• NIO’s shift from Nvidia to Shenji chips
• Li Auto’s strategy with the i-Series and massive charging ambitions
• Tesla’s tech leadership slide in China
• Geopolitical headwinds, trade policy, and Michigan’s EV future

📌 Companies mentioned:

BYD, Geely, Chery, Cadillac, XPeng, Xiaomi, Great Wall Motor, Li Auto, NIO, Tesla, GM, Stellantis, Buick, Chevrolet, Aito, Denza, Yangwang, Fang Cheng Bao, HiPhi, EV Electra, Faraday Future, LG Energy Solution, Car Design Research, Peugeot, Citroën

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In this episode, Tu and Lei discuss the latest developments in the electric vehicle (EV) sector, focusing on key players like NIO, Xiaomi, and BYD. They explore NIO's recent product launches, the competitive landscape in China's EV market, and the challenges faced by Xiaomi.

The conversation also delves into the rise of robotaxis and autonomous vehicles, as well as the strategic moves by GM and Ford in the EV space. The hosts emphasize the importance of consumer sentiment and brand loyalty in this rapidly evolving market, concluding with thoughts on future trends and the overall outlook for the industry.

Keywords

EV, NIO, Xiaomi, BYD, Robotaxi, Autonomous Vehicles, GM, Ford, China Automotive Industry, Market Trends

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Tu and Lei embark on a road trip from Beijing to Shanghai in a NIO ET5, discussing their experiences with the vehicle, insights from the Shanghai Auto Show, and the advancements in battery swapping technology.

They share their thoughts on the driving experience, the NOP+ intelligent driving features, and the overall user experience, concluding with reflections on their journey and future plans.

Companies discussed:
NIO, Jetour, XPeng, Chery, SAIC Motor, Avatr, CATL

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In this episode, Tu and Lei discuss their recent experiences at the Shanghai Auto Show and the evolving landscape of electric vehicles (EVs) in China. They reflect on the advancements in Chinese EV brands, the strategies of foreign automakers, and the innovative power swap technology that is gaining traction. They also discuss the notable absences of key figures, the insights gained from a roundtable discussion, and the standout vehicle designs and innovations presented.

The conversation also touches on the driving experiences with intelligent driving systems and highlights memorable models from the auto show. The hosts emphasize the globalization of the EV market and the future prospects for Chinese brands as they aim to expand internationally. The conversation concludes with predictions for the future of EVs and the industry's direction.

Key words
China EV, electric vehicles, Shanghai Auto Show, NIO, foreign automakers, power swap technology, intelligent driving, EV market trends, automotive industry, Chinese brands, Auto Show, Electric Vehicles, EV Technology, Industry Insights, Vehicle Design, Market Trends, China EV Market, Automotive Innovations, Roundtable Discussion, Competitive Landscape

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In this episode, Tu and Lei discuss the latest developments in the electric vehicle (EV) sector, focusing on key events such as the New York Auto Show and the upcoming Shanghai Auto Show.

They highlight BYD's recent achievements, including winning prestigious awards and expanding its global presence. The conversation also touches on the challenges faced by EV manufacturers, the importance of intelligent driving technology, and the impact of recent accidents on the industry's marketing strategies.

Additionally, they explore the role of Chinese tech companies in shaping the future of the automotive landscape and the significance of battery technology advancements.

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In this episode, Tu and Lei discuss the current state of the automotive industry, focusing on the impact of tariffs between the US and China, the performance of major automakers like Porsche, and the shifting dynamics in the premium market in China.

They also touch on the upcoming Auto Shanghai 2025 and the implications of new product launches in the EV sector.

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In this episode, Tu and Lei discuss the latest developments in the electric vehicle (EV) sector, focusing on the impact of political decisions and trade tariffs on the industry.

They analyze the sales performance of major players like BYD and Tesla, the challenges faced by NIO, and the implications of recent accidents involving intelligent driving technologies.

The conversation also covers advancements in eVTOL technology and the significance of new charging solutions in the market.

Keywords:
China, EVs, tariffs, trade, NIO, BYD, Tesla, eVTOL, Xiaomi, market dynamics

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In this week’s episode of China EVs & More, Tu Le and Lei Xing dive deep into two massive stories shaping the global auto industry: tariffs and BYD’s dominance. 🇨🇳🚗💥

Topics covered:

• The impact of new U.S. tariffs on EVs and parts, and what it means for Tesla, the Big 3, and global supply chains

• BYD’s explosive growth: from 500K to over 5 million units, and eyeing 10M by 2030

• The launch of the Yangwang U7 – a 1,300 hp luxury EV aiming squarely at the EQS and i7

• Why Germany and Japan may be the biggest losers in the evolving EV landscape

• BYD’s export strategy and vertical integration masterclass

• Can Denza, Fang Cheng Bao, and Yangwang go premium inside and outside China?

• Plus: NIO’s financial pressures, Xiaomi SU7’s rise, and the EV arms race heating up globally

👉 Subscribe for weekly insights on EVs, AVs, and the future of mobility.

📬 Sign up for Tu Le’s free newsletter: sinoautoinsights.substack.com

BYD #Tariffs #Tesla #EVs #ChinaAuto #YangwangU7 #AutoIndustry #NIO #XiaomiSU7 #Mobility

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In this episode, Tu and Lei discuss the latest developments in the electric vehicle (EV) sector, focusing on the competitive landscape between major players like BYD and NIO.

They explore the implications of recent announcements regarding charging technology, battery swapping, and new vehicle launches, while also addressing the challenges faced by companies like NIO in a rapidly evolving market.

The conversation highlights BYD's innovative strategies and the potential impact on the global EV market. This conversation delves into the evolving landscape of the electric vehicle (EV) market, focusing on the implications of Full Self-Driving (FSD) pricing, advancements in charging infrastructure, and the latest earnings reports from key players in the industry.

The discussion highlights the competitive strategies of companies like BYD and Tesla, their international expansion efforts, and the challenges faced by traditional automakers in adapting to the rapidly changing market dynamics.

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In this episode, Tu and Lei discuss the latest developments in the electric vehicle (EV) market, focusing on competition, technology, and consumer preferences.

They analyze the impact of new models like the XPeng G6 and the challenges faced by legacy automakers like Volkswagen and NIO.

The conversation highlights the importance of technology, such as lidar, and the evolving landscape of RoboTaxis.

The hosts also touch on global market trends and the growing presence of Chinese brands in the automotive sector.

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In this episode, Tu and Lei discuss the latest developments in the electric vehicle (EV) market, focusing on competition, technology, and consumer preferences.

They analyze various EV models, including the G6 and Model Y, and explore the implications of lidar technology and RoboTaxis.

The conversation also touches on the challenges faced by legacy automakers like Volkswagen and the struggles of NIO in the current market landscape.

The episode concludes with insights into the future of the EV industry and the strategies of companies like Li Auto.

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In this episode, Tu and Lei focus on the earnings reports from major automakers Mercedes, Porsche, and Renault. They explore the implications of these reports on the global market, particularly China's pivotal role in the EV landscape.

The conversation delves into the competitive dynamics between Chinese and German automakers, the advancements in autonomous vehicle technology, and the strategic moves of companies like Baidu in international markets.

Audience questions further enrich the discussion, highlighting trends and future predictions in the automotive industry.

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In this episode, Tu and Lei celebrate their 200th episode by reflecting on the evolution of the electric vehicle (EV) market, particularly in China.

They discuss the rise of intelligent driving technologies, the impact of Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, and the recent launch of Xiaomi's SU7 Ultra.

The conversation also touches on the challenges faced by Volkswagen in the Chinese market and the competitive landscape among Chinese EV manufacturers.

Throughout the episode, the hosts emphasize the importance of staying informed and engaged with the rapidly changing automotive industry.

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In this conversation, Christian Steinman shares his extensive experience in the automotive industry, detailing his journey from traditional automotive roles to becoming the CEO of ClearMotion.

He discusses the challenges and innovations in active suspension technology, the collaboration with NIO, and insights gained from CES 2025, emphasizing the need for speed and adaptability in the evolving automotive landscape.

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In this episode, Tu and Lei discuss the latest developments in the electric vehicle (EV) sector, focusing on BYD's recent announcements regarding their smart driving technology, the competitive landscape of the automotive industry, and the implications of state-owned enterprises in China.

They explore the challenges and opportunities for both domestic and international players in the EV market, emphasizing the significance of technological advancements and market dynamics.

The conversation also touches on the future of EVs and the evolving regulatory environment.

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In this episode, Tu and Lei discuss the latest developments in the China EV market, including the ongoing price war among manufacturers, the challenges faced by Tesla, and the impact of tariffs on the automotive industry.

They also explore the strategies of foreign automakers in China, the significance of local production, and the role of technology in maintaining competitiveness.

The conversation highlights the importance of battery swapping standards and concludes with insights into the future outlook for the industry.

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In this episode of China EVs & More, hosts Tu Le and Lei Xing dive into the biggest news in the global EV, AV, and mobility sectors. The episode kicks off with a discussion on the impact of the Lunar New Year on China’s auto market, including the significance of the Spring Festival Gala as a marketing platform for Chinese EV brands.

The hosts break down Tesla’s latest earnings report, discussing Elon Musk’s focus on autonomy, the upcoming “Model Q” as an affordable EV, and Tesla’s unconventional approach to gathering data in China. They also analyze General Motors’ North American manufacturing shifts in response to potential 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports.

Other hot topics include Volkswagen’s talks with Chinese automakers about factory takeovers in Germany, Stellantis’ struggles, and the evolving dealer model in the U.S. automotive landscape.

Companies Discussed:

• Tesla (FSD, Model Y, upcoming affordable EV)

• BYD (Global sales surge, leadership recognition)

• General Motors (GM) (Tariffs, North American supply chain adjustments)

• Volkswagen (VW) (Potential factory deals with Chinese automakers)

• Stellantis (Inventory struggles, pricing strategy)

• Ford (U.S. EV strategies and competition)

• Hyundai (Amazon partnership, online sales model)

• Nissan & Honda (Potential alliance discussions)

• Xiaomi (Su7 model at the Spring Festival Gala)

• Huawei (Maxro S800 brand visibility)

• Chang’an (Ito M9 light show, Shenlan/Deepal S09, Qiyuan Q07)

• AutoFlight (eVTOL showcase)

• CATL (Battery partnerships)

• Unitree Robotics (Dancing robots at the Gala)

• RoboSense (Lidar technology)

Don’t miss this insightful discussion on the latest trends shaping the global EV and mobility landscape. Subscribe and stay updated on the future of transportation!

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In this episode, Lei Xing and Tu Le discuss the latest updates in the global EV, AV, and mobility sectors. Key topics include:

• US-China Trade & Tariffs – The impact of Biden’s 100% tariff on Chinese EVs and how Trump’s possible return could reshape trade policies.

• Tesla Updates – The launch of the new Model Y (Juniper) and its effect on competition. Discussion on Tesla’s FSD approval in China and how it stacks up against local brands.

• China’s EV Market – Government incentives, rising EV adoption, and CATL’s prediction that LFP batteries will dominate 70% of the market in three years.

• US Automakers – Ford and GM’s EV sales growth, Cadillac’s Lyriq V launch, and Stellantis’ $5B investment in US manufacturing.

• BYD Scrutiny – Reports of hidden debt and its growing competition with Tesla.

• Upcoming Price Wars – How Chinese EV makers may cut prices to compete with Tesla’s new Model Y.

Companies Discussed

1. Tesla – Model Y Juniper, FSD in China

2. BYD – Market leadership, financial concerns

3. Ford – EV growth

4. GM – Cadillac Lyriq V, Momenta partnership

5. Stellantis – Investment in US factories

6. CATL – Battery market trends

7. Xpeng, NIO, Geely – Competition in China

The hosts also discuss the upcoming Shanghai Auto Show and how government policies will shape the future of EVs.

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Welcome to Episode 194 of the China EVs and More podcast! In this episode, hosts Tu Le and Lei Xing wrap up 2024 and share insights into the global EV and mobility sectors. Key topics discussed include:

1.China’s Dominance in the EV Market:

•China’s remarkable sales of nearly 13 million NEVs in 2024, representing a 50% domestic market share.

•The continued decline of foreign automakers in China, including shrinking market shares for Mercedes, Volkswagen, and Porsche.

2.Tesla’s Market Strategies:

•The Model Y’s global success as the best-selling vehicle in 2024 and its dominant position in China.

•The unveiling of Tesla’s updated Model Y (Juniper) and the strategic focus on maintaining competitiveness in the Chinese market.

3.CES 2025 Highlights:

•A strong presence of Chinese companies, with brands like Zeekr, XPeng, and Li Auto showcasing cutting-edge technologies.

•Innovations in LiDAR, smart cockpits, and EV design from companies such as NVIDIA and RoboSense.

4.Policy and Market Trends:

•The impact of US restrictions on Chinese automotive hardware and software.

•China’s government incentives to boost EV adoption, including expanded trade-in policies for older ICE vehicles.

5.Emerging Players and Innovations:

•Xiaomi’s ambitions to scale EV production with its Su-7 model.

•The rise of premium features like Dolby Atmos and Vision in vehicles like the
Zeekr 009 MPV.

Companies Mentioned

•Tesla

•BYD

•NIO

•XPeng

•Zeekr

•Li Auto

•Volkswagen

•Porsche

•Mercedes-Benz

•Xiaomi

•RoboSense

•NVIDIA

•Huawei

Join Tu and Lei each week for expert insights on the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of global mobility.

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In this episode, hosts Tu Le and Lei Xing discuss the latest developments in the electric vehicle (EV) market, reflecting on the Biden administration's impact on the industry. They analyze the significant growth of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China, the challenges faced by foreign automakers, and Tesla's strategic positioning in the market.

The conversation also touches on economic factors influencing the EV sector, including trade-in policies and currency fluctuations, before wrapping up with insights from the recent CES event. In this conversation, Tu Le and Lei Xing discuss their experiences at CES, focusing on the innovations in autonomous vehicles, the impact of geopolitical tensions on the automotive industry, and the significant presence of Chinese companies at the event.

They reflect on the evolution of CES from a consumer electronics show to a major platform for automotive technology, highlighting key trends and products showcased. The discussion also touches on the Detroit Auto Show and the recognition of various vehicles in the automotive industry.

Companies Mentioned

NIO, Tesla, BYD, XPeng, CATL, Li Auto, Geely, Xiaomi, Volkswagen, Huawei, RoboSense, Horizon Robotics, Ford, General Motors (GM), Stellantis.

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Welcome to Episode 192 of the China EVs and More podcast! In this episode, Tu Le and Lei Xing dive into the latest developments shaping the global electric vehicle (EV), autonomous vehicle (AV), and mobility sectors. Key topics include:

1.NIO Day 2024 Highlights:

•The debut of NIO’s Firefly brand targeting affordable EV markets.

•The unveiling of the luxury ET9 model and its groundbreaking steer-by-wire technology.

2.Battery-Swapping Innovations:

•The rise of NIO and CATL as leaders in the battery-swapping ecosystem.

•Speculation on Firefly’s adoption of CATL’s standardized battery packs.

3.Industry Challenges and Collaborations:

•Honda’s potential acquisition of Nissan amid struggles in key markets.

•Insights into legacy automakers’ challenges in China, including GM’s decline and strategic shifts.

4.Technological and Market Trends:

•Advanced vehicle technologies, including autonomous driving and ADAS.

•CES 2025 previews featuring innovations from XPeng, ZEEKR, and Great Wall Motors.

With expert insights into market dynamics, government policies, and global trends, this episode is a must-listen for anyone tracking the future of mobility.

Companies Mentioned

•NIO

•CATL

•BYD

•Honda

•Nissan

•General Motors (GM)

•Tesla

•XPeng

•ZEEKR

•Huawei

•Foxconn

•Stellantis

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Join hosts Lei Xing and Tu Le in this dynamic episode of China EVs and More as they dissect the week’s most pivotal news and developments in the global EV, AV, and mobility sectors. From corporate shake-ups to industry resets, the discussion highlights critical issues shaping the future of mobility.

Discussion Topics:

• The sudden challenges and restructuring at Ji Yue, a joint venture between Geely and Baidu.

• Analysis of the “reset” era in China’s EV market and its implications for startups and legacy automakers.

• BYD’s dominance and its impact on both domestic and international markets.

• Evaluating automaker strategies, from Volkswagen’s 10-point plan for China to Stellantis’ investments in Leapmotor and CATL.

• NIO’s ambitious goals for profitability and scale in 2025 and its evolving battery-swapping ecosystem.

• Insights into the global implications of shifting EV production and market dynamics.

• The collapse of GM’s Cruise and its lessons for autonomous vehicle technology.

• Predictions for market protectionism and its effects on EV exports, especially in South America.

Companies Discussed:

• Geely, Baidu, Ji Yue

• BYD, Nio, Leapmotor

• Volkswagen, GM, Stellantis

• CATL, Tesla, Waymo

• GAC, Huawei, Xiaomi

Tune in for an in-depth exploration of the challenges and opportunities in the ever-evolving EV and mobility industries!

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Summary

In this episode, Tu Le and Lei Xing discuss the latest trends and insights in the electric vehicle (EV) market, focusing on sales data from November, the competitive landscape involving major players like Tesla and BYD, and the challenges faced by legacy automakers such as GM and Nissan in the Chinese market. They explore the implications of government incentives, market strategies, and the evolving consumer trust in various brands. The conversation highlights the dynamic nature of the EV sector and the ongoing adjustments required by manufacturers to stay relevant.

Keywords

EV market, Tesla, BYD, NIO, GM, Stellantis, Nissan, China automotive, electric vehicles, sales trends, market analysis

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In this engaging episode of the China EVs & More podcast, Tu Le and Lei Xing recap their experience at the 2024 Paris Motor Show, offering insights into the evolving global EV landscape. Highlights include discussions on the growing influence of Chinese automakers in Europe, the resurgence of European brands like Renault, and key geopolitical challenges shaping the automotive industry. The duo also shares anecdotes about networking, market dynamics, and the cultural aspects of the show.

Key Topics Covered:

•Chinese Automakers in Europe: The prominence of brands like BYD, Xpeng, and AITO at the Paris Motor Show, their strategies, and the European market’s response.

•European Brands’ Counterattack: Renault’s new offerings and the competitive pricing of French EVs as a response to the “Chinese EV assault.”

•Market Dynamics: Observations on global trends, the geopolitical backdrop, and the future of auto shows.

•Industry Leaders & Networking: Encounters with executives and key players such as Carlos Tavares (Stellantis) and Herbert Diess.

This episode delivers a deep dive into the intersection of automotive innovation, global market strategies, and cultural exchanges.

List of Mentioned Companies

Automakers:

1.Renault

2.Stellantis (including Citroën and Peugeot)

3.BYD

4.Xpeng

5.LeapMotor

6.AITO

7.Dongfeng Forthing

8.Hongqi

9.Skyworth

10.Tesla

11.GAC Group

12.Cadillac

13.Ford

14.Dacia

15.Alpine

16.Mobilize

17.ZEEKR

18.Porsche

19.Volkswagen

Suppliers and Tech Companies:

1.Valeo

2.Bosch

3.ACC (Auto Cell Company)

Startups and Smaller Firms:

1.Microlino

2.Snap X (Hydrogen fuel cell startup)

Others:

1.Lithium Americas

2.McKinsey & Company

3.Pony.ai

4.WeRide

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In this episode of China EVs & More, Tu Le and Lei Xing dive into the booming September sales figures in China’s EV market and the ongoing impact of geopolitical factors on the global automotive industry. They analyze the latest trends, such as the shift towards EREVs (Extended Range Electric Vehicles), China’s competitive dynamics, and the EU’s new tariffs targeting Chinese EVs. Additionally, the co-hosts explore the future of vehicle design and innovation driven by consumer and market demands in China.

Key Topics Covered:

•September Sales Records: Analysis of exceptional sales performances by key players, including BYD, Li Auto, and NIO.

•Stimulus Impact: How China’s recent economic measures are driving consumer confidence and boosting EV sales.

•Global Competition: The challenges faced by legacy automakers like GM, Ford, and European brands amidst the rise of Chinese EV makers.

•EU Tariffs: Implications of the newly approved tariffs on Chinese EVs and their impact on global trade dynamics.

•Future of Design: Predictions on how China’s market preferences are shaping global vehicle design and form factors.

This episode offers deep insights into the dynamic and rapidly evolving EV landscape, providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of where the industry is headed.

List of Mentioned Companies

Automakers:

1.BYD

2.Tesla

3.NIO

4.Li Auto

5.XPeng

6.LeapMotor

7.ZEEKR

8.ARCFOX

9.AITO

10.Deepal

11.Chang’an

12.Dongfeng

13.GM (General Motors)

14.Ford

15.Hyundai

16.Kia

17.Cadillac

18.Buick

19.SAIC Volkswagen

20.Renault

21.Stellantis

22.Great Wall Motor

23.TANK

Technology and Battery Companies:

1.CATL

2.Gotion

3.Mobileye

4.Intel

5.Qualcomm

Other Key Mentions:

1.Ministry of Commerce (China)

2.Macron (France)

3.EU (European Union)

4.Stellantis-LeapMotor Partnership

5.Refraction AI (Autonomous Delivery Startup)

This list highlights the wide range of companies and entities discussed in the podcast, reflecting the multifaceted dynamics of the global EV and mobility sectors.

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In this episode of the China EVs & More podcast, Tu Le and Lei Xing provide a comprehensive analysis of recent developments in the global EV and mobility sectors, with a spotlight on Tesla’s “We Robot” event and China’s growing influence in the global EV market. The duo delves into autonomous driving technologies, China’s aggressive EV strategies, and the impact of trade tensions between China and the EU.

Key Topics Covered:

•Tesla’s “We Robot” Event: A breakdown of Tesla’s announcements, including the Cybercab and Robo-van, and their implications for the U.S. and global markets.

•China EV Trends: BYD’s rise as the top automaker in China, surpassing SAIC, and the competitive dynamics during China’s Golden Week sales.

•Global Trade and Policy: Discussion on China’s potential retaliatory tariffs and their impact on the EU and U.S. markets.

•Foxconn’s EV Expansion: Analysis of Foxconn’s new vehicles and their strategies for entering the U.S. market.

This episode blends industry insights with engaging conversations on the future of EVs, autonomy, and geopolitical challenges shaping the auto industry.

List of Mentioned Companies

Automakers:

1.Tesla

2.BYD

3.Xpeng

4.LeapMotor

5.NIO

6.GAC Aion

7.Lynk & Co

8.General Motors (GM)

9.Ford

10.Volkswagen

11.Rivian

12.SAIC

13.Mercedes-Benz

14.BMW

15.Porsche

16.Audi

17.Cadillac

18.Chevrolet

19.Buick

20.Skywell

Suppliers and Technology Companies:

1.Foxconn (Foxtron)

2.CATL

3.Gotion

4.WeLion

5.Electrion

6.Witricity

7.Valeo

Startups and Smaller Firms:

1.Lyten (Sulfur Battery Startup)

2.LiBRIDGE (Battery Advocacy Group)

Others:

1.Uber

2.Cruise

3.Waymo

4.LG Chem

5.Pininfarina (Design Firm)

6.Bloomberg (Media)

7.Reuters (Media)

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The podcast begins with Tu and Lei briefly discussing the XPeng's AI Day where XPeng unveiled a few different strategic initiatives including the development of a robotaxi and the design of its own silicon to help run it.

The biggest news from XPeng was that they are entering the EREV space.

The conversation then moves over to Audi's brand launch in China and Tu and Lei's differing views of the 'why' and how successful they ultimately feel it will be. Tu points out that it won't be in production until mid-2025.

Tu and Lei spend the rest of the podcast discussing the implications of another Trump presidency, one influenced by Elon Musk and the other Silicon Valley VCs that backed his candidacy.

Tu emphasizes that this runs much deeper than giving Tesla the advantage in the US and points to all the AI and space exploration investments that have been made by the tech bros.

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The podcast starts with Lei seeing Tesla - all over Shanghai. Tu goes a step further saying that the Tesla brand is stronger in China than the Porsche brand.

The conversation broadens out to a brief discussion about the Tesla earnings call and what analysts expect Tesla sales numbers to be in Q4 and whether or not they can match their sales from 2023.

Tu moves on to congratulate WeRide for IPO'ing on the NASDAQ something they'd plan on doing much sooner. They discuss who is still up to IPO in the US later this year or early next.

The conversation switches to Jim Farley's comments about driving the Xiaomi SU7 for the last 6 months and not wanting to give it up. Tu speculates that its his way of rallying the troops - Herbert Diess style.

Lei then takes a few moments to discuss why he's over in China and some of the companies he's visited on this trip.

The podcast closes out with Tu talking about his participation in the Reuters Automotive event held in Detroit and a brief discussion about how the price war has continued and still doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon.

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Tu and Lei discuss BYD's continued success and marvel at their ability to break record after record. Tu points out that their operation efficiency is one big reason they're able to continue this blistering growth.

This leads to a larger conversation about October sales and the sales drops of the European automakers (BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen Group, Porsche) and how much they should be worried about their future prospects.

This leads to a discussion about both Stellantis and Volkswagen Group and their recent outwardly vocal pleas to get smaller to shed costs.

The podcast closes out with a tariff discussion and how the EU and China may be able to avoid a trade war since both sides really don't want that.

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Tu and Lei spend the first few minutes of the podcast updating about the policy changes coming out of a major Chinese govt meeting that are meant to stimulate the Chinese economy and some of the reactions from the external non-Chinese financial institutions reactions to those new stimulus policies.

Tu asks Lei to go over some of the vehicle launches that happened that week continuing the barrage of introductions from Chinese EV makers which, in large part, is why the legacies are struggling to keep up. Tu compares and contrasts that with the still very few clearn energy vehicles that are entering the US market.

Tu changes gears to congratulate BYD on producing their 9 milionth vehicle. He then talks about how meaningful that is and how it was accomplished in such a short period of time relative to earlier milestones.

Tu and Lei move to unpacking the new Biden administration proposed restrictions on Chinese connected vehicle software and hardware. Tu talks about how this closes the Mexico backdoor and effectively keeps China EV Inc out of the US market for the foreseeable future.

They close out the podcast with a brief review of the situation in Europe for China EV Inc and a preview of what they look forward to at the Paris Motor Show.

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Tu and Lei begin this episode with an update on the sales of the newly launched vehicles from Mona and ONVO. They both promise to make a bad situation for Legacy Auto in China even worse.

Tu shifts gears and discusses how carmakers can still differentiate themselves even if they're using the same technology or more specifically, the same silicon to power the infotainment and intelligent driving systems.

Tu then also discusses what could happen to the foreign suppliers if they're not able to speed up their level of innovation to keep pace with their Chinese counterparts.

Lei then details his trip to Germany and his visits to Chinese EV brand dealerships.

Tu speculates that with everything going on in the European market, the Chinese brands in order to maintain their competitiveness should begin to start reducing prices on their products there.

The episode ends with Tu describing his trip to Vancouver to be a part of the Electrify Everything Conference sponsored by the Fully Charged team.

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Tu and Lei kick off this podcast with the news that Volkswagen would like to close factories in Germany for the first time in decades. They spent a long moment to discuss this because this news sent shockwaves across the industry and is the realization to the world, if not clear yet, China EV Inc is putting the world on notice - that's its here and here to stay.

The discussion moves over to Mercedes, who while not in the same dire situation as VW, are also looking at what they can do to stop the bleeding in China.

Volvo is the next OEM discussed and Tu updates everyone on what EVs he's looking at for purchase since there are so many great deals out there.

Lei then updates everyone on August sales, which annually is the calm before the final turn into year end where all bets are off. They also discuss some of the levers being used by Tesla and others to try and keep demand for their products consistent.

To end the podcast, Tu and Lei discuss the ways that BYD continue to have their feet on the gas and have not slowed their aggressive entry and shipment of products into international markets.

They also analyze some of the tariffs and how they affect some more than others and who have the advantage in Europe for now.

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The podcast starts with Tu and Lei's thoughts on the XPeng's Mona M03 and the aggressive pricing that was announced for the vehicle. This evolves into a recap of XPeng history on product launches and the hope that this launch can be more successful than their past ones.

Tu mentions that there are bad takes out there and emphasizes that price doesn't automatically dictate the segment in China anymore since the Chinese EV makers are offering tremendous value during this price war.

The two switch topics over to the Chengdu Motor show and give a brief history lesson on the Chinese auto show hierarchy and what they expect from Chengdu. This discussion moves onto Tesla news about offering a 7-seat Model Y for China and their current promotions that have allowed them to keep production high in China.

Lei mentions Tu's LinkedIn post that got a bit of attention referring to BYD's forecast of 50% of sales in the future will be ex-China. They then discuss the possibillity of and the scenarios that would help them achieve that goal.

The podcast ends with a discussion on the recently announced Vauxhall Frontera EV being offered in the UK for £24K ($28K) and why other legacy automakers aren't able to get to that price.

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Tu and Lei start the podcast out with an update on the EU tariffs on Chinese EV makers, this time including Tesla. Some initial tariff rates were reduced but not substantially.

Tu moves the conversation over to the improvement in XPeng's earnings and the momentum they may have when launching the Mona M03.

The discussion moves over to who the global players are in the autonomous vehicle space and when thinking of China the lines are blurred with the autonomous vehicle companies competing directly against the OEMs who are either developing their own intelligent driving system or are partnering with tech companies to integrate a solution into their NEVs.

They both touch on the Volkswagen ID.Buzz van launch and how the specs just don't match anything out in China that's comparable. They also briefly discuss the Chevy Tahoe pricing that was revealed this week in a picture posted to social media.

Tu and Lei close out the show by unpacking Zeekr's earnings call.

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Tu and Lei open this podcast with a discussion of Polestar launching production of it's Polestar 3 in the US, South Carolina. They quickly shift the conversation over to XPeng's 10 year anniversary and discuss what they remember about XPeng over the last 10 years.

Lei and Tu then move to discuss the speed of change and product refreshes. The automotive space hasn't seen this frequency of refreshes ever.

Tu changes subject over to General Motors (GM) restructuring the China business along with a brief history lesson for GM doing business in China.

The discussion moves over to a 15 minute CNBC video that was posted that compares the US Model Y to 4 Chinese branded vehicles: BYD, Li Auto, NIO and XPeng that Tu contributed to and was interviewed for.

The podcast closes out with a discussion on the Merc EQE that caught on fire in an underground parking structure outside of Seoul, South Korea which sparked a HUGE uproar about the safety of EVs and who supplies which batteries to what vehicles.

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Tu and Lei start the podcast out with a discussion on the China take rate on NEVs exceeding 50% in July for the first time.

The discussion then shifts to reports that the Biden administration is looking at restricting Chinese connected, intelligent driving technology for use on US roads including the ability to collect data on Americans. They project how these restrictions may or may not be mimicked by the UK and EU, two places that also have voiced concerns re: national security, data security and privacy.

They move onto Audi potentially not using their logo for their new Chinese EVs and evolves into a more detailed discussion about Audi's history in China.

Tu ends the podcast clearing up a bad take from an American analyst who is trying to drum up clicks by writing about the Chinese govt wanting to kick all the foreign automakers out of China.

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The podcast begins with a review of July sales by Lei and then they both transition into a discussion about the upcoming important product launches and why they are important to those Chinese brands.

They both transition the discussion over to the BYD partnership with Uber that was announced this week. They piggyback off this BYD discussion to also talk about the rumor that BYD will be entering the Canadian market which moves into a broader discussion on BYD and why they are the likeliest EV company to succeed long-term.

Lei then moves into a discussion on how companies have begun to lay off staff at the tier 1s.

The podcast ends with a deep dive on how the Rivian VW Group tie-up could lead to VW Group abandoning Cariad and a deeper discussion on how Stellantis and VW may have too many brands to manage.

Tu also discusses the WSJ post about Tesla FSD in the US and how there's a lack of transparency in the US on whether or not it's causing the accidents that Tesla vehicles are involved in. They both compare FSD to some of the Chinese intelligent driving systems currently on offer by China EV Inc.

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Tu and Lei begin the podcast talking about the US IPO announcements for Pony AI and WeRide, two Chinese autonomous vehicle (robotaxi) startups. This leads to a broader discussion about autonomous vehicles and regulation in the US and China.

Tu then moves on asking Lei what he knows about Windrose, the Chinese electric semi-truck manufacturer that plans to build semis in the US. Tu posits that this could be push that opens the door for more Chinese players to mannufacture in the US.

Tu then speculates that should Kamala Harris win the election she may want to develop her own set of policies toward Chinese EVs, specifically on the manufacturing in the US side.

Tu brings up a post in his newsletter about battery pricing below $100 in China where OEMs can build EVs profitably.

Tu closes out the show with his brief experience riding in a Lucid Air Sapphire and it's absolutely ridiculous acceleration.

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Tu and Lei start out this podcast with a broad discussion about how virtually all the foreign legacy automakers are doing so poorly in China with Tu detailing Porsche's recent, severe challenges.

Tu and Lei then move onto Xiaomi's production license despite the overcapacity in China. Tu briefly explains how this could happen. Tu and Lei take a few minutes to discuss how business has evolved in China the last several years and how China's maturity as an economy makes it tougher than before to get out of economic slumps.

Tu switches gears to talk about BYD's manufacturing footprint including the newest announcement about building in Turkey. Tu talks about the strategic importance of location of Turkey relative to the European, Middle Eastern and African markets.

The podcast ends with Tu and Lei talking about the latest goings on in the autonomous vehicle sector. Lei details his latest experience riding some robotaxis while in China and they both discuss the importance of having a clean record because of their desires to IPO in the near future.

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Tu and Lei unpack who they think could be the winners and losers from the recently announced EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and how they may react to tariffs being considered in other markets.

Tu and Lei then look a bit forward to what they expect to see later this year as we get past summer and move towards the always exciting year-end sales dash including the impact some of the new vehicles scheduled to begin delivery will have on the competitive landscape.

The discussion moves over to the VW Group investment and partnership announcement with Rivian as the two dissect how the partnership may work. Tu raises questions about both Cariad's and Scout's future place in the VW Group hierarchy now that they've effectively partnered with two strong EV startups in China and in the ROW - rest of the world.

Lei spends a few minutes talking about his visit to NIO's Hefei factory and what he saw.

The podcast ends with Lei giving his take on the new pilots being offered by WeRide and Baidu in Beijing from the Daxing airport to downtown.

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Tu starts the podcast out talking about his experience at the MOVE London event where he hosted two panel discussions.

Lei then pivots to update everyone on the latest news about potential tariffs the Chinese govt are considering in retaliation for the EU tariffs on Chinese EVs.

Tu and Lei then take a few moments to digest and unpack what it all means.

They move onto the latest partnership announcement between JLR and Chery and how this falls in line with Stellantis and Volkswagen both partnering with local Chinese manufacturers.

Tu talks about how these partnerships may create a reliance on the companies doing well in both regions in order for the partnerships to be successful.

Tu and Lei close out the podcast with a discussion about FSD coming to China, what their domestic competitors think and updates on a few other Chinese AV startups.

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Tu and Lei begin this podcast with a quick download of the EU tariffs, who was slapped with what and who the winners are. They also take a step back to discuss who currently exports the most to the EU and how the tariffs may affect their quantities.

They then move over to the rumored retaliation from the Chinese govt and who would feel free brunt of those retaliatory measures.

Lei then moves the conversation over to Tu's EV car rental for his trip to California and Tu talks in details about the good, the bad and the ugly about his few days driving a Kia Niro EV.

They close the podcast with a discussion on how the tariffs, both exporting to AND from, could affect VW Group's diverse set of brands, manufacturing bases and ultimately their long-term competitiveness.

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Tu and Lei start out by discussing a provocative statement from Richard Yu, the Huawei executive in charge of their intelligent driving, who said in a much less kind way that Huawei's system would beat Tesla's FSD.

They then talk more broadly about the current systems out there from other Chinese EV makers and agree that FSD will have it's hands full in the China market and is NOT the clear leader once it finally launches.

The topic moves over to all the recent news from automakers about their latest generation small displacement high efficiency enginers, specifically hybrid engines. With announcements from BYD, Toyota, Mazda, Subaru and others.

Tu then shifts over to his guest appearance on John McElroy's Autoline live show and the question that john posed to him.

Tu and Lei move on and take a deeper dive into Porsche, it's recent hybrid 911 unveil and it's sales in China.

Tu closes the podcast out with a few updates on Detroit and the unveiling and rebranding of the old train station into the new Michigan Central that is supposed to concentrate and put a focus on all the innovation that's happening in the city / state.

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This podcast starts with a discussion on the NEV take rate hitting 52% and Tu points out that it's a massive number that is also getting help from the steep dropoff of ICE sales.

They also both take a few moments to discuss the softness in demand that Tesla is feeling and how its likely adding pressure for them to continue to cut prices in order to keep the factory running and keep factory utilization high.

They then also scrutinize Li Auto's original aggressive 2024 sales forecast and how that's been dialed back as well.

Tu again reiterates that within the next couple years, Chinese IP will be in European branded vehicles both sold in China and Europe. The conversation then shifts to the potential additional EU tariffs on Chinese imported EVs and which brands and products will likely be affected and retaliated on.

Tu closes out the podcast with a summary of a Reuters interview of Carlos Tavares, Stellantis Global CEO.

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Tu and Lei start the podcast out by debating about the recent increased tariff announcements made by the Biden Administration and whether its all politics or if there is some real fear about the US Three not being able to compete.

They move that discussion over to BYD having its first global launch of a passenger vehicle outside of China. It turns into a broader discussion about their products, how they're suited (or not) to foreign markets and how said products could possibly perform outside of China.

Tu flips the script and pushes the conversation from tariffs to subsidies on the US side and points to Tesla being a major recipient of them.

They both agree that battery swapping isn't a flash in the pan and is something, at least in China, is a viable option for electric vehicles.

The podcast ends with a discussion on some of the latest announcements and unveils by Baidu Apollo with the RT6 L4 robotaxi and Pony's pilot pushing into Beijing's CBD area.

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First, Tu and Lei recorded this episode while driving from Beijing to Shenzhen in an XPeng G9 Performance. XPeng kindly lent it to them for the three day trip where they stopped into Zhengzhou & Changsha before hitting their final stop - Shenzhen.

For most of the trip (>90% of the miles which were a total of ~1.5K), they used XPeng's intelligent driving system called X-NGP. The purpose of the trip was to test the X-NGP system and get a feel for the charging infrastructure in China.

They also recorded a video of their conversation and posted it to their newly launched YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnQkkMqjpoFs0yHmqmKitNQ

Tu and Lei spend a few minutes talking about Elon's visit and rewind back to just arriving to China and what they've been up to since they arrived. The two also give some of their initial impressions and takes on the auto show.

They then move to their trip so far, talk in more detail about the EV they're driving and their experience with charging.

Tu and Lei were NOT paid by XPeng to do the trip and XPeng had no editorial control over anything they posted or said.

The podcast ends with their thoughts on the connected vehicle world bifurcating with the possibility of EV companies needing a tech stack for China and a tech stack for the rest of the world.

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Tu starts off the podcast with an update on what he's been up to the last few days including visiting Jiyue and getting a sneak peek of the Jiyue 07 and attending the launch event for the Zeekr 009 Grand, a 4 seat executive MPV.

Tu also had a chance to get a close look at the Xiaomi SU7 in the flesh. That transitions into a full discussion about Xiaomi and what they need to do to build on the success of the SU7.

Tu and Lei then pivot back into a detailed discussion of the 009 Grand and their expectations for the super luxe vehicle. The segment closes out on Tu and Lei talking a bit about the new Li Auto L6, their smallest EREV in the lineup, but still a clone of the others. Lei lists out all the debuts that will occur during the lead up and at the auto show.

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Tu and Lei kick this podcast off by going over March sales numbers and move into discussing some of the recent incentives that have been offered by EV brands in order to keep sales momentum going.

The detail some of the challenges that contibute to the ongoing price war and how Tesla has fated during a price war they initiated. They then contrast that with Xiaomi's sales momentum since launch and how that stands out and hasn't lost any steam.

The last big topic the two tackle in this podcast is the upcoming Beijing Auto show and what their expectations are and what they hope to see there.

Tu quickly discusses some of the challenges that Ford and Stellantis brand Ram are starting to see in the US market with truck sales and the pod closes out with their thoughts based on current conditions of Tesla being able to find any growth in sales this year compared with 2023.

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Tu and Lei get right to the Xiaomi SU7 launch. They talk about Lei Jun's showmanship and the popularity of the Xiaomi brand in China which all helped to build excitement for this product launch.

After an extended discussion about ALL THINGS Xiaomi SU7, they move the conversation over to Lei's trip to the NYC Auto show. Lei talks a bit about the World Car of the Year awards and who ultimately won.

Lei also happened to visit a Rivian store and was able to see the R2 for the first time in real life and instantly fell in love.

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Li Auto adjusting their Q1 sales guidance downward was the first topic of discussion in this week's podcast. Of the three WeiXiaoLi triplets, Li Auto has been the darling of Wall Street but their sales have very suddenly hit a wall

Tu then gives a short lesson on master production schedules, ordering parts and lead times and how any sudden change in that schedule can complicate things and lead to issues with the supply chain and inventory levels.

Tu and Lei move back to a conversation about Xiaomi and their staying power and the power of social media in China and how it can help and hurt you in a very fast and severe way.

Lei moves the discussion over to the annual press conference from BMW and how they also would like to continue with free markets for Chinese imports into the European market.

The podcast closes out with some quick hits about some photo ops between CEOs, the EV100 and Nvidia GTC conferences, who spoke at them and what they said.

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Lei headed over to Germany for Porsche's Annual Press Conference so much of the podcast was dedicated to what Lei learned about during his visit and led to a broader discussion about Volkswagen Group and what Tu thought about VW Group's annual press conference and how important Porsche is to Volkswagen Group's global goals.

After a detailed discussion on Germany's largest automaker and one of its most important brands, the discussion moved over to NIO and their reaching 40M swaps. Tu and Lei also talked a bit about NIO's mass market brand Onvo and how it'll be positioned alongside the NIO premium brand and the yet to be launched Firefly brand.

The podcast ends with a discussion on not counting VW Group out just yet, although the mountain they need to climb to get back into the driver's seat in China seems insurmountable at this time.

Tu also briefly discusses some of the initial quality challenges some BYD vehicles are having in the export markets, but doesn't see anything out of the ordinary or that shoud be cause for alarm just yet. BYD is new to those markets and their products will react to each of the climates differently but it's a learning process that should help them strenghthen the future quality and reliability of their global portfolio.

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Tu and Lei start this podcast out with going over the latest news on the tariff situation on Chinese EVs in the US and EU with the EU now also seeming to lean towards increasing protectionism.

Lei then moves the discussion over to the R2 launch from Rivian, the follow up to their R1 and emphasizes the affordability factor with the R2. This turns into a broader discusision about Rivian and what it will take for them to ultimately be a successful automaker.

Their attention turns to the Two Sessions, the Chinese government's largest conference that sets the economic priorities for the year and has most automotive CEO's attending. Lei dives into some of the details of the policies that are being considered at the conference.

The podcast closes with Tu discussing the recent investments by legacy OEMs as well as BYD & Great Wall into Brazil and South America and how their powertrains differ from the battery electric vehicle. He believes that this is one of the next big potential growth opportunities and the investment into the sector illustrates that.

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Lei begins this podcast with a brief explanation of the effects of the Lunar New Year on passenger vehicle sales traditionally.

Tu points out BYD's social media campaign about how 'electric is cheaper than gas' after they'd cut prices of their already low priced vehicles, so much so that they are cheaper than ICE vehicles from Volkswagen and some of the other foreign automakers.

Lei predicts that Li Auto may be the next EV startup that emerges from the pack in 2024 as others continue to struggle with price cuts and vehicles that aren't as popular among Chinese consumers.

Tu and Lei then spend a few minutes to share their opinions on the US goverment's connected vehicle investigation and let's just say that both seem skeptical.

The podcast ends with a discussion on potential HiPhi partners or acquirers including a look at Changan who have been rumored to be kicking the tires recently.

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Tu begins the podcast talking about how the price war still has legs and will likely last through the end of this year into 2025. BYD has been leading the way with price cuts on their more popular vehicles daring their competitors to do the same.

Tu then talks about the Buick Electra E5 EV that has just gone on sale for ~$23K and wonders out loud why they can't sell that in the US for a similar price.

The discussion shifts to the technology companies that have entered the EV competition, in particular Huawei, Xiaomi and Baidu via Jiyue. With Jiyue's sales struggles, they openly wonder what is too much technology and whether Xiaomi can come up with the 'just right' approach to stuffing their EV with tech features.

They then point out how many legacy automakers have announced dialing back its EV ambitions and the challenges they still have to overcome. They focus on the German automakers and reveal that one of their next MAX guests is Daniel Kirchert, former BMW executive who also co-founded BYTON.

The podcast ends with Tu hoping that there's another price cut for the Model Y in the US since it may put him over the top for buying it himself.

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Tu and Lei start out the podcast by wishing each other 'Happy New Year' and discuss a bit about the holiday and their traditions and how it's celebrated by their families.

Lei then moves over to discuss the Chinese Opinions on NEV trade cooperation and both of them add their opinions about how the language and roll out of the opinion piece should be interpreted.

Tu then spends a few minutes discussing how the premium used passenger vehicle market has changed and is now more of a buyers market.

He then talks about being a guest on Autoline and some of the topics they discussed including Chinese brands entering Mexico.

Tu and Lei then transition to the news that Ford has a skunkworks team in SoCal working on a profitable small vehicle and unpack their thoughts on that.

The podcast closes with news that HiPhi may be about to close its doors for good and others that have likely built their last vehicles.

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Tu and Lei start the podcast out with some of their family traditions for Lunar New Year.

They then move onto unpacking January sales numbers and emphasizing the MoM comparisons not that important due to Lunar New Year being in January last year.

Tu anticipates what we should see in March and beyond depending on how panicked the OEMs will be coming out of the New Year break, likely around late February. The goal of course is to keep the metal moving at a brisk pace of course.

Tu and Lei then move over to the discussion about Evergrande, the Chinese real estate development company being forced into liquidation by a Hong Kong court and how that will affect Hengchi, their EV brand.

Tu then talks about the impact that could be felt from the just announced partnership between Didi and CATL.

The podcast closes with a brief clarification on export numbers and who the actual leader in global exports for passenger vehicles was in 2023.

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Tu and Lei begin with briefly discussing their latest MAX episode with Gansha Wu, Founder & CEO of UISEE - an autonomous driving startup based in China.

Tu and Lei then transition over into a detailed discussion about Tesla’s earnings and the role that the China market plays in their earnings and operations and how most analysts miss how important the China market is to everything that Tesla does.

Lei then changes gears into a discussion about the recently unveiled Porsche Macan EV that still doesn’t have pricing for the China market announced. Tu gets into the recent challenges that Porsche had in the China market and how this could really be a catalyst for the resumption of growth in the China market for Porsche, but it’s going to have stiff competition now.

Tu and Lei close the show on the announcement that DJI will have, none other than BYD, as an investor and partner for their ADAS systems which should help make ADAS a common feature in mass market vehicles in China sooner rather later.

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Lei throws a curveball to begin the show and talks about some of China’s societal challenges, namely the aging population and shrinking number of babies born. Tu chimes in with his experience coming to the US at a very early age.

They broaden the discussion out a bit to bring in a few more noteworthy challenges to round out the discussion.

Tu & Lei get into some of the discounts that were announced last week and get into the forecasted export numbers and some of the surprise automakers that could be exporting out of China in 2024.

Tu points out that each year that the China market breaks sales records makes the following year even tougher to top. And the combination of a tough Chinese economy, high interest rates and the slowdown in the US & EU all point to a more challenging 2024.

Tu shifts the conversation to the Lotus Emeya and what brands and products it may be going after and whether or not they should be nervous.

The podcast closes on the news that TuSimple is exiting the US market and how EV related IPOs aren’t likely going to find many takers in 2024.

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Tu and Lei dedicate this episode to the sights and sounds coming out of Las Vegas CES 2024. Lei spends the first half of this episode unpacking all that he saw and thought about the technology he experienced and the people he spoke to.

Tu and Lei then go onto some of the macro sales numbers that came from China for 2023 and unpack what they all mean, including GM's slide since 2017.

Tu closes out the podcast by telling Lei he's considering buying a used Tesla from Hertz now that they've put a number of them on sale.

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Each year this episode is HIGHLY anticipated and is ALWAYS one of the most downloaded epsiodes of the year. If you want to hear what they think of 2024 in China and around the world for the EV, battery and mobility space, you have to listen to this episode.

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Tu and Lei begin the podcast out with a look back at how Tesla ignited the price war in the beginning of 2023.

They move onto a discussion about Xiaomi and CEO Lei Jun's strategy for entering the market and building up excitement for their first vehicle that's due to launch in the next year and finally making guesses on what their vehicle's price will be once announced.

They move the conversation over to how difficult it is for the legacy automakers to keep up with the constant barrage of new brands, products and endless refreshes in order to not lose pace in the China market. They acknowledge that most automakers aren't able to keep up which could lead to even more challenges in the future.

Tu and Lei briefly discuss making sure to follow the people that are out there getting it done and visiting the countries, trying out the vehicles and meeting with the executives.

They end the podcast with their review of 2023 and a discussion about which events shaped the year.

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Tu and Lei begin the podcast and take quite a bit of time to share their thoughts on NIO Q3 earnings and how to look at the numbers. They back out of the earnings to briefly review the announcements that NIO has made over the last several months.

Tu moves out a few thousand feet to talk about the China market and some of the players in it and then the discussion quickly moves over to the Stellantis announcement regarding their partnership with Silicon Valley battery swapping startup Ample.

Tu and Lei push on to a discussion about the final language for the Inflation Reduction Act that was released last Friday and how it may affect the market and the strategies of all involved in the EV space.

The last two topics touched on were Tu's attendance and thoughts on the Mary Barra fireside chat and her answers relative to EVs, batteries and Cruise.

He then pushes into the rumor that Tesla is ready to double capacity at ShanghaiGiga from about 1.2M to over 2M units of capacity.

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Tu and Lei start out the podcast with a quick review of the November sales and a broader discussion about the difficulty of and pressure on the EV makers to grow sales in an ultra competitive environment.

They both then spend a few minutes unpacking the announcement & implications of VW developing an EV platform called the China Main Platform (CMP) based on the MEB platform for the China market ONLY and how that's likely to do.

Lei gets Tu's thoughts on Elon mentioning that in the future the Top 10 EV makers will be Tesla with the other 9 all being Chinese.

The podcast shifts over to discussing all the latest moves by Huawei, who both agree have been very aggressively moving into the connected, EV space over the last couple years with a goal to grow revenues from this new division significantly over the next several years.

The podcast ends with both discussing NIO's expanding swap partnerships in China, now including Geely.

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This episode starts with Tu and Lei unpacking the significance of NIO partnering with SOE Changan to expand it's swapping services.

After a significant deep-dive into the NIO swapping news, Tu then asks Lei about the announcement that Stellantis will use CATL to supply them batteries for the EU market. This in addition to the recent investment that Stellantis had made in Chinese EV company LeapMotor.

The conversation transitions over to the US and Tu and Lei's thoughts on how the final IRA language is going to shake out and how it may affect the automakers that manufacture inside the US which is just about all of the non-Chinese legacy automakers.

Tu and Lei then get into their experience in LA, both going to Faraday Future's Investor Day and then to the LA Auto show and watching the Lucid Gravity unveil.

The podcast closes out with Tu and Lei discussing the popularity of extended range electric vehicles (EREVs)

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Tu & Lei begin the podcast with an explanation of what Single's Day is in China and how some EV brands are participating, namely by launching promotions to help sell their vehicles.

They both then begin to talk about Q4 and the mad dash by all the automotive players in the China market to finish out the sales year on a high note. Q4 alone can sometimes make or break a brand's annual sales.

The podcast moves to a discussion on Li Auto's MEGA and XPeng's X9 MPVs and how they compare with one another and the both company's different approaches to market them.

Polestar begins the next topic of conversation and it evolves into a broader discussion about Zeekr and Geely who owns both brands, specifically what Li Shufu is trying to get out of the spate of IPOs for his companies with the Zeekr still on the way.

The podcast ends with a brief discussion about the mobile phone connection with EVs and then whether its the right time for a Chinese EV company to be IPO'ing in the US.

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Tu and Lei begin this podcast by discussing the layoffs announced at NIO and how this could help them and why it was potentially overdue.

Tu and Lei educate on what Single's Day in China is and how even EV brands have gotten in on promotions during the biggest digital commerce day in the world.

Tu and Lei give a quick update on BYD sales for 2023 and posit that they are really the ONLY company that's continuing to grow it's already substantial sales in China and starting to build sales momentum ex-China.

They both then take a few moments to talk about their experience at a Zeekr Track Day event they both attended just outside of New York City at the Monticello Motor Club.

In addition to the Track Day, Lei also hosted a fireside chat with Ganesh Iyer, current US Head for NIO later in the week. He discusses a few notable things Ganesh had to say.

The podcast closes out with a chat about what's expected to be a mad dash by all automakers to finish out 2023 with a sales bang.

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Tu and Lei start out with the big news of the week. Stellantis acquiring a stake in Chinese EV / EREV maker - LeapMotor. Tu asks Lei to give a brief history lesson of DaimlerChrysler / FCA / Stellantis.

They then both dive into the transaction, giving more background about LeapMotor and the opportunities and challenges ahead for both sides.

The conversation shifts over to the events happening in Beijing / Shanghai at the time of the live show hosted by Zeekr and Jiyue, one company a Geely brand and the other, Jiyue using Geely as a contract manufacturer.

Lei shifts gear to discuss the latest on the UAW negotiations with the US Three. Tu goes over what is an estimate of hourly costs for a typical UAW worker. This discussion evolves into why the US is having difficulty selling EVs vs. China.

The podcast closes out with the accident by a Cruise robotaxi in SF that injured a bystander.

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Tu starts with a brief update and discussion with Lei on Tesla in China and the overall slowdown in the EV space around the world.

The conversation quickly moves to Bill Ford's comment about Chinese EVs 'coming to our shores' and a brief discussion on Ford's recent moves.

Tu and Lei move onto discussing European brands Citroën, Peugeot and Mini and how they continue to be built in China and in Mini's case, will be built in China and exported to the rest of the world.

Tu then asks Lei if he likes the recently unveiled Li Auto Mega MPV. They spend a few moments discussing the vehicle's merits.

The podcast ends with Tu and Lei giving an update about the Chinese government restricting graphite for export.

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The pod starts with a brief update on the UAW & US Three situation but moves quickly over to a brief disussion about Li Auto's openly stated and ambitious goals of selling 3M vehicles in China by 2028.

Tu then pushes the chat to Porsche and the struggles they may beginning to see in the China market, a market they've only seen growth in since entering in 2001.

Tu and Lei move the discussion over to Great Wall Motor's Haomo.ai announcing a very inexpensive ADAS system that starts at less than ¥10K and how LiDAR and overall sensor pricing for ADAS systems will quickly move into commodity territory as Chinese providers continue to try to compete on price.

Tu brings up how GM has offered to unionize its US battery facilities as a carrot in the ongoing UAW negotiations and they both talk about how the LG & BYD partnership could be used to skirt the Inflation Reduction Act restrictions.

The podcast ends with Tu talking about his trip to SF and and both of them talking about WM's bankruptcy filing.

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Tu and Lei begin the podcast with a brief discussion about the double holiday being celebrated in China - National Day & Mid-Autumn Festival.

Lei then transitions the discussion to September sales and it wasn't very pretty for many EV companies. Tu reminds everyone that new vehicles were just launched by some brands and that those sales vehicles sales wouldn't be reflected until Q4'23.

Tu and Lei key in on XPeng and NIO to disuss their particular situations and move onto a few other surprise EV companies whose sales numbers stood out including BYD's continuous solid monthly numbers.

Tu and Lei turn their attention to the US market, the current UAW situation and the low take rate that has created more EV inventory than expected for US automakers.

Tu and Lei end the podcast with a discussion on the recent Cruise accident in SF and US EV startup INDI EV's bankruptcy that further complicates Foxconn's entry into the EV contract manufacturing space.

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This week's podcast begins with BYD jumping Ford to become the 4th best-selling automotive brand in the world for the month of July which should be a wake-up call to Ford management, if they've not been woken up yet.

Tu jumps on his soapbox to explain how the narrative about the foreign legacies entering the China market is incorrect and does his best to set the record straight about the real risks & rewards for the legacies that did decide to enter decades ago.

Their chat briefly revisits the Merc NIO collaboration and why it's folly for the automakers to think that they can become really good at SW development without some help. Tu emphasizes that good is one thing, but to be able to compete with Apple, Google, Amazon and the Chinese EV & tech companies is on an entirely different level.

Tu gives his take on who to look out for in 2024 for both good and bad reasons.

The podcast ends with Tu and Lei discussing the Tesla announcement that they will begin to sell their vehicles on e-commerce platforms in China in order to expand their reach and Tu talks about who is better positioned in the US to lead the EV transition.

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Tu and Lei begin with a discussion about all the recent moves made by XPeng and whether it moves the needle for them or not.

They turn their attention to August sales, specifically the top of the leaderboard which sits Li Auto, XPeng and NIO, the three US publicly traded Chinese EV companies who also happen to get the most attention by western media.

The conversation moves over to the significance and reasoning behind BYD's acquisition of Jabil's Singaporean operations which includes two factories in China.

Lei then looks back at his visits to Li Auto and NIO retail locations to compare and contrast the atmospheres and highlights the 'no pressure' environment of the NIO Houses, which could be a reason they are revamping their sales teams and tactics.

The pod ends with a discussion about the appropriate number of NIO swapping stations in the EU and how to determine that appropriate number.

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Tu and Lei start this podcast out with a brief discussion about the Chengdu Motor show. Both comment on the trend towards plug-in hybrids and MPVs which includes the Li Auto MEGA that was announced that week.

Tu and Lei then have a broader discussion about how hybrids weren't being focused on until Li Auto's success and now there are EREVs being launched by BYD's Yangwang, JAC, GAC, Geely and others.

Tu briefly talks about WeRide's ambitions to IPO in the US and the current status of their application and then moeves onto the announcement that BYD is looking to partner with a Korean company to build battery cells in South Korea.

This week's pod ends with Tu talking about the potential for EVs in the Indian market and a discussion about what they are looking forward to when they both head to Munich for IAA Mobility.

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The podcast starts with Lei being a bit nostalgic about leaving Beijing after visiting for the last 2 months. 

It quickly moves to a discussion about XPeng earnings with Lei summarizing the earnings call and Tu giving his readout on what it all means. 

This discussion evolves into a broader discussion about the price war and overalll economy that continues to struggle in China with both Tu and Lei having spoken recently with friends living in China and how they feel everything that’s going on there. 

Lei starts his discussion about his trip to NEO Park with a brief history lesson of how it came about and what all the acronyms and codenames mean when talking about the park. Lei also talks about the largest NIO House being open inside NEO Park. 

Tu and Lei then move onto a story about how BYD had shared a supply of chips to NIO during the chip crisis to keep them from shutting down their factory. Tu summarizes that in the tech sector things like that happening aren’t that unusual. 

Tu and Lei pivot to a brief conversation about the Fang Cheng Bao brand from BYD and who its likely competitors are. 

Tu closes out the pod with details about his visit to Our Next Energy for a technology update. 

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Tu & Lei had such a great response from their MAX episode with Founder of carwow James Hind it ONLY made sense to sit down and chat with Philipp who's running the show for carwow in Germany. 

carwow is an online marketplace for buying and selling new and used cars and started in the UK but have since launched in Germany in 2016 and Spain in 2018. 

For those of you outside of Europe that aren’t yet familiar with carwow - in 2022, there were over 109 million visits to carwow sites with over £5B worth of cars bought and sold on the carwow platform. 

But not only does carwow make it easier for buyers and sellers to transact, it has the largest automotive YouTube channel in the world providing some of the most compelling and entertaining automotive content on the interwebs. 

The carwow YouTube channel which was launched in 2014 has over 2.6 billion views from it’s more than 8.2 million subscribers and growing. 

Philip takes us through his career progression, how carwow works in Germany, tells us how Germans shop for cars, and most importantly he gives 🇨🇳 EV Inc some advice for entering the ultra-competitive German market. 

With IAA Mobility Munich being held this week, there wasn't a more appropriate time post this conversation Tu & Lei have with Philipp - Enjoy!

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Lei gets right to it with his update that 13 ministries have combined to initiate measures to boost auto consumption as the economic growth is China has still gotten past its Zero COVID funk. Tu and Lei then take a few minutes to go over some economic data over the last few months. 

Tu and Lei then move the discussion over to whether Audi can turn it around even after the announced partnership with SAIC for its EV platform.  Tu then broadens out his discussion to all of ABB (Audi, BMW, Benz) and their chances to turn it around in China. 

The discussion moves over to BYD and their ambitions in India and the challenges that still lie ahead of them as they make are looking to manufacture locally there. Tu spends a few minutes to give a history lesson the automotive sector's previous inroads into India.

Lei closes the podcast with a summary of NIO's Power Day. Tu and Lei share their thoughts on the statistics and accomplishments that were communicated for both the NIO charging infrastructure and swapping stations. 

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Lei starts the podcast a deeper dive into the NIO price cuts and a bit of commentary on the quick after effects.

Tu poses a few questions to Lei about whether the ¥30K cut was enough to build positive momentum.  Tu thinks that the price cut will offer a temporary positive push but that NIO still needs to reconcile its product and business strategy to ensure that the gains are longer term.

Tu moves the chat over to Li Auto's bullishness and whether Li Auto will be able to outsell ABB. 

Lei doubles down on his thoughts that the China market will reach 9 million units including exports. 

Tu jumps on his soapbox about what he believes to be the misperception of German engineering being best-in-class after Dieselgate & their current challenges with EV products. 

Tu and Lei spend the last few minutes answering questions from listeners about NIO. 

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Tu and Lei discuss the recent policy announcements in China to encourage the purchase of an NEV in the lower tier cities. This includes forecasts for higher numbers of PHEVs sold in the coming months. 

Tu moves the conversation onto the NIO ET5 Touring that’s aimed squarely at the Zeekr 001 customers. Lei and Tu agree that folks should be looking out for Zeekr sales numbers getting a boost in the coming months now that the Zeekr X Job #1 has rolled off the line. Tu anticipates that the Zeekr X could do some damage in Europe as well. 

Topic of discussion moves to Ford in China. Tu heard that layoffs started happening but this starts a discussion about what Ford products will still be sold in China including the Bronco and Ranger. 

Lei & Tu touch on the Volvo X30 being recently unveiled and share their thoughts on it. 

Tu closes the show with a few of the articles he highlighted in his newsletter this week. 

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Tu & Lei have a chat with James Hind, Founder and CEO of carwow.

carwow is an online marketplace for buying and selling new and used cars and started in the UK but have since launched in Germany in 2016 and Spain in 2018. 

For those of you outside of Europe that aren’t yet familiar with carwow - in 2022, there were over 109 million visits to carwow sites with over £5B worth of cars bought and sold on the carwow platform. 

But not only does carwow make it easier for buyers and sellers to transact, it has the largest automotive YouTube channel in the world providing some of the most compelling and entertaining automotive content on the interwebs. 

The carwow YouTube channel which was launched in 2014 has over 2.6 billion views from it’s more than 8.2 million subscribers and growing. 

James talked us through his background and how he founded the carwow platform. I learned a lot about how his platform works and how they’ve developed their stickiness. 

James also talks to us about the trends he’s seeing the UK and German markets and how aspiring companies that are new to the automotive space can build their awareness and make a big splash. 

James has built carwow into a key resource for new brands and a key tool for directly engaging potential car buyers. Don't miss this terrific conversation!

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Tu and Lei recap all of the big, 'watershed' moments of the last few weeks with the latest being VW rumored to be in talks with Huawei about a potential partnership in China. 

The convo then moves onto the latest news about Tesla and a larger conversation about what's next for them besides the Cybertruck, where will it happen and how much will it cost? If Model 2, how will it do now that BYD will be a significant competitor in most of the markets they'd likely launch the MIC M2 in?

Tu and Lei then briefly discuss how China became the #1 passenger vehicle exporter in the world in CQ1'23 overtaking Japan. 

Will battery swapping work in the US - Tu and Lei compare NIO battery swapping to Ample, a startup that's champion of battery swapping for the US, who just intro'd their latest generation battery swap station. 

Tu closes the podcast with his concerns about EV adoption stalling out in the US due to the lack of viable, competitively priced EV products for the foreseeable future. 

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Tu and Lei start the pod with a brief discussion about April sales the surprises and the disappointments. 

Lei then moves the conversation to Jim Farley outlining Ford’s updated strategy for the China market with exports being a primary business priority and exiting certain segments in the market. 

After closing out the April sales, Tu talks about the last week and a half of his return to China including going into detail about his visit BYD and riding DeepRoute and Pony AI robotaxis in Shenzhen. 

Tu follows up with Tu’s adventure from Shenzhen to HK and challenges he faced getting there. Lei and Tu close the pod with a discussion of some of the main differences between traveling in China vs. the US. 

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This episode is a complete download from Tu & Lei re: 2023 Shanghai Auto show. It's also Lei unpacking his experience returning to China after 39 months away. 

There was so much to unpack, it took them over an hour! This is a for certain not to miss episode!

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The pod begins with Tu recalling the ordering process for OEMs to suppliers and Lei and Tu discussing the impact of the emissions standard update in July on the pricing and sales of ICE vehicles, specifically those that do not meet the new emissions requirements. 

Tu and Lei then move the conversation over to BYD and their export ambitions, recent earnings and overall outlook as they expand further into international markets. 

Lei then moves the conversation over to Huawei and they both discuss Huawei’s ambitions, their partners and what they think will Huawei’s ultimate path to success.

The podcast closes out with a discussion on Faraday’s strange Job #1 announcement and their continued struggles. 

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In this MAX episode, Lei has a sit down with Tom Fennimore, CFO of Luminar Technologies. 

Luminar is a US technology company that specializes in developing LiDAR for autonomous vehicles. It was was founded in 2012 by a then 17-year old Austin Russell and went public on the NASDAQ via a SPAC deal on December 3rd 2020. 

For those unfamiliar - Lidar is an acronym of "light detection and ranging” or "laser imaging, detection, and ranging.” It is a method for determining ranges or distances by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. Lidar is also commonly used to make high-resolution maps

Some of Luminar’s current customers include: Volvo, Mercedes, Mobileye and Polestar and is considered a leader in the very crowded LiDAR space with further expansion plans into the US, European and Chinese markets. 

The LiDAR space is forecasted to grow to well over $3B by 2028 w/ averaging a compounded average growth rate of 18.4% of which Luminar is poised to take a big chunk of with it’s Iris LiDAR sensor and Sentinel self-driving HW/SW stack. 

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Tu and Lei start out the pod with a discussion on the latest price cuts that take the current price war deeper into the hole. 

They then talk about the VW unveil of the ID.2all and how it may not be that competitive if it was to enter the Chinese market, which currently it’s not set to do.

Lei puts the focus on Skoda and their shrinking sales in the China market and how they are doing in other regions. He anticipates that they may ultimately leave the China market due to their continued struggles.

Tu updates about the EU’s version of the US Inflation Reduction Act which is called the Critical Raw Material Act or CRMA.

The pod closes out with the UK not making the cut for location for the next BYD factory. They didn’t even make the semi-finals and BYD blamed uncertainty in long-term business conditions due to BREXIT as the primary reason. 

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In this MAX episode, Lei sits down with Marco Kollmeier, former Executive at Benteler, an Austrian tier 1 supplier that makes it’s bones providing components and modules for the automotive industry, in the areas of chassis, body, engine and exhaust systems as well as future technologies such as system solutions for electric vehicles. 

A couple of years ago, Benteler’s EV Systems business unit that Kollmeier led developed an EV platform and in an effort to separate the traditional business from the new opportunities in mobility and EVs, last November Benteler spun off that EV Systems BU and the Holon brand was created with Kollmeier peeling off to head that company. 

For those wondering, Holon comes from the greek and means something that is both a whole and part of a whole. Holon recently unveiled its first product at CES, the L4 capable ‘MOVER’ that is based on the EV platform that looks to compete with Cruise, Wayne and Baidu in the robotaxi space. Lei talks to Marco about Holon and a whole lot more. 

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Tu and Lei begin the discussion about the brutal price war that's currently going on in the China automotive sector including where the foreign automakers, SOEs (state owned enterprises) and startups all fit in and how they think it'll affect everyone long-term.

They both also discuss the annual Two Sessions meeting that the Chinese govt has each year and try to read between the lines with what's being said and what's actually meant. 

The chat moves into a chat about February sales and Tu talks about how western media doesn't put enough weight on how much the China market means to their success. 

Tu then moves onto a discussion about the importance of China Battery Inc to the foreign automakers, but not only in China but in their home markets because it's really the only game in town for reliable, competitively priced LFP battery cells.

The pod ends with Tu providing a history lesson on the battery cell sector in China and how it built itself out. 

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The podcast starts with Tu and Lei having a long discussion about their takeaways from Tesla's Investor Day. For Tu it was all about the ambitious numbers that stood out. Lei thought it was notable that Tom Zhu came out to present. 

Lei then moves the conversation over to his attending Luminar's Investor Day and they both reflect on how important the China market is for Luminar if they're to hit on any of their lofty sales and install goals. 

The pod ends with Tu and Lei briefly touching on February sales as the sales numbers were beginning to trickle out and what's surprised them so far. 

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In this latest MAX episode, Lei catches up with Silvio Angori, CEO & MD Pininfarina SPA who took over at Pininfarina in 2016.

For many in the automotive sector, Pininfarina is the epitome of automotive design. Originally established in Turin, Italy in 1930, Pininfarina was a coachbuilder who built cars for companies like Fiat, Rolls Royce and Cadillac. 

Pininfarina over the years has branched out to provide design services for consumer products, architecture, furniture and e-mobility solutions. One of their recent designs for German startup called Holon was unveiled at CES 2023. 

Silvio shares his thoughts on the sector, Pininfarina's partnership with Holon that resulted in the L4 capable robotaxi called the Holon Mover and how China is factoring in to all of this upheaval in the space. 

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Lei gets right to it by starting the pod out talking about the HUGE Ford + CATL deal, first giving some background and then unpacking what it all means for Ford, CATL and others. 

Tu prompts Lei to give a download about Geely's new brand - Galaxy (?) and Tu wonders how or more appropriately where it'll fit in their portfolio.

Tesla becomes the next topic of discussion, specifically Tesla shutting a line down at ShanghaiGiga to retool for the rumored refreshed MIC M3. Tu also congratulates Tesla for overtaking Toyota for vehicle sales in California, another huge feather in their cap. 

Charlie Munger's CNBC video interview made a big splash so Tu and Lei spend a few minutes debating whether what Charlie said about BYD rings true. Short answer - YES!

Tu and Lei then close out the pod revisiting some of the Ford issues in China. 

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Tu and Lei begin this week’s pod with a discussion and what led up to Hesai’s recent IPO and capital raise of $190M. Tu speculates that there are likely companies that have traditionally been suppliers to the OEMs that, due to the current disruption will look to move upmarket to compete directly with the OEMs.

The discussion moves over to the launch of the 5-seat Li Auto L7 and what the prospects are for the vehicle and company. Both Tu and Lei seem to be bullish on Li for now due to their entirely (very similar looking) revamped lineup.

Reflecting on the market results for 2022, Tu tries to quantify how much market share the legacies have lost in China over just the last few years with Ford Motor’s by far being the most unsettling. Tu goes as far as to state that Geely and BYD are poised to overtake their foreign legacy competitors in sales volume very soon.

Lei moves into a review of the January sales numbers and how it seems the price cuts from Tesla worked as their January sales rebounded but other normal and Lei highlights a few EV companies that saw dramatic drops in sales in the CNY shortened January.

Tu closes the pod with news that Tesla overtook Toyota to take the #1 spot in vehicle sales in California in 2022. 

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This podcast starts with Lei’s headlines but because of the break, there was ALOT to update. 

Tu then moves the convo over to January sales and they both agreed that it’s hard to tell who did well because the month was shortened by CNY but NIO’s numbers were a pleasant surprise.

Tu and Lei then talk a bit about expectations for Tesla and what it’ll take for them to regain their sales growth I China outside of cutting prices on the MIC Model 3 & Y. 

They move to discuss the recent hiring of Wang Fengying as President of XPeng and what that points to. XPeng along with several other EV makers are in dire need of getting better control of their operations and this is XPeng’s way of trying to do that. Similar to Tesla’s promotion of Tom Zhu, someone with the reputation of managing the teams to be more operationally efficient. 

Tu closes the podcast out by talking about the current charging situation in the US and what it will take for the infrastructure to be robust enough to support many more EVs and whether swapping would work there.

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In this latest MAX episode, Lei catches up with Junwei Bao, Co-founder & CEO of Chinese LiDAR startup Innovusion while they both attended CES. 

Junwei was one of the now many former Baidu mafia that left to start their own technology company whose LiDAR just happens to be part of NIO's HW/SW stack.  In 2022, Innovusion delivered more than 50,000 image-grade long-range Falcon LiDAR units for the NIO ET7, ES7 and ET5. 

Junwei gives us his thoughts on the exploding LiDAR space and why Innovusion is built to last. 

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Tu and Lei start out this pod with a brief discussion on China's economy and what the govt may do after Chinese New Year (CNY) to stimulate the economy if they see any signs of weakness including re-upping on subsidies for NEVs. 

They then spend a few minutes reminiscing about their earlier days in China and the wild CNY celebrations that included many fireworks usually in the middle of high traffic'd roads. 

The conversation moves to speculation about who else may follow Tesla to slash the pricing of their products. 

Lei takes a few minutes to explain all of the different sales numbers that are being used to describe 2022 China NEV sales since it's a bit confusing to many people. 

The pod ends with a brief discussion of the growth of exports coming out of China likely to grow significantly into the EU with a big exporter likely to be BYD. 

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Lei and Tu start the podcast out with a brief celebration of hosting their 100th episode. They then move to reflecting on 2022's final China sales numbers. 

Tu articulates how amazing it actually was that China was able to achieve sales of >6.7M units despite all of the challenges including a complete shutdown of Shanghai, the automotive market's single largest market. 

The convo moves over to Tesla's price cuts, why they did it and what it means for them and their competitors.

The pod ends with Tu discussing the current status of the US's Inflation Reduction Act is, what it means and who it will benefit. 

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Lei begins the episode with his experience so far at CES including updates on the BMW & Volkswagen unveils and the media events he attended.

Tu and Lei speculate that due to the huge number of LiDAR companies in the space, there will be consolidation in the near future. They will not ALL be winners.

Tu jumps on his soapbox to complain about how he thinks SDV - software-defined vehicle is a terrible acronym that's being thrown out nowadays to describe the connected vehicle. 

Tu and Lei close the show with a recap of the final sales numbers for China for 2022. 

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Tu and Lei begin their 100th episode with a discussion on the muted Guanzhou auto show and how it was affected by COVID. 

After a long discussion about all the happenings at the Guangzhou auto show, Tu and Lei move onto a discussion about NIO Day and how NIO seems to be one of the few automakers outside of BYD that is looking forward to 2023.

After a chat about NIO, Tu and Lei give out their end-of-the-year awards to the good, bad and ugly companies that made news throughout 2022. 

Tu and Lei close out the room by answering some questions from listeners of the live show. 

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In this latest MAX episode, Tu & Lei chat with Zack Anderson, Co-founder & CTO of ClearMotion. 

ClearMotion's mission is to transform the quality of time in motion and its solution uses a combination of hardware and software to drive comfort, productivity, performance and safety to new limits for modern vehicle platforms.

Zack shares with Tu and Lei his journey from Darpa Grand Challenge participant as an undergrad all the way through to his current role as CTO of ClearMotion and why he thinks now is the right time for their company. 

He tells a great story and gives a blueprint for how tier 1s can evolve to become major players in what's become the largest-ever disruption of the transportation space by embracing software, technology and data. And yes, all roads lead to China.

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Tu and Lei start the chat with a discussion on Tesla's major fall in 2022 and give their opinions on whether or not Tesla should've ever been a $1.2T company.

Tu then talks briefly about a happy hour he attended and gives his reflections on what's happening in Detroit and the US after having spent the last 4 months there.

Lei moves the conversation over and outlines what to expect from the upcoming NIO Day. 

Tu and Lei they then unpack the ECarX IPO and what it really means for the IPO market for Chinese EV/AV/mobility related companies.

They close out the pod with a discussion on some of the SAI newsletter posts including CATL's German factory producing its first battery cells. 

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Tu and Lei start out the podcast with a discussion on rumors of Ford building a battery factory that CATL would use to fab cells for Ford vehicles. This evolves into broader discussion about CATL & Huawei's ambitions.

Lei then talks the broader China economy for 2023 and how exports will likely continue to be strong next year.

Tu and Lei move the pod over to Li Auto's ambition and current sales of the L8/L9. 

Tu and Lei then discuss some of the topics they discussed for their Deutsche Bank investor call including how they would rank who would be the most successful in 2023 out of ABB (Audi, Bimmer, Benz).

Tu ends this pod with a brief update on the product rollout for XPeng in 2023 with three new or refreshed products on their way.

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The pod starts out with the latest news on the ground in China re: COVID and how it's ripping through the country since the Zero COVID strategy was abandoned. 

Lei then transitions the conversation over to what he anticipates December sales to look like. Tu details how competitive the sub-¥300K segment is in China and warns any EV makers about entering that segment. 

Both Tu & Lei move their attention and conversation to Tesla and their reads on Tesla's current situation in China including the rumor that Elon has found a new CEO to replace him. 

The pod ends with Lei talking about seeing a stimulus from the Chinese govt in 2023 to spur consumption and help get the Chinese economy out of its slump. 

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Tu and Lei begin the podcast with a discussion on the complete turnaround by the Chinese govt. on COVID policy, how it's completely changed everything on the ground, how long it might take for COVID to spread throughout the country and if it'll have any damaging effects on business. 

Lei reflects briefly on Jiang Zemin's death and the impact he had on China's modern automotive sector. 

Tu and Lei quickly move over to a broad discussion on November sales and what caught their attention including a deeper analysis on China's Big 4: Li Auto, XPeng, NIO, and BYD. 

The podcast ends with Tu and Lei talking about the latest developments in the global autonomous vehicle space starting with Cruise Automation's 100 robotaxis recently being deployed in San Francisco and contrasting that with the strategies for Baidu and other China AV Inc. 

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The podcast starts with a brief update on the COVID situation in China and how its affected production this time around. 

Tu and Lei then move onto a BYD update - namely the news that BYD will be increasing the price of their products and the rumors of BYD launching production sodium ion battery cells early next year. 

Tu then brings up the announcement by Mary Barra that GM will be launching 10 electric vehicles by 2025 in China that will all be built off the Ultium platform.  Tu emphasizes that this is what's called a 'blitz.'

The conversation moves over to Polestar reaching 100K production units which Tu and Lei both congratulate Polestar for achieving.

They move onto an update on Baidu's Apollo program and that both Pony.ai and Baidu received approvals from the Beijing govt for (Phase 2) robotaxi services where the safety driver can be in the back seat. 

Tu and Lei close the pod out with why they are thankful this Thanksgiving. 

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The pod begins with Lei having just returned from LA while Tu was still  there after they'd spent the last few days doing a NorCal & SoCal trip.

Tu and Lei begin with a detailed discussion about their (two) rides in the GM - Cruise Automation's driverless robotaxis in San Francisco.  They went from Japantown to Sunset at ~10pm in the evening.

Tu and Lei move onto congratulating Henrik Fisker and team for getting the Fisker Ocean to Job #1 in Austria (with a lot of help from Magna) and then Lei highlights some of the people that he & Tu caught up with at the LA Auto show events. 

They then have a broader discussion on the LA Auto show and some of the breakout rooms and events they attended during that week including the Motor Trend documentary 'Coding the Car' and Tu shares his 'review' of the documentary.

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Tu chews on the latest EV startup to throw its hat in the ring - BeyonCa. Lei and Tu take the first several minutes of the show discussing in detail how the company came about and how Weiming Soh, the current Renault China CEO & BeyonCa founder, was able to pull everyone together. 

The conversation then moves onto two China-fornia companies having problems in the US, TuSimple and Faraday Future. Tu and Lei discuss what they'd heard which has now mostly been substantiated by the recent articles about the two company's challenges. 

Tu and Lei end this week's podcast with a discussion on what it takes to be successful in the global EV space, something they feel that only two companies can really claim for now - BYD & Tesla. 

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In this latest MAX episode, Tu & Lei catch up with former journalist and current author Henry Sanderson whose recently launched book, Volt Rush: The Winners and Losers in the Race to Go Green - is one of the most compelling and insightful books about the previously little known rare earth metals that are key for building the battery cells that power electric vehicles and which are forecasted to be in much higher demand as the world begins its massive transition to EVs. This book is a must read for anyone that’s in or follows the battery or EV sector. 

Just over a year ago, Henry left the Financial Times after over 7 years of covering commodities and mining and is now the Executive Editor at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, one of the leading providers of data and information on the battery industry.

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Tu and Lei begin the podcast with their thoughts on the Jidu Auto Robo-1 production model unveil. They both seemed pretty impressed and detailed that Jidu Auto is going directly after Tesla customers once the Robo-1 hits the streets in 2023. 

They then get into how fast Jidu Auto has been moving in order to get their product into production and think it's even faster than what is commonly known as 'China speed.'

Lei then asks Tu - Lotus Eletre or Polestar 3? A discussion follows on about Geely and the two competing brands within Geely's own stable.

The discussion moves to Argo closing up shop - some Monday AM quarterbacking is done as to why it happened and why now.

The show closes on unpacking how Tesla slashing prices on its MIC Model 3/Y will affect the rest of the market and which companies are likely to follow suit.

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The pod starts with Tu and Lei talking about Tavares' comments about doing business in China and how Europe should place import tariffs on Chinese imported EVs into Europe. They discuss whether his comments were controversial or not. 

Lei then takes a few minutes to discuss his time at the Paris Motor show and the Chinese brands that both directly and indirectly attended and how it seems that they've infiltrated the. market already.

Tu talks about his trip to San Francisco and the panel that he sat on regarding China US trade and IP rights. 

The pod ends with a discussion on EV sales and the pricepoints that dominate the volume for China's record sales year that still has almost a full quarter left. 

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In this latest MAX episode, Tu & Lei chat with John Voelcker, one of the most well-known & respected US journos and one of the first to cover hybrids and EVs in the US while he was  Editor in Chief of Green Car Reports for over 9 years.

John talks about car reviews, EV test drives, domestic & foreign competition, China EV Inc coming to the US and his newest venture, the Tempting Fate Tours. 

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The podcast starts with Lei asking Tu about his thoughts on the NIO event in Berlin launching its products into 4 European countries. Lei and Tu discuss their thoughts on the subscription pricing that NIO announced during the event.

The discussion shifts to BYD and their pricing announcements for the three products being introduced to the European market as well as the partnership announcement between Sixt and BYD. 

Tu and Lei end the podcast unpacking the news of Gotion and Our Next Energy (ONE) investing to build factories in Michigan to manufacture battery components/cells for electric vehicles.

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In this latest MAX episode, Tu & Lei welcome Dr. Jun Pei, Co-founder/CEO of Cepton, one of the world's leading LiDAR companies. Jun talks about the personal journey that led him to co-found Cepton, how they were able to get that design win with GM and how Cepton's LiDAR technology is different from their competitors. 

We apologize for some of the audio issues with portions of this recording.

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In this episode, Tu and Lei start the pod out with a brief recap of their time at the Detroit Auto show with a quick pivot to reports that Chinese battery maker Gotion (Guoxuan) will be investing up to $3.6B in western Michigan. 

Lei moves the conversation over to GM's Durant Guild that is set to import higher end GM brand vehicles into China including the electric Hummer with the conversation moving quickly over to the XPeng G9.

Tu was able to join a call where President/Vice Chairman - Brian Gu and head of Autonomous Driving - Xinzhou Wu and updated the participants about the current G9 and its City NGP and how they will combine it with Highway NGP in 2023 to create XNGP.

The pod ends with a discussion about Li Auto and their product lineup and the quick response to customer requests and the recent additional responsibilities added to Ford Motor's Doug Field. 

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In this episode recorded at TechTown Detroit, Lei heads to Detroit to meet Tu in person for the first time!

They spend the busy week participating in both auto show and non-auto show related events. 

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Tu and Lei start out the podcast with a final recap of August sales and the 16 EV makers that made up a large percentage of total sales. The broader lesson is that the EV sector keeps chugging along despite all of the continuing challenges with BYD leading the way into a likely record 4Q. 

They then move to NIO earnings and the disappointing guidance for 3Q but the extremely upbeat 4Q sales forecast. NIO is looking at ~70K 4th quarter. Tu is skeptical and believes that Bin Li is calling on his Ops/Manufacturing team to step up and deliver NIO a recording setting quarter driven by ET5 sales. 

As an aside, Tu & Lei unpack the surprise announcement by Mobileye using NIO ES8s to test in Detroit and all of the implications of that announcement happening on the eve of the Detroit Auto show. 

Tu then switches over to a discussion about GM’s new import division that’s launching the Durant Guild in the Chinese market. 

Lei closes out the pod by talking about his upcoming trip to Detroit and being able to meet Tu for the first time in real life!

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Tu & Lei start off the podcast with a review of August sales numbers,  the pleasant surprises along with the disappointments. 

Tu and Lei then take a step back and talk about the global EV market, how the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) should help the US EV sector and how some Volkswagen customers in Europe have gotten so frustrated with their ID Series vehicles they're returning them.

Tu then moves the discussion to the recent restrictions placed on Nvidia and AMD that limits the chips they can export to China and Russia which leads to a broader discussion about the restrictions by both countries that have given them advantages historically that have manifested into companies that are leaders in the space currently.

Tu and Lei then move to unpack Baidu's Robin Li who said that most companies would likely skip L3 and go straight from L2 to L4 autonomy with their vehicles and systems. 

They close the pod with a brief discussion about some of the challenges ahead for the foreign automakers that they'll need to overcome in China vs. their domestic counterparts if they are to ultimately succeed there.  

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Tu & Lei start this podcast out confirming their prediction that the State Council would extend the NEV purchase tax exemption was correct. They then take a few moments to compare and contrast the speed and amount at which announcements and news comes out of the China market vs. the US & European markets. 

The conversation moves on to how China EV Inc collectively is investing in vertical integration in order to compete against one another, but to compete globally even if they're not profitable. 

Lei moves the discussion over to the XPeng earnings call and some of the notable takeaways from it. Tu then poses a question to Lei - When does he think the China market will reach 50% take rate on NEVs.

Tu and Lei take a few minutes to discuss the launch of the electric Dodge Challenger and the controversial artificial engine noise that's digitally produced when the car is accelerating. 

Tu and Lei close out the pod by chatting about the Detroit Auto show and where they'll be specifically that they'll be attending a happy hour at the Brakeman Bar off of Woodward Avenue in Detroit on September 10th starting at 5pm. 

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Lei starts the pod out with the announcement that China EVs & More reached it’s 10,000th download so both Tu and Lei took a moment to reflect, thank their listeners but also look forward to what’s up next for the podcast.

Tu then moves over to discuss his adventures getting back to the US including detailing his multiple layover flight that included the screeching halt of the plane he was in headed to JFK. 

Lei then moves the conversation back to this week’s biggest news and summarizes a few of the battery related announcements with a specific focus on CATL. 

The discussion moves to Li Auto earnings, especially the Li management admitting that they’re seeing more cannibalization of the Li One from the L9 than they’d originally forecasted. 

Lei then unpacks XPeng’s event announcing their super fast charging that should be available in volume by the end of this year for all new XPeng vehicles.

Tu and Lei move the conversation over to the significance (highly) Li Keqiang’s visit to BYD and the broader implications of continuing the NEV purchase subsidies in China. Lei’s prediction was that it would continue through 2023 and Tu agreed. 

The pod closes out with a brief chat about what to expect from the Chengdu auto show. 

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Tu starts the pod out by talking about the last time he was in the US and his plans to head back to visit next week. 

The conversation then moves on to August sales with both Tu and Lei giving their take on the results. Lei then pushes the discussion to the XPeng G9 unveil and subsequent reservations that suggested that Chinese consumers are excited about it.

They also discuss the Avatr 11 and Tu talks about his visit to the Avatr pop-up to see the 11 in real life, 

The pod ends with Tu and Lei sharing their opinions about the recent US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

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In this special episode Tu and Lei unpack the dismissal of Herbert Diess, former VW Group Global CEO and the promotion of Oliver Blume, current head of Porsche to replace Diess.

The 2nd half of the episode focuses on Tu's experience testing out a number of electric vehicles over a two week period with Inside China Auto's Mark Rainford.

The electric vehicles they tested or tried out:
Polestar 2
Li Auto L9
Evoke Motorcycles Urban Classic
Zeekr 001
XPeng P7

They also made a special visit to Baidu Apollo to check out the just unveiled RT6, Apollo's 6th generation Level 4 capable robotaxi. 

We apologize for the audio quality issues.

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Tu and Lei start out the podcast talking July sales and deep dive into a few EV startups that are having challenges ramping and consistently increasing their MoM sales - Lei ranks China’s Big EV Three.

Tu moves the conversation over to his experience riding Baidu Apollo’s robotaxi and how its progressed since the last time he rode it. 

Lei then moves onto a discussion about BYD and how they’re continuing their tear with no end in sight. How far can BYD go? Tu and Lei discuss what makes BYD different from everyone else.

Tu’s quick takes this week include a shout out to Innoviz and landing the VW whale as a customer for their LiDAR equipment and he highlights an article that details the companies that likely have access to your driving/location data if you’re driving in the US. 

Tu and Lei close out the show with their announcement about sponsoring a happy hour on the evening of September 14th during the week of the Detroit Auto show. For those in town that week, don’t forget to RSVP for it!

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Tu & Lei begin the pod with a discussion about the unveiling of the RT6 - an Baidu Apollo branded, Level 4 capable robotaxi that will be hitting the streets sometime next year at the cost of ¥250K (~$37K) and the greater implications of Baidu's mobility strategy. Tu speculates that we could see announcements from Baidu about pilots launching outside of China next year.

Tu moves the discussion over to battery cell manufacturers and how they're likely being approached by the legacy automakers with the opportunity to globally supply cells in the US + China + the EU(where applicable). Lei talks about Ford's bold announcement about a partnership with CATL.

The topic of discussion then moves to Didi, its massive fine and what's next for them. 

The podcast closes with Tu & Lei briefly discussing the current foreign / local JV situation, Li Auto's 'spring-gate' and Tu's quick takes of the week. 

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Tu starts the episode with an update on the ground and then quickly moves to his visit to Baidu headquarters to get a sneak peek at the Jidu Auto Robo-1 concept vehicle. Tu talks a bit about the overall shape, feel of the interior and thoughts on the single long coast to coast screen that makes up most of the front console. He notes that the lack of buttons and knobs really stands out and that the UX and UI needs to really be strong in order to pull the Human Machine Interface (HMI) off.

Lei points out the UX may be behind the complaints about the Zeekr 001 and the reason Zeekr has decided to upgrade everyone for free while NIO said it would be too costly for them to do it, indirectly poking fun at Zeekr for the smaller number of cars they have on the road compared to NIO.

Tu believes that our vehicle infotainment / touchscreen expectations are built on our experience with our mobile phone/tablets so any latency issues or general buggy-ness could lead to a bad UX. 

Tu and Lei then begin to discuss the 1st half sales and how the 2nd half is poised to be much larger and could possibly push full year sales to 6M units. They continued to game out that if 2023 saw >50% growth, the China NEV market could be over 10M units!  

Lei then switches the topic over to Geely’s newest brand Radar that will specialize in electric trucks and both Tu and Lei share their reactions to the RD6 vehicle concept pickup that was unveiled and the changes of the brand’s success.

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In this latest MAX episode, Tu & Lei welcome Frank Wu, Head of Design at JIDU. Frank leads the award winning JIDU Design team who recently won two Red Dot awards for their concept - the ROBO-01 concept vehicle & ROBO-01 charger. 

Part 2: Frank tells us what it's like to work at an EV startup in China, gets into more detail about the design decisions he made for the ROBO-01 and what the most important details are about the car to him.  He also provides some hints at what will stay on the production version, as well as a "sneak peak" for the second production vehicle. 

We apologize for some of the audio issues with portions of this recording.

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In this latest MAX episode, Tu & Lei welcome Frank Wu, Head of Design at JIDU. Frank leads the award winning JIDU Design team who recently won two Red Dot awards for their concept - the ROBO-01 concept vehicle & ROBO-01 charger. 

Part 1: Frank opens up about his personal journey, what's influenced his career decisions and compares and contrasts the design processes between the different companies he’s worked for including how he was recruited and why he ultimately decided to take on the Head of Design role at JIDU.

Frank was VERY open and conversational so we've split our conversation with him into two parts. Part II will drop within the next 48 hours.

We apologize for some of the audio issues with portions of this recording.

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Tu and Lei start out the pod with a brief review of June sales numbers and both agreed the market seemed to recover well with the major automakers all rebounding from low April / May sales caused by the lockdown in Shanghai. 

Tu and Lei spend a few moments to discuss the latest news about Covid in China including steps the Chinese govt is taking to restart the sector again. 

Lei that discusses the controversy about the claim of BYD outselling Tesla for the 1st half of 2022 since BYD sells a combination of PHEVs & BEVs while Tesla sells ONLY BEVs. 

The next topic of discussion is about the city of Shenzhen opening parts of the city up to L3 capable vehicles. 

Lei reviews all the numbers that were revealed during NIO’s Power day likely to dispute the short report that came out on them last week. Tu counters the NIO numbers with some Tesla numbers of his own, specifically about the number of superchargers that have been installed in China.  

Tu then pulls back the discussion to what the US needs to do to really help speed up EV adoption in the US including a laser focus on rolling out more EV charging infrastructure. 

Tu & Lei close out the the pod with a summary of the VW battery manufacturing announcement. 

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Tu starts this week’s pod with a quick update on what’s going on on the ground in Beijing. Lei then moves on to NIO’s challenging last few weeks, first starting out with the tragic accident at their Shanghai headquarters that killed two people to this week’s bombshell short report accusing NIO of fraud, specifically for their accounting of battery swapping revenues.

The next topic that Lei & Tu tackle was the unveiling of the Volkswagen ID.Aero, Volkswagen’s entry into the premium electric sedan category that’ll start shipping next year from its Chinese factory. 

They give their initial reactions from the unveil, look at the market segment it’s competing in and predict what challenges they anticipate the Aero having in the China market. 

The next topic is the Chongqing auto show and specifically the Avatr brand which is a joint venture between Huawei and Changan Motors, an SOE based in Chongqing. 

In the final segment, Tu summarizes what he thought were some of the most interesting news from the week including TSMC likely overtaking Intel on revenues to become the largest chip manufacturer in the world, Polestar’s IPO and Tesla incentivizing customers to trade in their ICE vehicles for discounts on Tesla vehicles.

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Tu and Lei start the pod with their thoughts on Li Auto’s big unveil for this year, the L9. The conversation evolves into a broader discussion about Li Auto’s future ambitions and how they compare to their domestic competitors who are more focused on the international markets.

The discussion moves over to some recent moves by Volkswagen and Mercedes that points to their continued emphasis on the China market.  They discuss how one makes sense but the other may do the opposite of what is intended. 

Tu and Lei then talk about the challenges that Volkswagen faces in the China market and what they should be doing to prep their local team for long-term battle and fight to maintain share even as the players around them seem to be moving faster with better products.

The next topic Tu and Lei discuss is the Qilin battery announcement from CATL that’s going to be in customer’s vehicles next year. 

Tu spends the last part of the pod listing out what he thought were the most interesting things that he thought happened during the week including news about Tesla in India & China, Foxconn/Lordstown Motors, ELMS, NIO in the news for the wrong reasons and DeepRoute’s move to short haul, autonomous trucking.

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Tu and Lei start out the conversation with a brief summary of May’s sales and agree that things are looking better but that its still a fluid and delicate situation. 

Tu and Lei then move on to the discussion about the NIO ES7 and Lei poses two questions to Tu about his preferences if he had to choose between certain new vehicles. They spend a good deal of time discussing the ES7, how NIO is doing overall, and what they expect and hope to see from NIO moving forward. Let’s just say that they define success for NIO as having well over 20K units/month in sales by the time 2024 rolls around.

Tu moves over to some of the events that took place that he wanted to highlight. Lei highlights Geely introducing its new pickup brand Radar. They spend a few moments discussing Geely and move on to the announcement that Voyah will be launching their products in Norway and close out the pod with BYD confirmation that they will be attending next year’s CES. 

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The pod starts out with Tu and Lei unpacking what Lei calls the biggest China smart EV reveal this year, the unveil of the Jidu Robo-1.

Tu gives an update on the status of Covid restrictions in Beijing including a bit of what’s opening up then Lei transitions over to an update on May sales numbers and how things are beginning to recover from a very poor April. Lei expects June to move towards normal as the OEMs are now more capable of dealing with COVID as being part of the 'new normal' for operations.

The dynamic duo spend the next several minutes dissecting NIO’s earnings and what you should look for later this year from them with important launches still on the calendar that will almost double the number or products they have on offer.

Tu summarizes a few pieces of news which segues to a broader discussion about BYD, and how they’ve surpassed VW Group this week by market capitalization. Lei and Tu then discuss the announcement this week that BYD will supply Tesla with batteries. 

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Lei starts the pod talking May sales. Overall better numbers across the board but Lei was disappointed a bit in BYD’s sales. Lei then moves to explain the stimulus package that’s been announced for vehicle purchase and who it’s targeting. 

 This triggers a broader discussion about the economy and Shanghai & Beijing beginning to open up and the implications of this along with the subsidies. 

 Lei moves the conversation over to WM Motor’s planned IPO and some of the history of the company until now and also talks about Buick’s latest announcements from last week and the recent weakness in China of the GM brands: Chevy and Buick in particular. 

 Tu contrasts that with the popularity of the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV which should provide GM would a treasure trove of data that can be used across their brands and products to increase sales for the China market.

Tu and Lei close out the pod talking about NIO’s ES7 and the recent announcement by Ford about investment in Michigan.

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Tu and Lei start out with a discussion about the challenges of China’s overall economy and some of the stimulus that the Chinese govt. has announced they’d provide in order to get it jumpstarted. Shanghai is finally opening back up on June 1st, so factories should begin to product more product consistently in June and beyond but Tu cautions that any outbreak could jeopardize the recovery.

Lei then shifts the conversation over to May sales numbers and how he expects BYD to be much further along in their sales volume than the other EV makers. This opens up a broader discussion about BYD including their boldness in entering the ultra luxury market with a vehicle launch later this year that’s supposed to be in the ¥1.5M price range but they both question whether BYD is stretching themselves too thin?

Tu shifts the conversation over to Jidu and their impending vehicle unveil scheduled for June 8th. Jidu is the brand that was created by a collaboration between Geely and Baidu. Lei laments that their messaging is a bit confusing, specifically the claim on being a ‘autorobot’ and he wonders if Jidu is overpromising what the product can deliver?

The pod moves onto the news about the strategic investment Bosch made into WeRide the Guangzhou based autonomous vehicle startup and the possible reasons for the investment and how they could provide each party access to an area that they currently lack or that isn’t available to them.

Tu and Lei close out the show with a brief discussion on ECarX, the software intelligence startup owned by Li Shufu aka Eric Li, the founder of Geely and then a quick chat about XPeng’s earnings as well as who they believe may be moving to the US market first.

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In this latest MAX episode, Tu & Lei welcome Omer Keilaf, Co-founder and CEO of Innoviz, which designs and develops. LiDAR and perception software for ADAS systems & autonomous vehicles. 

Omer talks about the early days in the Israeli military, starting Innoviz six years ago, why he is confident that this is the right time to enter the Chinese market, his views on LiDAR competition, technology, the difficulties in achieving mass production, and how Innoviz is tackling these issues with unique approaches. 

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Lei and Tu take a few minutes to reflect on a year of hosting the China EVs & More (first) Clubhouse room before moving to Twitter Spaces and finally evolving to this podcast. 

Lei begins this week’s update with news that the Chinese govt is looking at introducing a stimulus package to jumpstart car sales. Tu moves the conversation to the current situation on the ground in Beijing and the challenges he’s had with trying to purchase a plane ticket back to the US.

There were some product introductions this week that Lei goes over including one from Denza, the joint venture between Mercedes and BYD. For the sake of those unfamiliar with Denza, Lei gives a history lesson on the company and how they got to where they are today.

Tu then pulls out the discussion to the broader MPV (or multi-purpose vehicle) segment and why it’s an important segment in China. 

Tu and Lei close out this week’s podcast talking about QCraft who introduced a ¥10K L2 stack for use with passenger vehicles. They both go into a bit of QCraft’s history and how they’re part of the 2nd wave of autonomous vehicle companies. 

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Tu starts this episode out with a quick Covid update on his situation in Beijing. 

Tu & Lei have a discussion on the production challenges and sales slides for the automakers in April. Lei opens up a bit about what he's heard about Tesla's doubling down in Shanghai and all of the help that they've been offered to get ShanghaiGiga but up and running. With the additional capacity that's anticipated in Shanghai, Tu coins the term Tesla City for the Lingang area where ShanghaiGiga resides. 

The conversation shifts to NIO getting listed in Singapore and the chances that they will be booted off of the NYSE. Tu then asks Lei for a history lesson on Qiantu who had just announced that they'll be going public via a SPAC merger later in 2022. Tu and Lei think it's a pretty peculiar move for them due to the negative shift in sentiment in SPACs.

Tu closes out the pod with a bit of speculation on where any excess capacity coming out of ShanghaiGiga will go - he believes more vehicles will be shipped to Japan, South Korea and parts of SEA.

We apologize for technical issues we had recording this episode. 

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Tu starts off episode 65 with an update on his status in Beijing and the latest news about auto manufacturing in Beijing and Shanghai including the shutdown of ShanghaiGiga due to a shortage of wiring harnesses. 

Tu and Lei them move onto BYD’s Changsha problem that has nothing to do with Covid. Due to protests from local neighbors of the factory, BYD was forced to close it factory while an investigation is underway to determine whether or not they’re permitted to be there building cars. 

Lei shifts the discussion over to LI Auto’s earning that were just released and highlights the announcement about making an even more affordable EV similar to NIO who also had more information leaked recently about their mass market brand targeting the 200 - 300K RMB market segment. 

The podcast moves onto what Cadillac is doing to prep the market for the Lyriq launch and some of the new vechicles launched by Denza, Arcfox, and LeapMotor that all make bold claims about redefining their market segments. 

Tu moves the focus to Volkswagen’s announcement about reviving the Scout brand and Lei weaves in his takeaways from the FT’s Future of Mobility conference that featured fireside chats with Elon, Ola, and Herbert and they go into a deeper dive about Elon’s interview and some of the contradictory statements he seemed to make about ShanghaiGiga.   

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In Part #2 of this MAX episode, Tu & Lei welcome Steve Levine, global citizen, adjunct professor at Georgetown University, and editor at The Electric - a premium newsletter that specializes in the EV & battery spaces. 

Steve talks about the journalism journey that brought him to cover EVs & batteries, the challenges he sees ahead including consolidation in the automotive space, and how he thinks things may shake out in 2030 and beyond. 

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Tu & Lei start out the pod with a discussion on how the current April sales numbers look to be shaping out. It doesn't look good for most of the legacy OEMs with the exception of BYD. 

Tu gives a Covid update for Beijing and what he expects to see in the next few weeks.

Tu transitions the conversation over to the China autonomous vehicle update and they both share their thoughts on all of the announcements that came out last week from Pony.ai, Baidu Apollo, Momenta and WeRide, who partnered with Pony.ai for the latest investment round of OnTime, a mobility platform whose other major investor is GAC Group. 

Tu shifts the discussion over to Volkswagen (VW) opening a China office for their software division, Cariad and moving over a Volkswagen veteran to over with strong ties to China to lead the group. Tu and Lei spend a few minutes debating the merits of the moves and the leadership appointed to launch the team in China with, surprise, Tu being a bit skeptical of the moves and whether or not it'll get VW where they need to be with SW development in the timeframe they need to do it in. 

Tu wraps up the pod with a few quick updates on CATL's swapping station, BYD's substantial increase YoY from Q1 sales, and finally a comment on Elon's purchase of Twitter and whether he'll be pressured by the Chinese govt. to promote a more positive tone on the platform.

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In this MAX episode, Tu & Lei welcome Steve Levine, global citizen, adjunct professor at Georgetown University, and editor at The Electric - a premium newsletter that specializes in the EV & battery spaces. 

Steve talks about the journalism journey that brought him to cover EVs & batteries, the challenges he sees ahead including consolidation in the automotive space, and how he thinks things may shake out in 2030 and beyond. 

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Tu and Lei start the pod out with an update on which manufacturers have been affected by the lockdowns and Covid outbreaks throughout China - Which are running and which aren’t, areas to keep an eye on, and what to expect in the next few weeks. 

Tu explains what happens normally if there are supply issues at a factory, all of the parties involved, how accurate data needs to be, and how everyone has a timeframe to do it in order for the factory to continue to build. 

This leads to a discussion about Tesla’s earnings call and how impressive they continue to be. Tu and Lei agree that ShanghaiGiga needs to get back online sooner than later if Tesla is to reach their goal of >1.5M units for 2022. 

The conversation shifts over to BYD’s announced partnership with Horizon which BYD also happened to invest in. 

Lei summarizes the five EV debuts that came out within two days of each other - ALL coincidentally from the legacy automakers. Tu gives his opinion on these concept vehicles, one, in particular, that’s he specifically critical of. 

The podcast ends with a deep dive on the F150 with both Tu & Lei pointing out how inspirational it is for an Asian woman to be the Chief Engineer of such an important product for Ford.  

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Tu & Lei go over March sales and BYD’s continued strength despite all the prevailing headwinds and challenges that the other EV makers seem to be running into. 

Tu explains that the China EV space is being told in chapters starting with Tesla is coming to the current chapter of BYD begins to dominate. Lei continues on with a brief history of BYD and the important milestones in its brief but eventful history and how each inflection point in its history builds up to the announcement that it’ll no longer build ICE vehicles. 

Tu also points out that the current direction of the auto sector, investing heavily to bring in-house battery cell R&D & chip design, BYD has been a pioneer in those two areas. 

Lei then turns to some of the challenges that BYD faces and what they still need to confront if they’re to continue to build momentum, gain share and finally enter foreign markets with their passenger vehicles. 

Tu and Lei move the talk over to Geely and how they’re trying to turn past issues with Chinese build quality on its head by building Smart, Lotus, and Polestar brands in China for the foreign markets. 

Tu and Lei close the pod by talking about what they expect and how severe the lockdowns in Shanghai and Jilin will be to the automotive sector in Q2’22. 

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Tu and Lei start this podcast by highlighting a WeChat moment post by He Xiaopeng, founder of XPeng warning that if issues can’t be contained and resolved production for the entire month of May could be lost.

They then move on to review the March & Q1 sales and registration numbers.

Tu takes a few minutes to explain his prior experience working on the supply chain side back in the US and dealing with production disruptions in the automotive and high tech spaces.

Since they talked about Q1 numbers, Lei dives deeper into the brand sales numbers that were reported. Lei points out that for the first time, Ford China reported March sales numbers for the Mustang Mach E. Most brand sales numbers were down from Q4’21 which is no surprise.

Tu and Lei agree that the Volkswagen ID Series sales numbers continue to disappoint and Tu takes a few minutes to explain that the opportunity to build sales momentum starts when the product is launched when you have a marketing budget that’s supposed to build excitement for the product.

One year into the initial launch of the ID.4 and sales are still hovering around 10K/month which points to a lack of overall enthusiasm for the products. Tu stresses that it’ll be difficult to ignite any real excitement for the products after having been in the market an entire year already.

Tu takes a few minutes to rant about Newsweek’s article about automotive disruptors without any mention of Tesla or any Chinese EV makers.

Lei then talks about his trip to the New York International auto show and how Hyundai and Vinfast seemed to be the BIG news along with a few American EV startups that he’d not heard of until that event.

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Tu and Lei start this show out by paying homage and giving a big shout-out to their friends that live in Shanghai that are currently on lockdown.

After the headlines, Lei gives everyone a lesson on the EV100 Conference that is normally held each January but was delayed and finally put online last week. One highlight of the EV100 was the announcement from Horizon Robotics about licensing their IP to OEMs so that the OEMs could piggyback off of their existing chip technology in order to design their own SoCs.

Tu shifts the conversation over to compelling design takes a happy marriage between hardware and software and one without the other would likely make for a bad UX.

The discussion then shifts to XPeng earnings. Lei summarizes the ‘flagpoles’ that XPeng is planting this year likely hit their margins in 2021. The momentum of the P5 & G9 should help them build on their margins as XPeng only needs to focus on marketing these vehicles and launching them on time and on budget.

Tu then shifts to talking about the launch of the Lotus Eletre and the reactions on social media from the various interested parties. Lei discusses how surprised he was about the Lotus’s extensive sensor kit for ADAS/AV and how now LiDAR and premium sound have become qualifying features in the near-premium/premium segments.

Tu closes out the pod with his take on Vinfast and their aggressive moves into the US market including their recent announcement of building a factory in North Carolina.

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The episode starts with a discussion about Li Auto loaning a Li One out to Tu for a week in order to get his feedback on the SUV. The conversation moves on to NIO being one of the last EV makers to raise prices and Tu points out why NIO may have a bit more flexibility than their competitors that are building their own vehicles. 

Still talking about NIO Tu & Lei go over NIO’s earnings and evolves into a longer discussion about NIO’s current situation, their strategy, and where their announced investments, including increasing the R&D staff to 9K people could lead them in the future. 

Lei then talks about his experience with the Mercedes Tech Day that he attended in LA and gets into a broader discussion about how its new EQS will be one of the first vehicles to offer Level 3 (L3) autonomous and what conditions need to be met in order to activate that function. Tu and Lei get into a detailed discussion about what needed to happen for the L3 feature to be used on the roads in Europe and what would likely happen before the end of the year when the feature will be launched in the US. 

Tu closes out the podcast by moving the discussion to BYD’s just-announced partnership with Shell. Lei pulls out the discussion to a broader look at how these traditional petrol companies are now rebranding and reinventing themselves to maintain relevance during the cleantech push. 

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Lei begins this podcast with announcements from the OEMs of record profits in these tough times and the cognitive dissonance of profiting the most during the most challenging times. Tu updates on the current situation on the ground in China with regard to the Covid situation and where the lockdowns are currently taking place and what he thinks will happen with the Beijing auto show that’s scheduled to happen in just over a month’s time.

Tu takes over for Lei to make the announcements this week since Lei was traveling. Tu lists all the cars brands in China that have raised pricing of their vehicles, it’s a long list. Tu highlights a Financial Times deep dive into VW Group’s reliance on the China market. A fascinating piece for those that follow VW Group closely.

Tu and Lei move on to a conversation about recently announced vehicles that’ll soon enter the China market, with a few of them also likely to be exported to a market near you.

Tu and Lei then discuss the recent rumor that Didi is getting int car manufacturing, a Didi Motor Company perhaps and whether either of them thinks it makes sense. 

The topic moves to TuSimple and what looks to be a planned split between their US and China entities. This turns into a broader discussion about the AV sector including what could happen to US/Chinese hardware developers. All indications point to a similar hard look at how they will be treated by each country. 

Tu and Lei close out the pod with a discussion on how the short-term increase in EV pricing may initially scare off US consumers and whether or not that’s a good or bad thing for legacies. 

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In this latest MAX episode, Tu & Lei invite Elliot Richards, the East Asia Correspondent from Fully Charged, a YouTube channel dedicated to promoting all things clean energy.

Elliot has spent the last two years test driving and reviewing many of the electric vehicles from the Chinese EV brands that Tu and Lei talk about each week on China EVs & More. 

In this fun and relaxed episode Tu, Lei, and Elliot trade stories about how they got 'into' cars and much more. Does Elliot really think these cars can compete with the Germans, Americans, Japanese, and Koreans? What's the best car that he's driven? How did he get into this role? 

For anyone that wants to get beyond how some of the China EV Inc cars look, this is a MUST LISTEN TO episode. 

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The podcast starts with Lei giving us an overview of the annual, and critically important 两会 or Two Sessions conference that sets the agenda for the year’s governmental priorities. NEVs have been a major priority of the Two Sessions for the last several years for instance and it was no different for this session.

Tu then talks about how the number of new brands being established in China has really pushed a significant increase in the level of competition there and how the Chinese government has begun to take a step back to allow all of these brands across the different market segments push the market forward, drive innovation to make these cars more feature rich, yet affordable. He is doubtful that the few EV startups in the US alongside the legacies who’ve begun to pivot their products to clean energy are enough of a critical mass to quickly get sales to that same tipping point. He is curious and hopeful that as the US govt begins to take a more active role in the sector that there will be a number of startups that enter the market to challenge the established brands.

The discussion transitions to Lei reflecting on what Stephan Wöllenstein meant when he said that ‘Chinese brands have made it’ during China EVs & More MAX episode interview with him. Lei talks about how desirable Chinese EV products have become with Tu and Lei both agreeing that 500K RMB automobiles built by Chinese companies would likely NOT have been considered by a Chinese consumer just 4-5 years ago but are now redefining premium in China.

A prime example of what they’re referring to is the interest on Twitter that the NIO ET7 launch received worldwide. This was excitement neither Lei or Tu had seen in some time and it was for a Chinese EV brand. Lei insists that NIO is due because they’ve been out of the news for sometime since this is their first new product since the ET7 was unveiled 14 months ago.

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Lei heads to California for a family vacation so Tu takes over for this week’s headlines.

Tu and Lei kick off this week’s pod by talking Faraday Future’s pre-production vehicle that was unveiled earlier in the week. Lei moves the conversation over to the news that NIO is getting into mobile phones and how this is a trend that other automakers and technology companies will follow. Tu broadens the discussion on NIO and the implications of the increased capacity coming online later this year for them. 

The discussion heads over to the brewing Tesla vs. BYD biggest EV maker in the world title that both are vying for with their recent announcements of increased capacity. 

Tu talks about how the west has not only begun to pay attention to China EV Inc but also China Battery Swapping Inc with the news that CATL will be launching a battery swapping service. Where does battery swapping fit into the charging infrastructure conversation and who will end up taking on that technology? Tu explains why battery swapping lends itself so well to the China market.

Lei closes out the pod detailing his experience renting a Hertz Tesla Model 3 for a week in California. It looks like Tesla has another convert!

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Tu starts out the pod talking about Rivian’s marketing and pricing missteps with Lei reminding everyone that the EV startups will run into these types of challenges as they gain footing into the market.

Tu then shares his thoughts on Ford’s announcement this week about splitting the company into Ford Blue, the division focusing on ICE development & Ford Model e, the division that will build out Ford's EV & mobility services strategy and why it was such an important move to hire Doug Field and let him take on the lead role for Ford Model e.

Lei moves on to discuss Stellantis' China strategy which is was part of his overall strategy review. Stellantis China will take on an asset light approach to China leaning on brands like Jeep, Citröen, and Peugeot.

February sales was due to be a slow month due to Chinese New Year but BYD & Tesla seemed to buck that trend they continue with their expectations for BYD for 2022 and its likely consistent sales of >100K / month starting in March as long as long as they can continue to manage supply chain issues so that they don’t affect production in any significant way.

Lei moves the conversation over to Li Auto’s earnings their grand ambitions and how they’ve contrasted themselves vs. XPeng and NIO.

Tu talks about Lotus's new electric SUV that’s to be unveiled at the end of March and how Lotus is following the playbook of Porsche, Bentley, Rolls Royce, and other sports car brands that eventually launched SUVs.

Lei closes out the pod with his experience of spending a week driving a Hertz Tesla Model 3.

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In this MAX episode, Lei gets the chance to ask Dr. Wöllenstein for his take on the challenging 2021 VW Group had in China and what his outlook for the company is for 2022 and beyond.

In particular, Dr. Wöllenstein gives us his take on how the ID. Series will perform here in China in 2022 and beyond, what he thinks of his Chinese competitors, and his outlook on expanding VW Group R&D in China. 

He also talks about how "China has finally made it" in terms of the domestic Chinese players finally catching up to (and even surpassing!) the foreign automakers in terms of market share and innovation, and that foreign automakers need to treat China as a "two-way street" (both as a market and innovation powerhouse) rather than a "one-way street" many years before when they simply imported technologies and anything would sell on the the market.

This might be one of the last extended interviews that Dr. Wöllenstein gives about the China market before he heads back to Germany in August so don't miss out on his thoughts!

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China EVs & More turns 1 year old! Tu starts the podcast out by summarizing the first week of the MOBILIT/E Conference and Tu & Lei discuss some of the highlights of the week.

Lei details his interview with outgoing Porsche China CEO Jens Puttfarcken and Porsche's amazing streak of 20 years of growing sales in China. 

Tu and Lei move on to how large and complex a company BYD is and how they're well-positioned to take advantage of the global pivot towards EVs and then discuss the news about Volkswagen Group rumored to be acquiring Huawei's autonomous vehicle group. 

They both discuss Baidu Apollo launching its robotaxi service in Shenzhen, becoming the only AV company with pilot programs in each of the tier 1 cities. 

Tu and Lei close out the pod by talking about how Diess has been a polarizing figure to a normally low-key Volkswagen management style and how NIO management has targeted BMW as THE competitor that their vehicles are going after. 

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Tu & Lei start out this week's pod going over January sales numbers which have been slow to trickle in. They move on to a discussion about BYD & Tesla and how they could get to their 2022 sales targets.

With the Beijing winter Olympics going on, the news cycle in China for the EV/AV space is a bit slow but Tu & Lei believe this to also be the calm before the Beijing Auto Show storm. With 11 weeks until the show, they both expect announcements to begin to increase significantly leading up to the show.

Tu talks about how to really measure strength when looking at 2022 by looking at an automaker's growth vs. the market growth. The way to measure individual OEMs' success is by looking at them compared their contemporaries in the same segment. 

Tu & Lei move the discussion to the latest China EVs & More MAX episode with Maxwell Zhou, CEO of DeepRoute. 

They end the pod talking about the MOBILIT/E Conference that Sino Auto Insights co-organized and kicks off this week. For those interested in learning more about the conference, you can head here: https://mobilit-e2022.climatetransformed.com/

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Tu and Lei speak with Dr. Maxwell Zhou, CEO of DeepRoute.ai, a 3-year-old 2nd wave autonomous vehicle (AV) startup.

They ask Maxwell the recent $10K AV system that DeepRoute launched using solid-state LiDAR, when robotaxis will be ubiquitous, and why Tesla doesn't use LiDAR?

A very candid, entertaining, and informative guest, Maxwell answers those questions and much, much more.

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Tu & Lei kick off the pod with a brief overview of their chat with Aiways EVP - Alex Klose, Head of Overseas Operations, for Episode #2 of China EVs & More MAX.

Lei and Tu unpack the >$1B Great Wall Motors investment in Brazil to build hybrids and BEVs. Tu transitions this into a broader conversation about the three independent Chinese companies and how they seem to be even more ambitious than their SOE peers/brothers and how they think the current JVs will evolve and who will stand pat with their stakes in the JVS and JV partners.

Stellantis seems to be premature on their increased investment in the Stellantis GAC joint venture and points back to the history of challenges that the JV has had and how it’s created opportunities for Chinese domestic automakers, Great Wall in particular. 

Tu excitedly transitions the conversation over to the $7B GM investment in Michigan facilities and talks about his 1st job experience working at GM after graduating from university. 

Tu & Lei close out the pod talking Tesla’s earnings call this week, specifically how very little was said about China operations. 

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Tu and Lei discuss the significance of CATL's launch of it EVOGO battery swap solution, the first major blockbuster news in China's EV, AV and mobility space in the new year. In particular, what it means to NIO and other OEMs as well as  the challenges that CATL could confront as it expands from a B2B battery supplier to a B2C battery swap solutions provider.

They then talk about Jidu's new logo and concept teaser, and close out the pod discussing policy updates on EV subsidies and purchase tax exemption. 

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Tu and Lei speak with Dr. Alex Klose who led Aiways into 10 European markets over the last couple of years  ...during a pandemic! 

They ask Alex about the success factors for selling into the EU, who are Aiways customers, what their retail and charging strategy is, and much, much more. 

For those who want to understand what it takes to sell a Chinese EV in Europe, Tu and Lei talk to the guy that's doing it!

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Lei starts off with a hammer, throwing all of the mindblowing numbers from China EV market from 2021. Tu & Lei marvel at how it really was an amazing year for EV adoption and growth. 

After the long discussion and unpacking of the statistics, Tu and Lei talk briefly discuss the history and catalysts that helped get the sector to where it is now. Inflection points like Tesla entering the market, NIO & XPeng launching, transitioning to Tesla then launching ShanghaiGiga and manufacturing vehicles locally. 

Tu moves onto how western media still tends to lump all of China EV Inc into the same bucket and argues that since the sector is market-driven, a more nuanced discussion needs to take place that includes, pricing segments, features, and positioning. 

Lei moves to discuss the media interview with current Volkswagen China CEO, Dr. Wollenstein, and his post-mortem on 2021. 

Lei and Tu then talk about the announcement of BYD and Nuro partnering to deliver autonomous delivery vehicles to be manufactured in California by BYD.

They close out the pod discussing U Power, an electric vehicle platform developer looking to find partners that can develop top hats for their platform and takeaways from U Power's keynote.   

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In 2022's first episode of the year, Tu & Lei start out the pod with their thoughts on the mobility announcements that came out of CES. Tu believes that the rest of the world has finally woken up to China EV Inc.

Lei takes a few moments to opine on how the autonomous vehicle sector has really been pulled back into the spotlight and Tu adds that due to the dramatic reduction in costs of sensor HW, robotaxis could really become a 'thing' before 2025, or within the next 3 years. 

Winner in all of this - The chip companies: Mobileye (Intel), Nvidia, Qualcomm.

Lei moves on to December sales numbers with a brief explanation of why historically December numbers in China always seem to spike in good years. Despite the chip & battery shortage, most EV and traditional automakers hit record sales numbers. 

Tu ends the pod by listing his predictions for 2022 while Lei spends a few moments debating the 'whys' and the 'hows.' They both take the final few minutes of the pod to discuss how the elimination of JV requirements for foreign automakers and the new possibilities that could shape 2022. 

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Tu and Lei start the pod with a discussion about the Waymo & Zeekr partnership announcement. 

They move on to a discussion about the elimination of the previous requirement by the Chinese govt. of foreign automakers to have a JV partner to enter the Chinese market and implications on what could happen in 2022 and beyond. It basically opens the market up to all different types of mashups between foreign and local players.

Lei discusses the overwhelming amount of news that's been generated over the course of 2021 and gives an example of all of the announcements for just the month of January 2021. 

Words that start with the letter 'S' played a strong role in the 2021 passenger vehicle market and Lei lists those terms which include: Shift, Software, Strategy, Speed, Smart, Sales, Service, Struggling, Small, and others.

Tu introduces the three categories that EV companies should be placed in moving forward. 
- Traditional Legacies
- EV first companies
- Tech players

Tu then summarizes his 12 most significant events of 2021 and Lei goes over his list. They then move on to a discussion on the battery supplier landscape. 

Lei closes out the episode by talking about what he expects to see in 2022. Tu will reveal his thoughts on 2022 are on in Episode 48. 

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Tu and Lei start off this episode with a brief discussion on all of the news from NIO Day 2021 including their initial reaction to the ET5. Tu believes that the Tesla MIC Model 3 could have some serious competition between the NIO ET5 & the XPeng P5 in 2022. They then move on to the subscription services and AR/VR glasses that were announced at NIO Day and how it could enhance NIO's future offerings.

They move onto CATL's dominance in the battery cell manufacturing sector and how its competitors could create opportunities for themselves to compete with CATL in the future. 

Finally, Lei & Tu talk about how Huawei has moved even closer to building their own EVs with the AITO M5 being built by Seres and close out the pod talking Haomo, the latest Chinese AV startup unicorn that was spun-off of Great Wall Motor and still has a very close relationship with. 

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Tu and Lei start this pod with a discussion on CAAM numbers and outlook for BYD & Chery. They then take a look ahead to 2022 and how the OEMs will deal with the current battery constraints and how they may bleed into 2022. 

Tu & Lei then give a bit of background on Niutron and its CEO, founder of NIU, and his colorful past which then pushes them into a broader discussion about the technology companies who've announced plans to enter the EV space.

Finally, Tu & Lei discuss the 9.98% stake that BAIC has in Daimler, how it got to that point and the significance of two Chinese OEMs owning almost 1/5 of one of Germany's most important companies. 

They close out the pod with a discussion on NIO Day 'Hello World' and speculate what you may see as part of NIO Day. 

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Tu & Lei start this week's discussion about the recent Volkswagen Group news including new China CEO-elect Ralf Brandstatter joining in mid-2022 and the challenges ahead for the organization. 

They then move onto November & 2021 EV sales numbers for China and the US and China's projected 2022 sales numbers. And put to bed whether we've reached the tipping point for EV adoption in China. The answer is a very confident - YES!

They move onto the Ford Mustang Mach-E delays potentially causing the excitement and hence sales momentum from building. 

Tu notes that battery supply constraints could push battery prices up until supply/capacity has increased which may not happen until well into 2022.

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Tu and Lei start the show with their thoughts on November sales. They also have a discussion of next year's predicted sales of up to 5M unit sales of NEVs and any constraints that could cause a hiccup to the continued growth.

They move on to how Pony and Baidu/Apollo were the first in China to receive the licenses in Beijing to charge for their robotaxi rides. A big step forward for both companies in the race to be first/best but also a big step forward for the city of Beijing beating Shanghai to be first.

Lei then unpacks Li Auto's Q3 earnings while discussing whether or not China's Big 3 (NIO, Li Auto, XPeng) would need to delist in the coming years due to the new rules for foreign companies listing in the US.

The last topic Tu and Lei discuss is news about Factorial Energy's recent partnership announcements with Mercedes and Stellantis and a broader discussion on the state of solid-state battery development.

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Tu & Lei spend most of this episode unpacking all of the launches and news that came out of the Guangzhou auto show. 

They discuss the new EV brand from Great Wall Motors - Salon and its concept, the Mecha Dragon.

They also spend time discussing the:

• XPeng G9
• BYD Destroyer
• Voyah EMPV (Dream)
• Maxus MIFA 9
• Buick GL8 Concept
• Cadillac Lyriq
• Ford EVOS
• Lincoln Zephyr
• BMW iX
• Audi Q5 e-tron
• Mercedes EQA & EQB
• Toyota Corolla Cross
• Nissan e-Power

They close out the podcast with a discussion on XPeng's Q3 earnings and Q4 guidance, the Xiaomi EV, and the ID.3 battery leasing program that was just launched. 

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Lei starts out the pod with how his trip to LA went along with his visit to the Rivian retails store in LA, he then moves onto the brands and product launches from the LA Auto show including the Chinese presence there. Tu and Lei discuss their 2,000th episode and their launch of China EVs & More MAX series with Henrik Fisker. 

Tu and Lei take a few moments to talk Foxconn’s MIH platform then Tu moves into XPeng’s domestic brand refresh and what he think it means for the company. They then take a few moments to chat about when you may see Chinese brands begin to invade US markets and how Vinfast, the Vietnamese car company is likely going to beat most of the Chinese brands on entering the US market.

They wrap up the pod talking about Baidu Apollo’s aggressive expansion plans for China, Always move into the Spain and Portuguese markets, Vollkswagen’s continuous China woes, and a hearty congratulations to Lucid Motors for winning the Motor Trend Car of the Year.

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Lei sits down with Henrik Fisker to discuss his thoughts on charging, LiDAR, solid-state batteries, AV, China, and more...

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Lei starts out the show with a number of announcements from the week including Rivian's IPO and his EQS test drive.

Lei & Tu talk about what they're looking ahead to at the LA & Guangzhou Auto shows. They then take a few moments to explain AVATR, Changan's new premium EV brand that both Huawei & CATL has invested in. 

Tu & Lei take a few minutes to review the automotive attendees of the China International Import Expo and then dive into October sales numbers and take a minute to debate what the low domestic Tesla Model 3 sales number means, if anything. 

Finally, Tu & Lei help introduce the HiPhi Z Digital GT and spend the rest of the show talking about what to expect for November & December sales numbers.

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Lei declares that this is the 'Week of Big Bets!'

Tu and Lei unpack various automakers' September sales numbers and the overall outlook of the China EV market. They take a close look at Tesla reconciling sales vs. capacity and where they go next.

They then move onto NIO's move into Norway and how asset-heavy it seems to be. Tu and Lei close out the pod with a chat about Geely including Polestar's ambitious growth plans. 

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Tu & Lei take the first few moments of the show to talk about VW's battery systems factory investment in Anhui Province and move on from there to also talk about NIO's announcement about their Iron Lithium hybrid battery.

They then discuss the highs and (current) lows of China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle group and what they expect may result from the parent's debt struggles. They then move on to discuss how Faraday Future has gone from a startup on the brink to one that seems fairly well capitalized and close to getting their flagship product, the FF91 finally on the road.

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This episode starts out with a brief detour with Tu describing his trip to the newly opened Universal Studios. Tu & Lei then move on to unpacking how the XPeng P5 introduction will affect the mass-market (<300K RMB), smart EV segment. 

The discussion then transitions to electric vehicle consolidation that although hopeful, isn't likely to happen in any significant way for quite a while. Tu & Lei then talk about Foxconn's bold moves with MIH & Foxconn's own EV brand - Foxtron. 

The pod is closed by updating everyone on the current China Evergrande situation. 

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Tu & Lei spend the first part of this episode briefly touching on August sales numbers and spend a bit more time on their thoughts on Tesla's sales and their export strategy - is Tesla crazy like a fox?

They then spend time discussing the products the re-branded Frankfurt Auto Show which was moved to Munich and is now called Internationale Automobil Ausstellung (IAA) Mobility because it now includes other forms of transport. The big announcements still came mostly from Germany's big three. Tu steps on his soapbox to explain that mobility does NOT mean more cars, whether they're EVs or not!

Finally, Tu & Lei briefly touch on what's behind XPeng's unicorn and Ford's hiring of Doug Fields from Apple. 

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Tu & Lei start the show off with a recap of XPeng Q2'21 earnings and the effect of NIO's accident on He Xiaopeng's discussion about their ADAS solution during the call. They also go into how the launch of the XPeng P5 should affect XPeng's strategy and sales volume.

Tu & Lei briefly discuss the launch of Volkswagen's subscription services and then move on to a deep dive into China's state-owned enterprise (SOE)  premium 6 brands. Lei gives a quick history lesson on the 6 SOEs and how they've evolved till now.

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Lei & Tu go through the week's major announcements about investments in the EV/AV space including with Cruise, Waymo, and Hesai. 

Tu also goes through the announced investments into EVs from the legacies and the implications from those announcements. 

Tu & Lei get into details about the struggles that Polestar and VW are having selling their EVs in China. 

We apologize for the technical challenges we had recording this episode.

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Lei and Tu go over August sales numbers for China's current Big 5 of NIO, Li Auto, XPeng, Neta, and Leap Motor. 

Tu & Lei then move over to Li Auto's Q2 earnings and how the EV makers are starting to broaden their product portfolios with some moving up-market and some down covering the 150K-500K RMB band or what's the 'meat' of China's passenger vehicle segment. 

They spend some time to go over what was or wasn't unveiled at the Chengdu Motor show with Lei giving a bit of a history lesson on how important Chengdu the city and the Motor show has been historically to China. 

Finally, Tu & Lei discuss the seemingly constant stream of new brands being established in the EV space and how they think it may affect the sector. 

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In Episode 27, Tu & Lei take a few minutes to unpack the July sales numbers from the CPCA & CAAM and the roots of the NEV sales surge. Tu & Lei also spend a few minutes to discuss Tesla's surprising numbers for July. 

Lei summarizes the most significant news coming out of NIO's earnings calls including the confirmation of a mass-market brand as well as 3 new products scheduled for launch before the end of 2022. 

Finally, Tu and Lei summarize the policy announcements made regarding utilizing OTA to update autonomous driving features as well as the restrictions on data collection and sharing.

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In this episode, Tu & Lei unpack all of the announcements that came out of the Baidu AI World Conference. 

They also discuss NIO's recent ES8 accident that involved NIO's version of an autonomous driving system - Navigation on Pilot (NOP). Are the names for these L2 ADAS features misleading - they have an important debate about that. 

They finally have a discussion on Tesla's NHTSA investigation into their Autopilot feature.

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July sales numbers have been released so Tu & Lei go over them and discuss the standpoints and the headscratchers. There is word that BYD & Tesla have been talking about working together and BYD supplying their blade battery to the US EV maker.

Finally, the US is finally making its pivot to EVs and is bringing it's ambitions to match with a 50% of total sales by 2030 goal. How will unions play a role in achieving that goal, they discuss that as well.

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Lei & Tu spend the first part of this episode talking about Stellantis, NIO, and VW Group's electrification strategies and how China will play a major role. They also try to make sense of all of the aggressive 2025 sales targets being announced by some of the major OEMs.

They spend the last part of this episode deep diving on Leap Motor and discussing what's happening at WM Motor, an EV startup many thought would be a difference-maker.

ChinaEVandmore #SinoAutoInsights #NIO #VWGroup #Stellantis #2025 #NEVs #bignumbers #LeapMotor #WMMotor

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Tu & Lei get busy this week with XPeng finally launching specific pricing for it's recently announced P5 sedan and there is a lot for them to debate. Mercedes closely follows VW last week with their electrification plans and when they plan to be ALL-electric.

Tu & Lei also take some time to talk about the drama that has historically followed founder of Faraday Future, Jia Yueting, till this week when Faraday became a US publicly-traded company. Now the hard work begins for them!

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Tu & Lei talk about the media outlet that crashed a BYD Han which caught fire after 48 hours and BYD's reaction to the news hitting Chinese social media. They also debate whether the Huawei exec that made a controversial statement about Tesla should be fired or not. 

Finally, they unpack the sodium-ion battery that CATL made an announcement about this week. Will this ultimately help them with sales in the near term? Is it a game-changer?

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In this episode, Tu & Lei talk about how the Tesla recall may actually have benefited them in China. They also unpack the monster ambitions that Great Wall Motors has laid out via their 2025 sales forecasts. Finally, Tu and Lei break down what to expect from the Didi US IPO and all the excitement that's been built up because of it.

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In this episode, Tu and Lei break down what's really happening with the Didi situation and what this could mean to other ride-hailing firms as well as smart EV companies. 

Lei goes over June sales numbers and the expected sales growth for the rest of this year and finally, Tu talks about attending AutoX's Gen 5 launch in Shanghai.

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In this episode, Tu & Lei debate VW brand's current sales struggles in China and Audi's Bold 2033 EV announcement that excludes China. 

They also bring in Will Sundin from China Driven to discuss Tu & Will's visits to Baidu's Apollo robotaxi depot in Yizhuang - What they did, saw, and overall thoughts of the technology.  

Finally, Will and Tu take us through their time at Evoke Motorcycles, an electric motorcycle startup based in Beijing, and their chat with Nathan Siy and Sebastian Chrobok, the founders.  

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In this episode, Lei and Tu talk autonomous vehicles. They discuss Pony.ai, Didi, and break down the current partnership landscape between the AV startups, manufacturers, and ride-hailing companies and talk through how these partnerships are going to work. 

Lei highlights how the local chip startups could compete and ultimately dominate the local China market.

Finally, Tu takes a few minutes to discuss the potential challenges ahead for Foxconn as they get into the automotive manufacturing business as they partner with Byton, Fisker, Faraday Future, and others.

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In this week's episode, Lei discusses the surprise shuffle and newbies entering the top 5 in sales, Tu & Lei give an update on Jidu Auto (the Baidu & Geely partnership), and the Three Child policy and how that may affect the automotive sector.

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In this episode, Tu and Lei talk about what to takeaway from the rumored Apple meeting with Chinese battery suppliers BYD & CATL. Tu also discusses his time participating in a live Mobility panel in Shanghai with over 40 people in attendance. 

Finally, Tu and Lei also take a few minutes to discuss some China EV CEO's comments during an automotive conference and prospects for the Didi (China's Uber) IPO.

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Lei & Tu get into more detail about the upgraded Li One and Li selecting Horizon Robotics as their future chip partner. They also discuss the announcement by Tesla to open their own data centers in Shanghai and the lack of a data strategy from other foreign OEMs. Finally, Tu & Lei add commentary on the Ford (+) strategy and how their China strategy was left out of the announcement and much more...

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In this week's episode, Tu & Lei go over April's EV sales numbers for the China market, one that has historically been a slow month. 

They also discuss Tesla's continuing sales struggles, the recent data security standards administration, the Qihoo 360 & JD.com partnership, and finally XPeng March earnings. 

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Tu & Lei have some fun with the latest on the Tesla protest-gate at #AutoShanghai2021 and talk about whether NIO way to Norway could be their way to the rest of the EU. 

They also discuss Skyworth, the Chinese brand known for TVs in China, entering the EV sector.

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In a Labor Day shortened show, Tu & Lei unpack all the news that came out of 'NIO' Day in Norway and Tu talks about his domestic travels in China during China's 5 day Labor Day holiday. 

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Tu & Lei analyze and the numbers from CQ1'21 China auto sales before getting into the vehicles that were launched and the buildup to #AutoShanghai2021. 

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In this episode, Tu & Lei discuss how packing technology into EVs becomes the norm in China and play out how the Chinese tech companies change the EV game for the OEMs & EV startups.

Tu also discusses his trip to Changzhou to visit Niu, China's most innovative electric moped company. He deep dives a bit about the market, tries out their new products and visits their brand new factory.

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In this week's episode, Tu & Lei continue their talk about the Shanghai Auto Show focusing on announcements and product reveals from the domestic automakers, technology companies, and EV startups.

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For this week's episode, we talk Shanghai Auto Show focusing on announcements and product reveals from the foreign automakers.