industry

A peek under the hood of the global automotive industry.

Tesla’s 66% Plunge in China Looks Like a Crash. The Export Data Says Otherwise.
In the last week of October, at a Tesla delivery center in Pudong, Shanghai, a salesperson leaned against a display car and scrolled through his phone. He had three delivery orders scheduled for the day. Two were carried over from late September. In the body shop next door, there were more technicians than cars. “It’s not that nobody’s buying,” he said. “There just aren’t any cars in the lot.”
By Jin2 days ago in Wheel
EV Road Trips Are Won by Fewer Stops, Not Faster Charging
Two cars, same price, different trip shapes Two EVs leave a charger at the same state of charge. Both cost about RMB 260,000. One is a mid-trim BYD Datang at RMB 269,900. It has a 130 kWh second-generation blade battery, a single rear motor with 500 hp, and a measured full-to-zero highway range of 611 km at an average 115 km/h. The other is a base ONVO L90 at RMB 265,900. It has an 85 kWh CALB ternary lithium battery. Dongchedi measured the high-trim L90 at 369 km of highway range.
By Jin2 days ago in Wheel
Foreigners Don’t Drive Small Cars Because They’re Pragmatic
Most of us buy e-bikes for errands. We do not skip Mercedes because we dislike Mercedes. We do not skip Tsinghua because we dislike Tsinghua. We do not share an apartment because a villa feels too big.
By Jin2 days ago in Wheel
The Ruling That Decided Nothing and Showed What Competition Now Runs On
On November 11, 2026, the court in The Hague issued a ruling in Jaguar Land Rover v. BYD. The ruling did not address whether the Ti7 copied the Defender. The court had to resolve a more preliminary question: which digital records seized in the August raid could enter the later proceedings. That procedural ruling, which avoided the infringement question, shows more clearly than an infringement judgment what is shaping competition.
By Jin4 days ago in Wheel
The 503 km/h Run Happened. The Record Is Narrower Than the Headline.
The Yangwang U9 Xtreme ran 503.17 km/h in Abu Dhabi. The setting needs correction first. It did not happen on an open road with traffic. Local authorities closed a 10 km section of the E11, including a 7 km straight. The car was prepared, the surface was inspected, and the run was organized as a record attempt. The conditions still differed from a purpose-built high-speed oval. There was no banking. The surface had ordinary road variation. Heat, dust, and crosswind were present.
By Jin4 days ago in Wheel
Volkswagen Deepens Restructuring: 12,000 More Jobs to Go by 2030 Amid Rising Tensions
Volkswagen is preparing to eliminate an additional 12,000 jobs by 2030, according to reports from German newspaper Bild , pushing the total number of positions to be slashed beyond 47,000 in what has become one of the most sweeping restructurings in the history of the global automotive sector. The move comes as the company grapples with shrinking margins, fierce international competition, and the staggering costs of transitioning toward an electric future, but it has also triggered an angry response from organised labour, setting the stage for the most serious industrial conflict in decades.
By Mark Lim 5 days ago in Wheel
The BMW B58 Engine: Is It Really One of the Best Engines BMW Has Ever Made?
There are certain BMW engines that enthusiasts never stop talking about. The M20. The M54. The legendary S54. And, of course, the N54, which helped establish BMW's reputation for building turbocharged straight-six engines with enormous tuning potential. But there's a newer engine that has quietly joined that conversation.
By MT Auto Parts – BMW Specialists from the UK10 days ago in Wheel
The 1 Million Yuan Gamble: Inside Audi's "Buy One, Get One Free" Disaster
On November 3, 2026, a case-filing notice from the Shanghai Jiading District Market Supervision Administration brought a provisional comma to the "buy one, get one free" controversy that had surrounded SAIC Audi for nearly a month. The reported party was Shanghai SAIC Volkswagen Automobile Sales Co., Ltd., and the matter pointed to a post published on the evening of October 11 titled "Congratulations to Qinwen on Her Championship! AUDI Full Lineup Buy One, Get One Free." When consumers clicked through, they found that the "free" item was a 1:18 scale model car of the same model, worth "probably less than 1,000 yuan"; and the "full lineup" in the title was not the Audi lineup as the public understood it, but only two battery-electric models under the AUDI lettered badge, the E5 and the E7X.
By Jin10 days ago in Wheel
The Car Was the Dream. Then They Did the Math.
"At first, my budget for a car was 300,000 yuan. Then it dropped to 250,000." Asked why she was fixed on that price range, Li Yu answered bluntly: "To show off."
By Jin10 days ago in Wheel
China Built 1.02 Million Chargers. The Profit Is Almost a Rounding Error.
At six in the morning, a charging site on the outskirts of the city. Connector No. 3 is offline. The maintenance ticket reads “insulation test abnormality on the charging cable.” A ride-hailing car charges to 80%, unplugs, and leaves. The service fee is 0.36 yuan per kWh. Last month, the site’s average daily charging volume per connector was under 120 kWh. The break-even line is 180 kWh. The transformer hums inside its sheet-metal cabinet. The canopy leaks, dripping onto the concrete and forming a small dark patch.
By Jin13 days ago in Wheel
BYD Kept the Sales. It Lost the Margin.
BYD’s Q3 report shows a weaker operating trend than the half-year report did. At the half-year stage, the market could still believe a simple story: sales were recovering, per-vehicle profit had bounced, gross margin was rising, and an inflection point might be near. Q3 broke that story. Sales rose. Per-vehicle profit did not hold. Gross margin fell.
By Jin13 days ago in Wheel
Xiaomi Hit 50,000 Deliveries. The Number to Watch Is 8,500 a Week.
October deliveries: 50,000. August was in the 30,000 range. September was in the 40,000 range. October reached 50,000. Three months, three steps.
By Jin13 days ago in Wheel