OEM TrendIT Home: Dongfeng Motor announced on April 8 that the DF30—China’s first domestically developed high-performance automotive-grade MCU chip—is steadily advancing toward mass production in its debut application, an engine ECU. The chip has already been successfully validated in vehicles including the Dongfeng eπ 007, Mhero 817, and Dongfeng Aeolus Hanhan.Gasgoo: On April 8, XPENG CEO He Xiaopeng made a major announcement on social media: the official unveiling of the XPENG GX, a new technology flagship marking the arrival of XPENG’s technological masterpiece for the physical AI era. He emphasized, "We have infused every cutting-edge technology we have into this one vehicle," highlighting three core innovations: intelligent driving technology derived from Robotaxis, safety redundancy systems from flying cars, and embodied intelligence chip and architecture technologies.CLS: Honda released its China terminal sales for March 2026 on April 8. Honda sold 36,201 vehicles in China in March 2026. Cumulative sales for the first quarter reached 122,470 units. Additionally, Honda’s cumulative terminal sales in China surpassed the 20 million mark during March 2026.Gasgoo: Leapmotor surged to the top of Italy’s pure electric vehicle market in March. Registrations hit 5,513 units for the month — a staggering 2,827% year-on-year jump. For the first quarter, Leapmotor registered 11,637 units in Italy, capturing a 33.5% share of the local pure EV market. Looking strictly at retail passenger EVs, its market share climbed even higher to 44.6%.IT Home: Thomas Schäfer, CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars China, recently outlined the brand’s April lineup on Weibo, revealing that the VW Zhe 08 will launch on April 16. Pre-sales opened on March 26 with a price range between 239,900 and 299,900 yuan.Jiemian News: Intellectual property data from Tianyancha shows Xiaomi Corporation has recently applied to register multiple "XIAOMI YU7 GT" trademarks. The international classifications cover transportation tools, jewelry, and clocks, among others. All trademarks are currently awaiting substantive examination. Xiaomi Corporation, established in March 2010 with Lei Jun as its legal representative, has a registered capital of approximately 1.48 billion yuan.CLS: Stellantis is reportedly in deep discussions with Leapmotor to jointly develop an electric SUV for the Opel brand. Sources say production is expected to begin in 2028, with a target annual volume of 50,000 units.Supply Chain NewsGasgoo: EVE Energy released its first-quarter 2026 earnings forecast on April 8. According to the announcement, net profit for the quarter is projected to reach 1.376 billion to 1.487 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 25.00% to 35.00%.Gasgoo: Zhejiang Laneng Hydrogen Energy Technology Co., Ltd. ("Zhejiang Laneng"), a leader in domestic hydrogen storage and transport equipment, voluntarily suspended its A-share listing process on April 8. Established in 2009 as a subsidiary of Shenergy Group, the company has a registered capital exceeding 400 million yuan. It specializes in high-pressure hydrogen storage cylinders, hydrogenation station equipment, and hydrogen storage and transport systems, holding status as a national "Little Giant" enterprise. Its core products dominate the market, covering over 80% of the domestic station-based storage cylinder market and holding a more than 75% share in the hydrogen long-tube trailer sector.IT Home: According to an April 8 announcement by UNISOC, the company and Geely Auto recently held a signing and unveiling ceremony for a Joint Innovation Laboratory at the Geely Auto Research Institute in Ningbo. The companies stated that the lab will serve as a benchmark R&D platform for driving industry transformation and collaborative innovation. It aims to accelerate the conversion and application of technological achievements, providing core momentum for national strategic industrial upgrades and enhanced user value, while jointly propelling China's automotive industry up the global value chain.Industrial EconomyCLS: The inaugural Shanghai Auto Life Show opened on April 8, where Xiao Zhengsan, president of the China Automobile Dealers Association, noted that China's auto industry is moving toward "green, smart, and globalized" two-way openness, with export volumes steadily rising and cross-border trade in high-end products drawing significant attention. The event features four pillars—cultural tourism trends, mobility experiences, daily living, and social vitality—to create a "Auto + Life" hub on the Bund. It showcases China's export strength while serving as a platform for international resources entering the Chinese market. The association will continue to promote cross-border logistics systems and trade facilitation policies to foster high-quality development in the automotive trade.Gasgoo: Digua Robotics closed a $150 million Series B2 financing round on April 8. Notably, the company had just completed a $120 million Series B1 round on March 16, bringing its total Series B funding to $270 million. Proceeds from this round will accelerate the global expansion of its commercial and developer ecosystem, leveraging its native embodied intelligence technology base—characterized by software-hardware coordination and edge-cloud integration—to expand innovation in the global robotics industry.Xinhua: Data from Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority on April 7 showed pure electric vehicle registrations reached 70,700 units in March this year, surging 66.2% year-on-year. This rapid expansion continued, making BEVs the core driver of market growth. Since the start of the year, the German auto market has shown signs of recovery. New passenger car registrations totaled 294,000 in March, up 16.0% from a year ago, with cumulative first-quarter growth hitting 5.2%. Meanwhile, traditional combustion vehicles remain under pressure, with new registrations for gasoline and diesel cars falling by 4.9% and 0.6%, respectively.Kuai Technology: Recent data jointly released by the China Association of Actuaries and China Banking and Insurance Technology shows China's new energy vehicle insurance market displayed a positive trend of "rising volume and narrowing losses" in 2025. The number of insured NEVs reached 43.58 million for the year, up 40.1%; premium income climbed to 190 billion yuan, a 34.8% increase; and risk coverage expanded to 159 trillion yuan, a 50% rise from the previous year. At the same time, the industry's underwriting loss narrowed to 5.6 billion yuan—100 million yuan less than the year prior—while the combined cost ratio fell by 1.3 percentage points.Gasgoo: In April, Li Auto’s former Chief AI Scientist Chen Wei and former Head of the Second Product Line Zhang Xiao co-founded Xieyue Intelligence, an embodied intelligence company. The startup has completed its first funding round, backed by Li Auto and Capital V, and is currently processing business registration changes.
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