DianMaAuto — Chinese Car News, Reviews & Analysis

Chinese car news, reviews, industry analysis and coverage of the brands reshaping the global auto industry.

• 425 mm longer, now with lidar and flash charging! BYD's second-gen Seagull launches from $9,420 with trade-in

  BYD has launched the second-generation Seagull in five trims priced from $9,870 to $14,960, or $9,420 to $14,510 with a limited-time trade-in, growing 425 mm longer and moving up to five seats with Go

• China's regulators step in, with MIIT and two other agencies investigating the Maextro V800 brake pedal failures

  China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Cyberspace Administration of China and the State Administration for Market Regulation have set up a joint task force to investigate the Mae

• 1,213 km without a single charge! BMW's new i3 completes its Thousand-Mile Horse range challenge

  BMW has announced that its i3 50L electric sedan completed the Thousand-Mile Horse no-charge range challenge, running 1,213 km on one charge and arriving with 1 percent of battery left.

• A Chinese supercar that will never be built, free for players worldwide, Xiaomi's Vision GT hits GT7 tomorrow

  Gran Turismo 7 producer Kazunori Yamauchi says the game's Spec IV update part one arrives on October 15 with the Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo as a new car, giving players worldwide their first chance to

• Jetour's new Traveller 7 looks like a baby Land Rover Defender and starts at $18,800 with trade-in

  Jetour has launched the new Traveller 7 in eight trims with gas and C-DM plug-in hybrid power, with gas versions from $18,800 to $24,770 after trade-in and the C-DM from $21,490 to $24,470 after trade

• Lynk & Co 10 EM-P rolls down a 100-meter cliff, and the brand says the cabin held and the owner is unhurt

  A Lynk & Co 10 EM-P left the road on a national highway in Luzhou, Sichuan, rolled and fell to the bottom of a nearly 100-meter cliff, and the brand says the cabin stayed intact with no pillar deforma

• A Toyota Alphard with an RX 9060 graphics card on the dash, going hands-free at 110 km/h

  A Reddit post has gone viral after an owner plugged an AMD Radeon RX 9060 graphics card into the center console of a 2021 Toyota Alphard, giving the otherwise driver-assist-free van hands-free highway

• smart's two-door city car returns, and the #2 Couture Edition's 999 Chinese units sell out instantly

  The smart #2 Couture Edition launched on October 12 with 999 units for China at 112,999 yuan, already showing as sold out in the official app, after the car made its global debut at the Paris auto sho

• 1,008 km and the world's longest range for a large electric sedan! BYD's Da Han EV launches from $35,240

  BYD's Dynasty series flagship sedan, the Da Han EV, has launched in three trims priced from 235,900 to 275,900 yuan, with up to 1,008 km of CLTC range, making it the world's first large electric sedan

• XPeng G9L launches across Europe at the Paris auto show, from 74,600 euros ($83,260), more than double its Chinese price

  The XPeng G9L went on sale in Europe at the Paris auto show with Germany's 74,600-euro starting price the lowest of the lineup, putting the European entry price at nearly twice the top Chinese trim an

• Won't enter the US and still wants the sales crown! BYD's Stella Li says it will overtake Toyota and Volkswagen within five years

  BYD executive vice president Stella Li said at a Singapore summit that the company aims to pass Toyota and Volkswagen to become the world's largest automaker within five years, while staying out of th

• 6.711 million charging sessions! China's highways drew 163 million kWh over the 7-day National Day holiday, up over 51 percent

  China's National Energy Administration said 62,700 monitored highway charging facilities completed 6.711 million charging sessions from October 1 to 7, with 163 million kWh of electricity delivered an

• BYD's new Seagull jumps a size class, adding rear drive and optional lidar from around $10,000

  BYD has opened blind pre-orders for the second-generation Seagull, which grows from an A00 minicar into an A0 small car, gains rear-wheel drive and offers an optional roof lidar with city navigation w

• Three Maextro V800s snap their brake pedals in testing, and Huawei's HIMA Maextro brand responds

  Three brand-new Maextro V800 test cars suffered broken brake pedal brackets during 100 km/h to zero emergency braking tests, prompting the brand to promise design improvements and free upgrades for ow

• GAC Group plans to acquire 50% equity in FAW Toyota; FAW exits! North and South Toyota merged

  GAC Group plans to acquire the 50% stake in FAW Toyota held by FAW through a share issue priced at 5.75 yuan per share, with FAW set to become GAC's second-largest shareholder and trading resuming on

• China takes the world car factory title from Japan! Exports hit 7.153 million in January-August, over 33,000 vehicles shipped daily

  China exported 7.153 million vehicles in January-August 2026, up 66.7% year on year, surpassing Japan's roughly 2.4 million and its own full-year 2025 total. New-energy vehicles reached 3.435 million

• Li Auto starts selling its core tech, from Mach chips to silicon carbide and range extenders

  Li Auto has opened its self-developed Mach driver-assist chips, silicon carbide power modules and complete range-extender systems to outside customers, with some units spun off into standalone compani

• BYD's Fang Cheng Bao enters sedans with 900 km range and Ferrari-style suspension from $28,080

  Fang Cheng Bao, BYD's personalization brand, launched its first sedans, the Formula S and Formula S GT, on September 16. The Formula S offers up to 900 km CLTC range and features DiSus-M magnetorheolo

• Geely's Galaxy Warship 700 opens pre-orders from $29,770 with satellite links and floating escape mode

  Geely has opened pre-orders for the Galaxy Warship 700 across six trims priced from 199,800 to 389,800 yuan, with the 700-unit Land Ark edition claiming emergency floating escape, low-orbit satellite

• GAC's 2027 Aion i60 claims 1,080 miles of range, the longest of any EREV, from $15,440

  GAC Aion has launched the 2027 i60 with seven trims priced from 111,600 to 142,800 yuan, or 103,600 yuan after benefits, claiming 1,738 km of combined range on the range-extender version, the longest

• 25 years, 1 million Porsches in China, and four straight years of falling sales

  Porsche delivered its one-millionth vehicle in mainland China on September 13, 25 years after entering the market, but its China sales have now fallen for four consecutive years and were down 32 perce

• BYD Denza N8L EV debuts with 596 miles of range and a starting price under $44,700

  Denza has launched the N8L EV, its first full-size electric SUV, in two trims priced at 299,800 and 329,800 yuan, with a 130.15 kWh second-generation Blade Battery delivering 960 km of CLTC range.

• 124 hp and 162 mph! Kove's new track monster 650RR launches for just $5,060

  Kove has launched the 650RR standard edition at a unified 33,977 yuan price, packing a self-developed 645cc four-cylinder engine with 124 metric horsepower and a 260 km/h top speed on a WSBK-standard

• BYD reportedly orders 10 more car carriers, 9,200-car giants matching the world's second largest

  BYD has reportedly ordered ten more 9,200-CEU pure car and truck carriers from China Merchants Industry, matching its BYD Shenzhen vessel, which would grow its fleet to 18 ships with over 130,000 vehi

• VW's first city-NOA sedan starts at 89,900 yuan and sells out showroom cars in China

  SAIC Volkswagen's ID.ERA 5S, the first Volkswagen-badged sedan with city NOA, starts at 89,900 yuan after benefits and has sold out display cars at some dealers, with deliveries backed by a daily comp

• Zeekr 9X tow hook thumbs-up goes viral with 400,000 likes, and Zeekr responds

  A Zeekr 9X driver's tow hook thumbs-up thank-you after a polite lane change has gone viral with over 400,000 likes, prompting Zeekr to praise the courtesy while warning the trick is not the hook's des

• China suspends auto certification body CCAP for a month over improper CCC certificates

  China's certification authority has ordered CCAP, a major issuer of mandatory CCC certificates for vehicles, to suspend operations for a month after it certified products outside the mandatory certifi

• Lynk & Co Europe changed its approach: direct subscription sales exited, and its sibling automaker Volvo became its exclusive dealer

  Lynk & Co will end its direct sales and subscription model in Europe in January 2027, when sibling brand Volvo becomes its exclusive dealer under a final agreement between Geely and Volvo.

• Italian supplier chief urges EU to cap Chinese cars at 8% share, then hit 80% tariffs

  Anfia president Roberto Vavassori has proposed an 8% market share quota for Chinese-built cars and parts in the EU, with 80% punitive tariffs beyond that, while Chinese brands already passed 9% share

• Japan's big three keep sinking in China, with Nissan and Honda halving in August

  Toyota, Nissan and Honda all fell in China for a fifth straight month in August, with Nissan down 51.9 percent and Honda down 49.9 percent, as Japanese brands' market share has halved in five years.