China Auto Thread

[Beijingwalker]

China will export 30x more vehicles than it imports this year.
In 2020, the ratio was 1:1.
Leading Chinese Exporters H1 20261.
Chery: 940K2.
BYD: 720K3.
SAIC: 680K4.
Geely: 590K5.
Changan: 460K6.
Great Wall: 290K
Top Export Markets 1. Russia 2. Brazil3. UK4. Australia5. Belgium (Europe gateway) 6. Mexico

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Luxury brands are also under pressure. Huawei's Maextro S800 luxury sedan has become China's best-selling car above $100,000 (£74,145), outselling imports like Porsche Panamera and the BMW 7 series combined, which once dominated the Chinese market.

Chinese EV Brake Pedal Snaps Three Times During Testing

The testers even bought a brand-new model just to make sure this was no coincidence—and it wasn't.

www.thedrive.com

Chinese EV Brake Pedal Snaps Three Times During Testing​

The testers even bought a brand-new model just to make sure this was no coincidence—and it wasn't.

A brake pedal snapping during an emergency stop is just about one of the worst calamities that can happen on the road, and it appears a luxury EV in China carries that risk right now. Three Maextro V800 vans—built by JAC Group and tech giant Huawei—separately suffered three pedal fractures during 60-to-0-mph braking tests, prompting the manufacturer to begrudgingly commit to fix the component’s design and provide owners free replacements.

These tests made the rounds on Dongchedi, a car content platform that happens to be owned by ByteDance, which also runs TikTok. The first two failures happened to low-mileage vehicles, and their pedals snapped on their third and fourth runs. The third failure struck a brand new van purchased later, and its pedal collapsed on the second attempt.

Each failure required the testers to immediately engage the Park gear as a makeshift emergency brake, which does eventually stop the vehicle—though, as you can see in the footage, not quickly. The video below is in Chinese, but it’s not hard to get the gist of what’s going on. The driver presses hard, something audibly breaks, and the pedal falls all the way to the back of the footwell, dangling.


Huawei's MPV fails safety test: Maextro V800 brake pedal brackets snap in triple failure

Afterwards, the testers identified three potential issues with the component’s design that could explain why this keeps happening, per CarNewsChina. The brake pedal happens to be long, with a considerable distance between its central pivot point and the end of it, where your foot strikes. It also appears to be insufficiently supported, and material strength may be lacking as well.

While Maextro is apparently promising to install new parts for concerned owners, it’s also taken a somewhat dismissive tone about the severity of the problem, according to CnEV Post. The automaker’s position is that these defects were discovered during “non-standard, extreme test conditions,” and that the V800’s braking system exceeds the standards of both China’s transport ministry and the industry. It’s also said that such failures have not been reported on customer vehicles. Don’t reckon that’ll make owners feel much better, though.

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Metal Brake pedal resting in plastic housing which snaps if you hit the brake pedal hard.

 

[Beijingwalker]

 

[Beijingwalker]

Geely opens world's largest safety test center to boost Chinese brand credibility​

Geely’s new global safety center is one of the new resources the Chinese company has on tap for international partners through its External Collaboration Research Institute. (GEELY)

NINGBO, China — Geely has opened the world’s largest vehicle safety test center, a $295 million facility in China designed to elevate its brands’ safety credentials and give the automaker a bigger voice in setting global standards.

https://www.autonews.com/geely/an-geely-china-speed-make-cars-the-chinese-way-ecri-reverse-jv-safety-center-0820/

 

[Beijingwalker]

https://theevreport.com/chinese-evs-five-star-euro-ncap-ratings

https://insideevs.com/news/806923/cupra-leapmotor-crash-euroncap-test/

• The Leapmotor B05, Aion UT, and Geely E2 all earned five stars in the latest Euro NCAP testing round.
• Volkswagen's Cupra Raval only earned four stars, but the score rises to five if an optional safety pack is purchased.

https://insideevs.com/news/806923/cupra-leapmotor-crash-euroncap-test/

 

[Beijingwalker]

China to crack down on EV innovations after safety concerns flare​

Regulators mandate longer validation periods and tougher checks for new technologies

Maextro, an electric vehicle developed by JAC and Huawei, is seen on display in Beijing in April. The brand has recently come under the spotlight after brake failures were found during a review by an automotive blogger in China. © Reuters

October 12, 2026 18:43 JST

Chinese authorities are seeking to tighten standards for the development and testing of electric vehicles after a high-profile incident ignited a national debate over whether the industry's rapid rollout of new models is compromising safety.

China to crack down on EV innovations after safety concerns flare

Regulators mandate longer validation periods and tougher checks for new technologies

asia.nikkei.com

 

[Beijingwalker]

China to crack down on EV innovations after safety concerns flare​

Regulators mandate longer validation periods and tougher checks for new technologies

Maextro, an electric vehicle developed by JAC and Huawei, is seen on display in Beijing in April. The brand has recently come under the spotlight after brake failures were found during a review by an automotive blogger in China. © Reuters

October 12, 2026 18:43 JST

Chinese authorities are seeking to tighten standards for the development and testing of electric vehicles after a high-profile incident ignited a national debate over whether the industry's rapid rollout of new models is compromising safety.

China to crack down on EV innovations after safety concerns flare

Regulators mandate longer validation periods and tougher checks for new technologies

asia.nikkei.com

Too fast....

 

[Ali_Baba]

Chinese EV Brake Pedal Snaps Three Times During Testing

The testers even bought a brand-new model just to make sure this was no coincidence—and it wasn't.

www.thedrive.com

Chinese EV Brake Pedal Snaps Three Times During Testing​

The testers even bought a brand-new model just to make sure this was no coincidence—and it wasn't.

A brake pedal snapping during an emergency stop is just about one of the worst calamities that can happen on the road, and it appears a luxury EV in China carries that risk right now. Three Maextro V800 vans—built by JAC Group and tech giant Huawei—separately suffered three pedal fractures during 60-to-0-mph braking tests, prompting the manufacturer to begrudgingly commit to fix the component’s design and provide owners free replacements.

These tests made the rounds on Dongchedi, a car content platform that happens to be owned by ByteDance, which also runs TikTok. The first two failures happened to low-mileage vehicles, and their pedals snapped on their third and fourth runs. The third failure struck a brand new van purchased later, and its pedal collapsed on the second attempt.

Each failure required the testers to immediately engage the Park gear as a makeshift emergency brake, which does eventually stop the vehicle—though, as you can see in the footage, not quickly. The video below is in Chinese, but it’s not hard to get the gist of what’s going on. The driver presses hard, something audibly breaks, and the pedal falls all the way to the back of the footwell, dangling.


Huawei's MPV fails safety test: Maextro V800 brake pedal brackets snap in triple failure

Afterwards, the testers identified three potential issues with the component’s design that could explain why this keeps happening, per CarNewsChina. The brake pedal happens to be long, with a considerable distance between its central pivot point and the end of it, where your foot strikes. It also appears to be insufficiently supported, and material strength may be lacking as well.

While Maextro is apparently promising to install new parts for concerned owners, it’s also taken a somewhat dismissive tone about the severity of the problem, according to CnEV Post. The automaker’s position is that these defects were discovered during “non-standard, extreme test conditions,” and that the V800’s braking system exceeds the standards of both China’s transport ministry and the industry. It’s also said that such failures have not been reported on customer vehicles. Don’t reckon that’ll make owners feel much better, though.

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View attachment 218902
View attachment 218901
Metal Brake pedal resting in plastic housing which snaps if you hit the brake pedal hard.

SHOCKING !!! - that whole assembly should be in metal for that very reason...

 

[retaxis]

So i am looking to get an electric sedan for a daily driver for work not family car. I don't want to spend more than 60k tbh and I am leaning towards BYD seal for reliability or zeekr 7GT. These are the ones currently available in Australia.

• Audi e-tron GT
• BMW i4, i5 and i7 (i3 BEV slated for 2027)
• BYD Seal
• Genesis Electrified G80
• Hyundai Ioniq 6
• Kia EV4
• Mazda 6e
• Mercedes-Benz CLA Electric, EQE Sedan and EQS Sedan
• MG IM5
• Polestar 2
• Porsche Taycan
• Tesla Model 3 (previously also Model S)
• Zeekr 7GT
• Xiaomi SU7 (earliest 2028)

 

[Ali_Baba]

So i am looking to get an electric sedan for a daily driver for work not family car. I don't want to spend more than 60k tbh and I am leaning towards BYD seal for reliability or zeekr 7GT. These are the ones currently available in Australia.

• Audi e-tron GT
• BMW i4, i5 and i7 (i3 BEV slated for 2027)
• BYD Seal
• Genesis Electrified G80
• Hyundai Ioniq 6
• Kia EV4
• Mazda 6e
• Mercedes-Benz CLA Electric, EQE Sedan and EQS Sedan
• MG IM5
• Polestar 2
• Porsche Taycan
• Tesla Model 3 (previously also Model S)
• Zeekr 7GT
• Xiaomi SU7 (earliest 2028)

One thing to be mindful, and this is specific to Chinese electric cars more than other brands of electric cars is the level of integration of the car itself. In the case of Chinese cars, the electrical pack is part of the structural strength of the car whereas in other countries, it is treated as an additional pack that can be removed easily.

What this means is that if you have a bump, the Chinese car may end up costing alot more to repair because of the high level of integration. In the UK for example, insurance rates on Chinese cars are much higher than Tesla cars for this very reason, as they turn out to be more expensive to fix.

Whereas the Tesla will keep several components for the drive train, Chinese integrate them into 1 or 2, and while from an engineering perspective that is saving a lot of money, it means anything that fails, well turns out to be expensive.

There was a good Youtube video that high lighted this, and i just tried to find it on my watch history but i could not since I have my watch history turned off it seems.

Anyway - take a look at repair costs, speak with your insurance company first as they have alot of data on this already. They can tell you which is the cheapest and most expensive EV to "insure" which directly means which are the cheapest to repair and most expensive, etc.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

SHOCKING !!! - that whole assembly should be in metal for that very reason...

You'd think that would be a complete no-brainer choice...but remember Chinese companies are known for cost-cutting...especially to compete in the brutal home market..and that may lead them to do things they would be more hesitant to do in export versions.

As I have mentioned before around 12 years ago we once bought a Lenovo laptop for somebody in China and they lived in the actual city the Lenovo was shipped from...which was ridiculous. The laptop made a trip back and forth across the world just because they didn't trust the version sold to locals as having parts with the best quality. They paid extra to get the "Westerner's version" of the same model laptop.

Yes, I'm sure the laptop was MUCH cheaper to buy in China.

 

[Ali_Baba]

You'd think that would be a complete no-brainer choice...but remember Chinese companies are known for cost-cutting...especially to compete in the brutal home market..and that may lead them to do things they would be more hesitant to do in export versions.

As I said we once bought a Lenovo laptop for somebody in China and they lived in the actual city the Lenovo was shipped from...which was ridiculous. The laptop made a trip back and forth across the world just because they didn't trust the local version's parts as being the best quality.

I would like to think that cars imported into the UK are subject to basic minimum standards, and a plastic brake mechanism to me fails those minimum standards.

My next car will be an electric, I am ready to make the switch. It wont be a Chinese car at all, my thoughts are Tesla 3 or Kia EV 3 ( which seems to have absolutely solid reliability so far, more than any car out there of any type/brand ) and yes it is not lost on me that both will contain some Chinese parts, but I think the values of the brand in the products they sell is an important consideration to me.

The UK is a hard market for car reliability(its rains alot, and we have salt covered roads in winter) etc so reliability is important.

 

[Beijingwalker]

I would like to think that cars imported into the UK are subject to basic minimum standards, and a plastic brake mechanism to me fails those minimum standards.

My next car will be an electric, I am ready to make the switch. It wont be a Chinese car at all, my thoughts are Tesla 3 or Kia EV 3 ( which seems to have absolutely solid reliability so far, more than any car out there of any type/brand ) and yes it is not lost on me that both will contain some Chinese parts, but I think the values of the brand in the products they sell is an important consideration to me.

The UK is a hard market for car reliability(its rains alot, and we have salt covered roads in winter) etc so reliability is important.

Most likely your future Tesla will also be made in China, now almost no EVs can be made without Chinese technology.

China now makes more than seven in ten of the world’s electric cars. In 2024 it produced over 12 million, 1.25 million of which were exported, mainly to Europe.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

I would like to think that cars imported into the UK are subject to basic minimum standards, and a plastic brake mechanism to me fails those minimum standards.

My next car will be an electric, I am ready to make the switch. It wont be a Chinese car at all, my thoughts are Tesla 3 or Kia EV 3 ( which seems to have absolutely solid reliability so far, more than any car out there of any type/brand ) and yes it is not lost on me that both will contain some Chinese parts, but I think the values of the brand in the products they sell is an important consideration to me.

Well high profile Chinese companies are not that stupid so I'm sure your car will be fine. But in China itself there is this known phrase “能骗就骗” when it comes to everyday transactions. That's why you get the $2 nail clippers that break after 3 uses.
DeepSeek:

The UK is a hard market for car reliability(its rains alot, and we have salt covered roads in winter) etc so reliability is important.

Yes, the damp weather in the UK definitely can take a toll.
But what you get in rot we make up for in radiation damage. Things completely dry out to the point of fading and crumbling in your hand. Plastics outside doesn't last long before they start cracking.

Most likely your future Tesla will also be made in China, now almost no EVs can be made without Chinese technology.

Because it is right hand drive. Only the Tesla Shanghai plants makes the edge case RHD which is common in Asia/Australia. Plus only the US uses the higher performance NCA/NMC batteries in mainstream models while outside the US is LFP.

 

[Beijingwalker]

Well high profile Chinese companies are not that stupid so I'm sure you car will be fine. But in China itself there is this known phrase “能骗就骗” when it comes to everyday transactions. That's why you get the $2 nail clippers that break after 3 uses.
DeepSeek:
View attachment 219143

Yes, the damp weather in the UK definitely can take a toll.
But what you get in rot we make up for in radiation damage. Things completely dry out to the point of fading and crumbling in your hand. Plastics outside doesn't last long before they start cracking.

Lol, then how would you explain the fact that Chinese EVs sell like hotcakes around the world? doubling the sales every single year.
Is your day job to smear China? Your slander and the facts and numbers in real life reality don't add up.