Chinese Automobiles · Full chronicle and history

On October 17, Economic Daily published an article explicitly criticizing Dongchedi, questioning whether it has a conflict of interest by both conducting reviews and making money from advertising.

On October 17, Economic Daily published an article titled "The 'Brake Gate' Questions More Than Quality and Safety," criticizing Dongchedi for profiting from car company advertisements while conducting evaluations, combining the roles of referee and athlete, and claiming that the abuse of non-standard extreme tests will harm the ecosystem of China's automotive industry.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Cyberspace Administration of China and the State Administration for Market Regulation announced on the evening of October 15 that they had set up a joint investigation team to investigate automobile quality.

In response to the scandal of its brake pedal breaking three times in a row, Huawei's Maextro publicly released a test report issued by the Testing Center of the China Automotive Engineering Research Institute, claiming that it passed a 3000-newton force test.

Dongchedi released a video testing three new Zunjie V800 vehicles developed through Huawei-JAC cooperation; after repeated hard braking the brake pedal bracket snapped, and the video was subsequently taken down.

Domestic retail sales data for China's auto industry fell by more than double digits year-on-year, while overseas export data rose sharply. The author questions the inconsistency in the statistical criteria used, arguing that the actual situation is not optimistic.

On September 18, six major auto industry associations including the Alliance for Automotive Innovation sent a joint letter to Trump, saying that Chinese automakers hold zero market share in the U.S. and demanding a ban on Chinese automakers selling, importing, or manufacturing in the U.S.; the White House responded that it is working with U.S. automakers to defend national and economic security.

Trump said on September 13 that Chinese cars will continue to be barred.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China's automobile exports reached 5.096 million units in the first half of 2026, a year-on-year increase of 65.3%.

Chinese car sales in Thailand have overtaken Japanese cars, breaking the long-standing dominance of Japanese automakers in the Southeast Asian market; in Australia they have also surpassed Japan to become the largest source country of car imports.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation has written to bipartisan leaders of the U.S. Congress, urging the current Congress to pass a permanent ban restricting Chinese connected vehicles and their software and hardware from entering the U.S. market.

On September 3, 2026, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, representing major automakers such as General Motors and Toyota, wrote to the U.S. Congress, strongly urging legislation to comprehensively ban the sale and import of Chinese vehicles in the United States on the grounds of government subsidies and data security risks.

On August 24, 2026, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued guidelines requiring Chinese automakers to avoid frequent and large price adjustments overseas and not to disrupt market order.

On August 11, 2026, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed that China's overseas auto shipments reached 918,000 units in July, up 88% year-on-year and accounting for more than 40% of production; however, domestic passenger vehicle retail sales plunged 21% year-on-year, with fuel-powered vehicles down 41%.

According to National Bureau of Statistics data compiled by the Continuation Index, retail sales of automobiles by enterprises above the designated size in August 2026 stood at 327.89 billion RMB, 100 million RMB less than the 327.99 billion RMB in August 2021, representing a year-on-year decline of 18.5% and marking the 9th consecutive month of decline.

Relevant data show that the profit margin of China's automobile industry has dropped from 7.8% in 2017 to 4.3% in 2024, and is expected to fall to a historic low of 3.4% in 2026.