China's weekly car news for week starting June 29 2026

The top stories and commentary about Chinese cars for the week starting June 29, 2026, from Mark Andrews, author of Driving the Dragon. Volkswagen is considering bringing some of its electrified Chinese models to Europe, either as imports or as cars produced in its German factories. The ID. Era 9X, a large range-extended electric SUV produced by the Shanghai Volkswagen joint venture, is apparently one of the main models under consideration. Second-hand car prices in China are in free fall, with new energy vehicles, China’s term for all-electric and PHEV cars, faring worse than fuel-powered cars. Few Chinese-branded EVs retain more than half their value after three years. On July 1, China implemented its new regulations on EVs. These cover the safety of the cars, particularly with regard to the batteries. Many car sites around the world have been showing spy shots of a two-door sports car from Xiaomi. According to a government department, the images are fake and were made using AI. Spy shots have emerged of both the exterior and interior of the Tai 9 SUV from BYD’s Fang Cheng Bao brand. The brand’s General Manager has also released teaser images of the car. This week’s major launch was the Seal 08, BYD’s flagship sedan in its Ocean series. BYD also launched the Linghui M9 MPV. Linghui is a new BYD brand aimed at ride-hailing and taxi use. Mark Andrews has been test-driving cars in China for publications such as Autocar, Auto Express, Carsales Australia, and the South China Morning Post since 2007, and he has also been writing about the Chinese car industry since then. His book Driving the Dragon tells the story of the rise of the Chinese car industry through his experience test-driving cars in the country. Video resources are from the OEMs and Weibo. The pictures are from the OEMs, Autohome, Fast Technology and Wikipedia. 1:06 Volkswagen considering producing Chinese-market VWs in Europe 3:35 Chinese second-hand car prices 6:10 China implements new standards for EVs 9:21 Xiaomi sports cars is AI 10:47 Fang Cheng Bao Tai 9 spied 11:48 BYD Seal 08 launch 16:36 Linghui M9 launch