Beijing Auto Show 2026 follow-up, China's weekly car news for the week starting April 27

Follow up to the Beijing Auto Show, looking at news about Chinese cars from the week starting April 27. The news section contains many titbits, starting with April sales for Chinese brands and producers. The most expensive car to sell at the Beijing Auto Show went for US$2.9 million and was Chinese. Staying with sales, Mazda is on track to become the first joint venture brand to sell more new energy vehicles (BEV + PHEV) than ICE, and Chery brands Omoda and Jaecoo have now sold more than 1 million cars overseas in 3 years. We also look at how suspension is one of the key differentiators of upmarket Chinese cars, with a video of the new Li Auto L9 Livis completely outperforming the old L9. Zeekr has just carried out what it claims is the world’s first successful 105km/h crash test on a mid-size SUV. One of the main themes in this week’s show is driving assistance or autonomous driving. Chinese cars are now being fitted with blue lights to show when they are operating in this mode. Nio is now offering an aftermarket upgrade to these lights for older models that have the capability. We also compare the driving assistance features of two of the cars launched this week the Aion N60 and the Geely Galaxy M7 along with a dive into the two models. There are more rumours about European production by Chinese brands. This time involving BYD with Volkswagen and Hongqi (FAW) with Stellantis. Staying with Hongqi we look at the global SUV which was debuted at the Beijing Auto Show. In spy shots and unveilings, we cover the Geely FS21, which is a forthcoming replacement for the Geely Preface sedan. We also look at the Freelander 8 which was shown during the week, and the Chery Arrizo X concept shown at the Beijing Auto Show. In launches along with the Aion N60 and the Geely Galaxy M7 we look at the Onvo L80 and how this is a cheeky new model for Nio’s lower cost brand. And finally, we look at Mansory's pimped-out Zeekr 9X. 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 the pictures are from the OEMs, Autohome, and Weibo. Links to other reports mentioned: For more on Geely's hybrid (HEV) system    • China's weekly car news for week starting ...   For Freelander 8 winter testing video    • China's weekly car news for week starting ...   For Jaecoo 7 now being the UK's best-selling car    • China's weekly car news for week starting ...   For in-depth look at the Li Auto L9 Livis    • China's weekly car news for week starting ...   1:24 April sales 2:16 Yangwang U9 Xtreme - the most expensive car at the Beijing Auto Show 3:25 Mazda close to selling more NEV cars in China than ICE cars 4:43 Jaecoo & Omoda sell 1 million in 3 years 5:14 Li Auto L9 Livis active suspension video 6:31 Blue lights for autonomy, Nio aftermarket refit 7:13 Zeekr 7X 105 km/h crash test 7:30 BYD & Volkswagen Dresden production rumour 7:57 Hongqi and Stellantis 8:07 Hongqi Global SUV at Beijing Show 8:59 Geely FS21 spy shots of the Preface (Xingrui) replacement 10:14 Freelander 8 unveiling 13:37 Chery Arrizo X concept at Beijing Show 14:48 Onvo L80 pre-sales 20:32 Aion N60 launch 24:22 Geely Galaxy M7 launch 27:07 Mansory modified Zeekr 9X