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Mint
10-06-2025
- Automotive
- Mint
Chinese State Media Takes Aim at ‘Zero-Mileage' Used Cars
(Bloomberg) -- The Communist Party controlled People's Daily newspaper has urged Chinese carmakers to stamp out 'zero-mileage' used vehicles in the latest rebuke to the auto industry amid growing concern unbridled competition could upend the market. In a commentary published Tuesday, the paper said the practice of shifting almost new cars into the second-hand market was used by manufacturers and dealers to meet sales goals, but weakened their balance sheets and could lead to consumers losing proper rights when purchasing the vehicles. 'Zero-mileage' cars are essentially an extension of the industry's price war and reflect the fierce competition gripping the market. The newspaper also called for automakers to stop their singular focus on sales and put that drive into improving technology and services. It suggested consumers shouldn't just look at the price when shopping for cars, but also product quality and after-sale care provided. The article follows a series of recent interventions from Chinese authorities on competition in the auto industry. Regulators have held at least two meetings in the past two weeks with manufacturers to address a range of topics, including 'zero-mileage' used cars. Auto executives last week were told to 'self-regulate' and not sell cars below cost or offer unreasonable price cuts. The scrutiny stepped up after market leader BYD Co. last month slashed prices by as much as 34%. 'Zero-mileage' used cars is a practice in which automakers that have failed to meet sales targets offload new vehicles to supply chain financing companies or second-hand car dealers. The essentially new vehicles then appear on the resale market with no mileage, while manufacturers record them as sales despite the cars not yet having reached an end-consumer. The increased pressure has seen automakers trade barbs at each other. Great Wall Motor Co. founder Wei Jianjun first raised the issue of 'zero-mileage' cars in an interview late last month. He also said the industry had its own 'Evergrande' — referring to the giant real estate developer that collapsed under a mountain of debt — though didn't name any specific automakers. At an industry forum held in the southwestern city of Chongqing on the weekend, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. spokesman Victor Yang brought up allegations that some of BYD's plug-in hybrids may have used cheaper fuel tanks that breached emissions standards. These accusations were first raised by Great Wall two years ago, and rejected by BYD at the time. BYD's general manager for brand and public relations, Li Yunfei, hit back at the accusations on social media. He stressed that BYD's vehicles comply with regulations and that a certain automaker based in Zhejiang province also used similar fuel tanks in the past. Geely is headquartered in Zhejiang's Hangzhou city. Addressing the accusations that BYD is the auto industry's Evergrande, he said a Hebei-based company had tried numerous times to report BYD to the authorities for financial misconduct, but none were successful, showing the company didn't have these problems. BYD welcomed supervision between peers but reserved the right to pursue legal action against smearing and other malicious behavior, he wrote in a post on Weibo on Sunday, that he later deleted. More stories like this are available on
Time of India
30-05-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
BYD executive says no 'Evergrande' risk among mainstream Chinese automakers
An executive at top Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD said on Friday there was no "Evergrande" risk among mainstream Chinese automakers. Last week, Great Wall Motor Chairman Wei Jianjun said the country's auto industry had its own Evergrande , referring to the debt-laden developer that became the centre of a liquidity crisis in China's property sector. Wei's critical comments were a reminder of the risks facing the industry, Zhu Huarong , chairman of state-owned automaker Changan told an annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday, according to local media. But writing on Weibo, Li Yunfei, BYD's general manager of branding and public relations, said Wei's comments were "astonishing". Li said he felt "puzzled, angry and amused" by the articles, comments and videos on social media that alluded to BYD as being the EV industry's equivalent of Evergrande. BYD is investigating the "legal responsibility" of relevant parties who had "viciously" spread the hostile comments, Li said. Great Wall Motor did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China's EV makers have been locked in a bruising domestic price war since Tesla cut showroom prices in 2023. They are also competing against Elon Musk's carmaker in the global market where BYD has emerged as Tesla's closest rival. Tensions between Great Wall Motor and BYD erupted into the open that year after the Hebei-based automaker announced it had filed a report with China's regulators against BYD, claiming its rival's two top-selling hybrid models did not meet emissions standards. Later that year, BYD made a patriotic call for China's auto industry to band together and "demolish the old legends" of the global car market, drawing a rebuke from Great Wall Motor. "At such a critical moment, how can Chinese automakers be together?" Wang Yuanli, the then chief technology officer at Great Wall Motor, posted on his Weibo account. "If we only talk about being together but keep our bitterness in our hearts, it would be better to have the fight first."
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Amid DeepSeek frenzy, Chinese companies detail use of AI
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor and China's leading telecoms providers are integrating the AI model released by DeepSeek into their offerings, the latest Chinese companies looking to capitalize on the start-up's breakthrough and attention. Hebei-based Great Wall - China's first listed car maker - confirmed to Reuters it had integrated DeepSeek into its connected vehicle system, which it has branded "Coffee Intelligence." State-run publication Securities Times first reported the Great Wall development on Sunday. Separately China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on Saturday that the country's three largest telecom companies - China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom - were looking to "promote the inclusive application of the latest AI technology" and were working with the DeepSeek open source model. DeepSeek's AI platform, which threatens to upend the economics of a still-emerging industry, has spilled over into investor speculation about its potential positive effects on China's broader tech sector and to patriotic calls for an upward repricing of Chinese assets. Chinese investors have rushed into AI-related stocks, including Chinese chipmakers, software designers and data centre operators in recent days. On Sunday, two listed companies who had been touted by investors as potential beneficiaries of DeepSeek's lower-cost model cautioned investors their business outlook had not changed - even as Beijing celebrated the efforts of other big companies to integrate DeepSeek's AI platform. Beijing-based Capitalonline Data Service, which provides cloud computing services, said in a statement to the Shenzhen stock exchange it had deployed the DeepSeek-R1 model. The company's shares jumped 49% between Wednesday and Friday last week. In its statement it said the business effect of the DeepSeek rollout and any impact on the company's future performance were both uncertain. Shenzhen-based MeiG Smart Technology company, which provides wireless data terminals for IoT devices, said in its own statement to the Shenzhen exchange that it was working on the adaptation of DeepSeek-related models but remained in the early stages of that work. It said development work had not generated any new business. MeIG's shares jumped 33% from Wednesday to Friday. Other Chinese companies, including Tencent and Huawei, have said in the last week that they have integrated DeepSeek's model into their own offerings. Sign in to access your portfolio
