Zunjie, the premium EV brand co-owned by Huawei and JAC, has promised a free upgrade for the brake pedal bracket on its V800 SUV after a Chinese media test found the part fracturing during repeated emergency braking. The test, published on October 8 by automotive media outlet Dongchedi, showed all three V800 test cars suffering bracket breakage within two to four braking events from 100 km/h (62 mph), forcing drivers to stop using the parking gear.
Shares of JAC Motors, which builds the V800, fell by the daily limit on the same day. A JAC investor relations official said production and operations were normal, according to the report from Chinese news outlet D1EV. That evening, Zunjie issued a statement saying the braking system was developed and validated to standards higher than China's GB 21670-2025 and GB 7258-2026, and that no such failure had occurred in customer use. The company said it would optimize the component, offer free upgrades to owners of delivered cars, and re-review its design validation and production quality management. Dongchedi responded that braking from 100 km/h is not an extreme condition.
Sales updates from SAIC, Seres, Xiaomi
SAIC Motor reported September sales of 406,000 vehicles, down 7.67% year on year, but its new-energy vehicle (NEV) sales rose 18.72% to 225,000 units, and exports plus overseas production grew 49.07% to 150,000 units. Joint ventures SAIC Volkswagen and SAIC GM saw declines of 35.80% and 19.14%, respectively, while the Zhiji brand sold 8,000 units, down 27.85%.
Seres, which builds the AITO brand with Huawei, sold 29,271 NEVs in September, down 34.48% year on year but up 20.7% month on month. Cumulative sales this year stand at about 256,500 units, down 15.79%.
Xiaomi, meanwhile, said its Pengcheng series – which includes the N90 Max, Max Explorer Edition, and N70 Pro and Max – had locked in over 70,000 orders in the 30 days from September 7 to October 7. The company said it will now only disclose first-wave lock-in figures and first-month sales for new models. Xiaomi previously said it delivered over 40,000 vehicles in September, with more than 10,000 Pengcheng units in their first month.
Xpeng names robotaxi brand, FAW-Toyota-GAC alliance takes shape
Xpeng has officially named its robotaxi service "XPENG YOYO" (Xiaopeng Youyou in Chinese), launching a website and ride-hailing mini-program. Rides currently require an invitation code and are limited to designated areas of Guangzhou. The vehicles are based on the Xpeng GX, use four self-developed Turing chips and a second-generation VLA model, and rely on a pure vision system without lidar or high-definition maps. Xpeng says it has completed over 2,000 internal test rides in Guangzhou and plans to offer driverless rides without safety attendants by 2027.
In another structural move, FAW, Toyota, and GAC signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement in Guangzhou on October 8. Under a plan announced on September 28, GAC will acquire FAW's 50% stake in FAW Toyota through a share issue, with FAW Toyota continuing to operate independently and FAW becoming a significant strategic shareholder in GAC. The two Toyota joint ventures will collaborate on R&D, procurement, production, and sales. The transaction price has not been set.
The D1EV report also noted that Manus parent Butterfly Effect raised over $500 million, and that UBTech and FAW-Volkswagen are expanding their humanoid robot collaboration from quality inspection to factory logistics.
