CHINA: China Auto Sales Slump In January, Denza Z9 and Smart #6 | 11 Feb 2026

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Welcome to EV News China, the podcast dedicated to the world's largest EV market.

Each day I bring you headlines, insights and analysis from the heart of China's booming EV industry

and decode how fast moving developments in the East shape the global landscape.

China's auto market opened 2026 with contrasting trends.

January production reached 2.45 million units up 0.01% year on year.

Whilst sales was 2.346 million, less than production, that's also down 3.2% on the same month last year.

Both falling from December levels really sharply, so production was down 25%, sales are down 28%.

The domestic market bore the brunt of the downturn.

Home sales dropped to 1.665 million vehicles down 15% year on year, down 35% from the previous month of December.

Driven by EV purchase tax policy transitions and year-end subsidy rollovers that pulled all the demand into 2025.

Passenger vehicles led the decline, with 1.988 million units sold, down 7% year on year.

Chinese brands captured 67% of the market, so really dominant there with 1.329 million units sold, but also a drop.

Within EVs, demand shifted towards premium segments actually.

Interestingly, last month in January, B segment EV sales were up 12.5%.

That's 281,000 units, but everything cheaper, all the lower price segments were the ones really contracting.

Exports provided some comfort in China.

China shipped 681,000 vehicles abroad in January.

Exports up 45% from January 2025.

Passenger vehicle exports were pretty much all of those, 589,000 units.

Cherry led the exporters.

Cherry exported 120,000 vehicles last month.

Geely 77,000, both of them posting massive double triple digit growth on those.

Let's talk about Chinese filings revealing an updated Denzer Z9 and a Z9 GT from BYD

Both vehicles will offer either 102kWh or 122kWh battery packs delivering big range improvements across the lineup.

The Z9, the sedan, achieves 905km.

That's on the China Cycle CLTC with a smaller battery.

The 122kWh pack extends it to 1,068km depending on configuration.

The big number, 1,068km.

The Z9 records with its smaller battery pack 102km up to 880km of range

With the larger battery pack it reaches 1,036km on the China Cycle.

Powertrain options expand as well.

Single motor version is what gives you the big range.

So that is still a 370kW motor.

That's 500hp on the single motor version.

On both models, sedan and estate version, the Z9 GT gets a tri-motor variant as well

with outputs up to 850kW.

That's 1140hp.

There is also a plug-in hybrid Z9 GT variant that uses a 64kWh pack, 300km pure electric range.

The filings show design updates including roof mounted LiDAR with a smart driving blue light system.

It retains the twin star crown headlights, new 21 inch wheels optimized for better rolling resistance, active and fixed spoilers as well.

Other new options include integrated sports seats and new lava red interior trim

and fueled green exterior paint.

Smart is a brand pretty much on a roll right now.

When I say roll, I mean rolling out much bigger vehicles compared to what many people think smart still stands for.

Smart released official images of their new plug-in hybrid lift-back, the hashtag 6, undergoing winter testing in China

two days ago on February 9th, though the company hasn't disclosed the test location or specific

some of the times the company has put out what temperature it was at, things like that to show off how good the battery is coping.

The hashtag 6 represents Smart's global model and its largest model from the Geely Mercedes joint venture

and it marks the brand's entry into plug-in hybrid technology. They're using the Geely tech under the skin.

Chinese regulators revealed the car during the December 2025 proceedings and road tests appeared last month.

The heavily camouflaged prototype shows roof-mounted LiDAR, interactive light panel between the headlights, retractable door handles

and a sleek roof line developed by Mercedes-Benz Design Studio, testing likely occurred in, well, maybe the Heilongyang province

where Geely previously tested their vehicles down to minus 35 Celsius.

The hashtag 6 measures 4.9 meters long, 1.92 meters wide, 1.5 meters tall.

Quite a large wheelbase, not the biggest, 2.9 meters wheelbase.

Now that's nearly double though the original Smart 4.2's length. That's the wheelbase.

The plug-in hybrid system comes from Geely's AI Super Hybrid system.

So that's a 1.5-liter engine and electric motors. There's a three-speed transmission with an integrated 200 kilowatt e-motor.

So Smart claims pure electric range, 285 kilometers, combined range, 1810 kilometers.

These numbers get so big. With a depleted battery, fuel consumption is 3.9 liters per 100 kilometers,

but really who's the Smart hashtag 6-4? They say it blends German standards with Chinese technology.

Though the real test lies in whether buyers want the Smart car that's five meters long.

I've seen, one of my friends has the Smart 3. Can we just call it Smart 3?

I still have a mental block around calling it the hashtag 3, which is all very, you know, ten years ago.

Hashtags and things like that. Maybe I'm just the only one.

Maybe I'm the only person who thinks it's kind of a weird thing to call a car, but never mind.

It all feels a bit boomer. Sorry, like a group of old white men in a room being like,

hey, how do we be cool with the kids? Let's call it a hashtag. I don't know.

That probably is just me. Just ignore me, but it's still a weird name in my head.

The Smart 3 is a really nice car. The Smart 5 as well.

Smart 6, again, is a global models and a plug-in hybrid model as well.

Could appeal to some people. Now, let's talk about BYD.

Expanding its Japanese sales network through mini dealerships ahead of its electric K-car launch this summer.

Now, K-cars, Japan, go hand in hand. Very famous.

These compact little outlets will display only one or two models

and target cities with populations under 500,000, according to Nikkei Asia,

which is, well, that'd be a pretty big town or city where I am,

but the president of BYD Japan, Adzuki Tofukuji,

confirmed the strategy aims to cover small commercial areas to sell their mini EVs,

the approach addressing BYD's earlier challenges in securing suitable properties for dealerships.

The automaker operates 69 outlets in 38 prefectures by the end of last year,

falling short of its plan of 100, but still, yeah, for two-thirds of the way there.

The mini dealership format enables faster expansion into underserved markets.

K-cars are about 40% of Japan's new vehicle sales, with strong demand in rural areas.

So, what are the rules to be a K-car? Well, I can tell you.

Length must be under 3.4 meters long, width less than 1.48 meters wide,

power no more than 64 horsepower, and in return of that, much lower purchase taxes,

very popular as a second vehicle for urban families as well.

The European Union talking about exactly the same thing while not identical,

but certainly a new set of taxation rules and a new set of rules,

all about small electric vehicles in the EU,

which, if they are sensible with things like bringing costs down of small cars,

do tiny city cars that are limited on horsepower and ultimately top speed,

need all of the latest safety technology that may be a car that is built

to do 200 miles an hour on the Autobahn, also needs that much safety systems

and there's a certain level of safety which, you know, after at that point,

does small slow cars need all of it?

If not, you know, I love that cars are a lot safer these days.

I'm not arguing for less safety, but for a certain kind of car,

how safe does it need to be?

Because you could spend infinite amounts of money making a slow, small car

extremely safe for a situation that it's never going to find itself in.

So, things like sensor suites and all that, all comes at a cost, doesn't it?

So, as long as the crash testing and the safety is 5 star,

then it can bring the cost down, can't it?

Okay, let's move on.

All right, before we take a break, BAIC Arc Fox launched its premium sub-brand, Wendau.

Yesterday, introducing the V9 as its first model.

The mid-to-large EREV MPV enters the market later this year.

The V9 becomes the first MPV globally to combine an integrated roll cage

with, deep breath, Magneto-heological intelligence chassis.

This suspension system uses magnetic fields to adjust the damping in real time

1,000 times a second, responding up to 30 times faster than a continuous damping control system.

The chassis pairs an aluminium double wishbone suspension with a five-link setup.

Dimensions are 5.3 metres long, almost 2 metres wide, 1.85 metres tall,

3.2 metre wheelbase, a big MPV seat 7.

It's heavy as well, and the powertrain is a range-extended engine

and a 230 kilowatt motor, LFP battery pack.

Design elements like the full-width LED light strip at the back,

got a waterfall-style grille with the Arc Fox branding,

and matching full-width tail lights and intelligent driving indicators as well.

There's only so much you can do. I say this all the time with an MPV.

It's a people carrier. It seats seven people or eight people, you know,

sometimes they seat nine people.

They've done a pretty half-eastern job, I think, of this.

They're always going to be slapsided, aren't they, with a rear end that goes straight vertically down.

But this thing looks about as swishy as you'd expect, right?

We'll take a break, we'll come back and talk about Leap Motor and NEO's ES9.

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All right, welcome back to the podcast.

FAW, new energy battery company, has integrated an ultra-high-energy

lithium manganese solid-state battery into a production vehicle

described as liquid solid state, which starts to melt my mind a little bit

because, OK, do we call it semi-solid state?

Well, they call it liquid solid state.

OK, China's got some incoming rules on how to describe solid state.

Like semi-solid state batteries that aren't really all solid state.

This one described as liquid solid state.

Marking the first installation of this battery type in an EV,

it's 142 kilowatt hours in the pack.

And that's a 67% increase in energy over the previous generation.

This is over 1,000 kilometers, or 600 miles of all-electric range.

The battery at the top of the tank,

is 600 miles of all-electric range.

The battery achieves cell-level energy density of 500 watt-hours per kilogram,

which is huge.

There's no other way of putting it.

The architecture combines kind of a hybrid system.

So lithium manganese cells with a solid electrolyte,

they say, to balance density and safety.

So the manganese-rich cathode chemistry diverges from the rest of the industry.

Chinese competitors like NEO, SAIC, GAC, Geely, and Cherry

are all using high nickel NCM or NCA cathodes

in their kind of liquid solid hybrid electrolytes.

Others like BMW and Volkswagen-linked projects

focusing on sulfide-based solid state systems with high nickel cathodes.

This 500 watt-hours per kilogram cell density

is absolutely class-leading.

I've seen people talk about 600 as well,

but you get to this area.

And this is a huge, huge energy density for future EV batteries,

now going into test vehicles.

And so they've got to manage things like thermal management

and power electronics, but they haven't told us exactly the platform

it's going in yet, or the powertrain,

or things like packed dimensions or weight.

Or even when mass production could start,

timeline still uncertain, but the integration

into a working vehicle demonstrates

at least compatibility with FAW's current EV architecture.

And very interesting to see what kind of vehicles this could go in.

Now LeapMotor opened blind pre-orders for the A10.

The A10 is a compact electric SUV,

launching in the first quarter.

Regulatory filings reveal two battery configurations,

small and big, 40 or 53 kilowatt hours,

up to 505 kilometers on the China Cycle.

They give 16 minutes charge time, 30 to 80.

That's no use. We either want 10 to 80 or nothing.

That's just a fudge.

The A10 is 4.2 meters long,

1.8 meters wide, 1.6 meters high.

So quite a short small vehicle is the A10,

but quite high in terms of quite tall,

in terms of being useful for a family.

Looks a little bit.

I mean, if you squint a little bit like the old Kia Soul,

if I can paint that picture in your mind's eye.

And so LeapMotor,

so they applied their design language.

They called Technological Natural Assetics 2.0

with smiling headlights and ha-ha-tail lights.

I mean, the tail lights do look like they're laughing.

I'll give them that.

Sometimes this press release language is a little fluffy and wooly,

but I'll give them that.

I'm not sure about the front lights,

but the rear-tail lights, when you brake,

yeah, I mean, they kind of look happy.

Either way, Electric Motor, which is 90 kilowatts.

That's 121 horsepower.

Even on a small family car like this,

which like I say, is quite narrow and quite short,

but sits pretty high.

Still got a roof-mounted LiDAR system with intelligent driving.

They are pursuing, at LeapMotor,

1.05 million sales of vehicles this year.

That would be up on 76% up on last year.

They have got to go absolute all-guns blazing.

This car, the A10,

will definitely need to carry some of that weight

to increase their volume.

OK, let's move on and talk about another really large vehicle.

In fact, the flagship of Neo,

and this is the ES9 flagship vehicle.

This is a large SUV,

and it's going to come with 620 kilometers of range,

and we should get this in April.

So this is ministry documents being filed

for their flagship ES9.

And so we've got all the details now.

5.36 meters long.

This is a big boy.

Over two meters wide, almost 1.9 meters high

and a 3.25 meter wheelbase.

So very large vehicle overall,

larger than the third-generation ES8,

which has been on sale a few months now,

and selling really well.

So 620 kilometers from a battery

which is sized 102 kilowatt hours.

This is a ternary chemistry lithium-ion battery pack.

And the third-generation ES8

goes about 15 kilometers more

on the same battery capacity.

I'm not sure if this is exactly the same battery pack.

I mean, that wouldn't be unreasonable to expect.

So trading off a little bit more size

and a little bit less range.

Dual-motor all-wheel-drive setup.

520 kilowatts of combined power.

April the 10th.

I think we should see this vehicle.

And so, they're done with their

trial manufacturing and tooling

and preproductions underway.

So this vehicle's not far away.

And so smart driving, obviously

a big part of this with the LiDAR.

And it's got the Skyride chassis,

rear-wheel steering, 900-volt architecture.

So it's really fast-charging.

200 kilometers added in five minutes of charging

under ideal conditions, of course.

And it's a Neo.

So if you're not into the whole

900-volt ultra-fast-charging thing in China,

you can just spend two and a half minutes

and have a new battery put inside it.

The ES9 targets China's large premium SUV segment.

Up there, you've got the LiAuto L9.

You've got the Aito M9.

And they're selling really well, by the way.

Now, if this could sell between

500 and 600,000 RMB,

you are talking about a very premium vehicle.

How many people also want to save some money

and pay for the monthly battery

so that you can do your battery swapping?

I guess time will tell.

Let's talk about Xiaomi.

And we'll finish off today on the podcast.

Leijun from Xiaomi

has dismissed internet speculation

about why a YU7,

that's their SUV,

was spotted in California on manufacturer plates.

He said on Weibo yesterday

that Xiaomi has no US market plans.

I guess he can't really say anything else, can he?

He can't be like, oh yeah, you rumbled us.

So he has to deny it.

And the denial is probably the truth.

You know, I'm just Mr. Cynical here.

The vehicle likely belongs to an American company.

So many people saying that they've also seen

a Xiaomi testing around Rivian's offices.

The statement aligns with Xiaomi's roadmap

in last July, which says it would be a couple of years

before they start to look overseas at the US market.

Domestic demand is still really strong for Xiaomi.

They're not collapsing at home like some of the other competitors

are having some sales issues at home.

Deliveries in last month in January,

39,000 units.

That was up year on year.

And month on month was down,

but everyone was down from December.

It was a massive month.

The YU7 is their Model Y competitor,

basically launched six months ago or so.

About 250,000 Yuan.

It's already sold 150,000 deliveries.

The SU-7, they said that and got off to a rip.

And this is outpaced it already over the same timeframe.

The SU-7 is now off sale.

We've got the new refresh coming.

Production lines are going,

undergoing their retooling right now.

Pre-orders have opened as of three days ago

on January the 7th for the new SU-7.

Standard LiDAR long range architecture.

We should see that in April,

we think Xiaomi's Beijing plant

has been making over 40,000 vehicles

every single month.

By the end of last month in January,

their service network as well covers 159 cities.

American ones won't be added to the list anytime soon.

And that's your podcast.

See you tomorrow.

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CHINA: China Auto Sales Slump In January, Denza Z9 and Smart #6 | 11 Feb 2026

Z9 Denzer Z9

D9 Denzer

ES9 Neos Es9

Kia Soul

Nio ES8

Tesla Model Y

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