EV News China: BMW iX3, CATL Hungary Production and August NEV Sales Rebound | 11 Sep 2025

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Today, we bring you the latest headlines, expert insights

and analysis from the heart of China's booming EV industry

and reveal how these developments are shaping the global landscape.

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We'll start with BMW, just showed off its first production model

on the brand new Neuerklasse line, the all new IX3.

Marking a major milestone for the brand's electrification plans.

A version built in China will debut next year.

The production at the Shenyang factory in Lianying Province won't start until 2026.

This China-made IX3, BMW say, is designed specifically with China in mind

with a local engineering team leading development.

Now, BMW says the new IX3 for China comes loaded with features

that matter to Chinese customers, including more cabin space,

upgraded digital functions, advanced driver assistance tailored for local roads.

The car features embedded AI with Alibaba and DeepSeq.

Not surprised, all the data stuff can't leave Chinese shores.

So working with companies like DeepSeq, Harmony OS for digital keys

and Huawei's high car and smart driving tech with my mentor.

BMW is calling the model a benchmark for China-specific digital intelligence

and luxury and driving dynamics.

BMW's chairman Oliver Zipser saying Neuerklasse is the company's most ambitious future product

and will radically change the design and technology.

The move highlights how BMW now sees China as the driver in the EV race,

especially AI as well.

That's crucial as Chinese EV makers are winning over buyers with fast new model

launches and smart cabins putting pressure on the luxury German brands.

Moving on, CATL says its new battery plant in Deberzen in Hungary

will start production by the end of the year, maybe early next year,

but it'll be months ahead of the original schedule, which aimed for late 2025.

The plant is designed to produce 100 gigawatt hours annually.

There's 9,000 employees.

That's much larger than their German facility

and it'll supply the batteries to BMW, Stellantis and Volkswagen.

This is CATL's second European factory, announced in August 2022.

Now earlier this year in May, the company raised about $4.6 billion

via a Hong Kong listing, directing around 90% of the funds towards

the Hungarian project's first two phases.

Just before the IAA mobility show in Munich,

CATL introduced the Shenzhen Pro battery.

Its first model using what they say is the NP3 technology.

That is lithium ion phosphate aimed at European EV makers

very high safety and at its peak, ultra-fast 12C rate charging.

Wow.

All right, staying with CATL very quickly.

They're sodium ion battery, which they call the NAXTRA battery.

Sodium ion technologies became the first in the world

to meet China's strict new national safety standards for EV batteries.

The standard, which covers hazards like thermal runaway,

crashes from below and repeated fast charging,

takes effect, at least legally, in July 2026.

Third-party tests by China's top automotive lab

confirm the sodium ion battery from CATL, the NAXTRA pack,

passed every safety check at cell level and pack level.

By passing, the NAXTRA battery shows it can cut lithium demand,

lower the industry's carbon footprint and keep EVs running strong,

even in freezing northern climates,

key for wide adoption in places with tough winters.

CATL sees this certification as a major step forward

in next generation EV sodium ion battery technology.

Now China's retail sales of new energy vehicles

hit 1.1 million in August, a jump from both the previous month

and August last year.

The number beats earlier industry estimates

and brings sales back above a million of EV sales after a dip in July.

Battery electric vehicles were the main driver.

A 686,000 purebev sold in China in August,

that's up 17% from the same month last year and 13% on July.

With BEVs, now 62% of all EV sales.

On the wholesale side,

NEV shipments were 1.28 million units

and China exported 204,000 passenger NEVs.

That's more than double last year's exports.

NEVs now account for 40% of all vehicle exports from China.

Firefly is one of the brands coming to Europe

and the Firefly EV brand earned a five star safety rating

in the 2025 Euro NCAP crash testing.

The five door hatchback called Firefly scored 96%

on occupant protection, the highest among the models tested.

87% for child safety, 82% for pedestrian protection

and 86% for safety assistance systems.

Now Danielle Jin, president of the Neo sub-brand Firefly,

said on Weibo back in July that building the safest

of small cars for global users was not only a core principle

set during Firefly's product definition,

but also that raising safety standards in compact cars

is really hard because of the cost and size limits

and Firefly's short front and rear overhangs

which reduce crumple zones.

He said the team used vehicle design,

hardware capability and materials

to get that five star safety rating.

They announced Firefly back in December last year,

up against brands like Mini and Smart.

Now, GAC Group has launched the second generation

of their electric SUV, the Ion V here in Europe

with a starting price of 36,000 euros,

about 42,000 US equivalent of my US listeners.

It's a five seat crossover matching the size

of a Skoda ENIAC.

Now that debuted in China a year ago in 2024 in July.

Its first generation model was back in 2020 I think

and was also used as the base for things

like the Mitsubishi Air Trek.

That's not on sale anymore, but it was in China.

The Ion brand belongs to the Guangzhou based GAC Group

which unifies its brands under the one GAC strategy

for overseas markets.

Besides Europe, GAC's already established a presence

in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America.

The European Ion V was launched on September the 8th.

Inside the Ion V comes with a 14.6 inch floating

touchscreen, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto,

a gear shifter behind the round two-spoke steering wheel.

The centre tunnel has wireless charging pads

to cup holders and storage.

Standard features in the European version

include the heat pump, standard, a combined refrigerator

and heater.

Nine speakers, front seats with an eight point

massage feature and even 3.3 kilowatts

vehicle to load discharge.

It supports level two drive resistance with 13 functions

and a 75 kilowatt hour battery, 10 to 80 in 24 minutes.

35, 36,000 euros, a real sweet spot for vehicles

around the size of the Skoda ENIAC.

Now, Geely Galaxy, a Geely Auto sub-brand,

debuted the Starshine 6, say that five times in a row,

the Starshine 6 hybrid in Shufu in Shandong.

It targets budget family sedans in China,

like the BYD Shin Plus and it's positioned as an entry car

for young buyers and a budget mainstream family car.

The little Geely Galaxy uses their next generation

Leishen AI hybrid system, battery range of 77 miles,

which is really good for anything with a battery inside

that also has an engine.

The model uses lithium ion phosphate battery

supplied by CALB.

They have their G pilot drive resistance system,

which will park for you and even do

urban commuting pilot assistance.

Now, the Huawei series or Ceres Ito brand

is showing off their SUVs in Munich this week at the IAA show.

Ito is stepping into Europe showing its crossovers,

the M5, the M8 and the M9 at IAA.

Now, Ito is the premium brand created by Ceres

and Huawei under the HIMA network.

These models signal the brand's interest in overseas markets.

The China lineup includes the 5, 7, 8 and 9.

So the M5 is a mid-size SUV launched three years ago.

The M8 is a full-size SUV,

recently adding both a range extended and pure electric version.

The M9, top of the shop,

went on sale a couple of years ago in China.

That one features advanced LiDAR,

a triple screen dashboard and even a 15.6 inch center display.

Six seats if you want it.

For the M9, the extended range version has a 52 kilowatt hour battery,

290 kilometers electric only CLTC

with a combined output of 365 kilowatts.

I mean, look, that's an E-rev with a 52 kilowatt hour battery.

You'll never use any petrol, will you?

The all-electric M9 uses a 100 kilowatt hour battery,

twin motors for higher performance.

Now, the M7 wasn't shown over here in Europe,

but will be updated for the China market

with the first gen model is still available.

Now, let's talk a little bit about record exports on the podcast

coming soon.

Also, SAIC GM Wooling Joint Venture and WM Motor

is being resurrected.

All those stories and more coming in a moment

after the break, stick around.

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you know having a trusted partner

makes all the difference.

That's why hands down,

you count on Granger for auto-reordering.

With on-time restocks,

your team will have the cut-resistant gloves

they need at the start of their shift,

and you can end your day knowing

they've got safety well in hand.

Call 1-800-GRANGER,

click Granger.com, or just stop by.

Granger for the ones

who get it done.

The number one resolution for people last year

was to save more money,

but nearly half gave up by February.

Don't let that be you.

Download rocketmoney to reach your financial goals this year.

Track your spending, cut waste,

and automate savings in one simple app.

Rocketmoney shows you all your expenses

and categorizes them,

so you know exactly where your money's going

and where you're overspending.

From there, the app cuts waste

by canceling your unused subscriptions

and lowering your bills.

No customer service needed.

With that money freed up,

the app will automatically set some cash aside for your goals.

Whether it's an emergency fund,

paying off debt,

or saving for vacation,

Rocketmoney's got you covered.

Users love the app,

with over 186,000 five-star ratings.

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All right, welcome back to the podcast.

Now, let's talk a little bit about record exports for Cherry.

Now, Cherry sold 242,736 vehicles in August.

So, first of all, that was good

because it was up 15% on the same month last year.

Exports were 130,000, though.

And again, that was up massively,

32% on the same month last year.

August was a new monthly export record for Cherry.

And exports have been over 100,000

for four consecutive months now.

New energy vehicle sales were 71,000 in August.

That's up 50% a year over year.

Unlike other Chinese automakers,

Cherry's exports currently exceed their domestic sales.

So, the export market for Cherry isn't a Cherry on top.

Pardon the pun, I knew what I was doing.

But it is a core part of their business

that they sell more cars overseas than at home.

As of the end of July this year,

Cherry became the first Chinese automaker

to surpass 5 million vehicles in exports, cumulatively,

and has been the top Chinese passenger vehicle exporter

for 22 consecutive years.

Now, the joint venture SAIC GM Wuling

and Huawei signed a big agreement

aimed at deepening their work together

on things like smart driving, vehicle cockpits,

and manufacturing digitization.

During the announcement,

they showed off the new flagship SUV.

It's a six-seater.

It's a flagship.

It's called the Baozhun Huajing S.

The SUV has Huawei's latest driving system,

the advanced Harmony Space Cockpit,

in-car cloud services,

and an in-cabin laser vision system.

These features bring Huawei's strength

and intelligent tech into vehicles.

Beyond Huawei systems,

the project merges these technologies

with the own system coming from SGMW,

the powertrain, the battery,

and a deeply integrated smart platform, they say.

Now, here's a company resurrected.

Shenzhen Xiangfei Automobile Sales Company

is bringing back,

because they're the restructuring investor

and the shareholder, of WM Motor.

Now, WM Motor has four operating entities

taking control of those units.

The company set on its official social media accounts.

WM Motor had a big financial crisis in 2022

and had to go on to restructuring.

The Xiangfei said it will quickly

restart mass production of the vehicles,

the EX5 and the E5,

at their manufacturing base in Zhejiang

and laid out a recovery plan.

Over the next five years,

the company plans to launch

more than 10 new products across sedans,

SUVs, MPVs, and crossovers.

Xiangfei plans to invest about a billion RMB

or 140 million US dollars equivalent

into the initial phase of upgrades,

supply chains, and development.

And finally, Chinese regulators

are preparing a mandatory standard

to ban retractable door handles,

often seen on electric vehicles.

Now, the regulators cite functional failures

and safety risks.

And the draft is expected this month.

It would give the carmakers a year,

one year grace before they're enforced,

starting in July 2027, maybe.

Semi-retractable and traditional door handles

will be allowed, but they must be a mechanical backup.

So the handle always works if the vehicle's without power.

Manufacturers say the hidden handles cut drag.

Some say it cuts the drag by 0.03 CD.

That's quite a lot.

But independent tests put the number

much, much lower.

The improvement at only 0.005 CD.

That smaller gain comes with some savings of energy.

So over 62 miles or 100 kilometers,

you could save up to 0.6 kilowatt hours

or 600 watt hours.

But the motors and the mechanisms required

in these retractable fancy pants door handles

are about 18 pounds or over eight kilograms of weight.

And that then partly offsets any aero gains.

These systems are reported to cost three times more

than a good old-fashioned door handle.

And they fail eight times as often.

For one major EV brand unnamed,

door handle faults were 12% of all vehicle repair cases.

Safety testing and incident data

is driving the move by regulators in China.

The China Insurance Automotive Safety Index

found the doors with retractable electronic handles

only opened successfully after a side impact.

67% of the time, that's 98% of vehicles,

will open if they just have, you know, a door handle.

Real world failures include the cold snap last year

in Changshun, where handle motors froze

and you couldn't get out of the car,

and heavy rains in Guangdong last year as well.

Short circuits stopped the doors opening

and forced passengers to even break windows

to escape vehicles.

Now, some automakers use semi-retractable handles,

that sort of balances looks and function.

Volkswagen has them, FAW Audi has these semi-retractable handles

but then also have a red pull cord in a collision

to provide mechanical openings.

The proposed ban on retractable door handles,

part of a wider regulatory scrutiny

of modern vehicle designs.

I've got to be honest, I'm kind of with China on this.

They look fancy but they break all the time.

The amount of warranty claims that Tesla's done

on retractable door handles.

And sure, so much technology in the event of an accident,

you just want to be able to leave the vehicle quickly and safely.

And so that will obviously have ripple effects

through the global automotive industry.

Because if you can't sell your handles in China,

then you probably won't engineer it on your non-China vehicles,

if that makes sense.

And that's your podcast for today.

Thank you so much for listening.

EV News China is back after a trial run earlier in the year.

In July, went down really well.

So I've been waiting for the school holidays to finish

so I can get back to providing a bit more of a full service

on EV News Daily.

So EV News China back weekdays to keep you up to speed

in the global automotive EV industry.

Thanks for listening.

I'll see you on the next one.

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If you're the purchasing manager at a manufacturing plant,

you know having a trusted partner makes all the difference.

That's why hands down you count on Granger for auto-reordering.

With on-time restocks,

your team will have the cut-resistant gloves they need

at the start of their shift.

And you can end your day knowing they've got safety

well in hand.

Call 1-800-GRANGER.

Click Granger.com or just stop by.

Granger for the ones who get it done.

If you're an HVAC technician and a call comes in,

Granger knows that you need a partner

that helps you find the right product,

fast and hassle-free.

And you know that when the first problem of the day

is a clanking blower motor,

there's no need to break a sweat.

With Granger's easy-to-use website and product details,

you're confident you'll soon have everything humming right along.

Call 1-800-GRANGER.

Click Granger.com or just stop by.

Granger for the ones who get it done.

If you're the purchasing manager at a manufacturing plant,

you know having a trusted partner makes all the difference.

That's why hands down you count on Granger for auto-reordering.

With on-time restocks, your team will have the cut-resistant gloves

they need at the start of their shift.

And you can end your day knowing they've got safety well in hand.

Call 1-800-GRANGER.

Click Granger.com or just stop by.

Granger for the ones who get it done.

EV News China: BMW iX3, CATL Hungary Production and August NEV Sales Rebound | 11 Sep 2025

iX3 (G08)

BMW Ix3 Bmw

Galaxy Starshine 6

BMW M5

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