The Fulwin A9, Chery's 20 millionth vehicle. Photo: JustAnotherCarDesigner / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
In today's issue:
Chery's 20 millionth car lands with seven in ten of this year's sales going overseas
Nissan's hottest Leaf yet gets a bodykit, not more power
The same global tariff picks up its third legal basis since February, with cars carved out
TWENTY MILLION, MOSTLY ELSEWHERE
Chery Group said Saturday that its cumulative global sales had passed 20 million units. The 20 millionth vehicle is the Fulwin A9, an all-electric sedan that went on sale the same day, per CnEVPost.
The name is the oldest one Chery has. The original Fulwin was the company's first model in 1997, the year it was founded, and also its first export. In 2007 Chery became the first Chinese brand to top 1 million cumulative sales, per CnEVPost.
Exports are doing the work. Chery exported 943,817 vehicles in the first half, up 71.5% year over year, against group sales of 1,357,533, up just 7.7%. That works out to roughly seven of every ten vehicles sold this year going somewhere other than China, per CnEVPost.
June alone saw 191,062 vehicles exported, a monthly record for a Chinese brand, four months running, or one Chery leaving the country every 17 seconds. European sales reached 174,000 in the first half, up more than 212%, per CnEVPost.
The group spans Chery, Exeed, Fulwin, iCar and Jetour, operating in more than 130 countries and regions. Its owner base stands at 19.88 million, of whom 6.78 million, about a third, live outside China. It has been China's largest exporter of home-grown passenger vehicles for 23 consecutive years, per CnEVPost.
Subtract CnEVPost's compiled export figures from Chery's reported group sales and the domestic side of the business falls from roughly 710,000 units in the first half of last year to about 414,000 this year, a drop of around 40%. That subtraction is ours, not the company's. Twenty million is a number the home market barely helped reach this time, and the brand celebrating it now looks closer to an exporter that happens to be Chinese than a Chinese carmaker that happens to export.
Also worth knowing
The same global tariff just got its third legal basis in six months: Duties of 10% or 12.5% on goods from 60 economies took effect Friday under Section 301, replacing the temporary Section 122 surcharge as its statutory window expired, per Politico. Vehicles are carved out: passenger cars, light trucks, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and their parts are exempt because they already sit under Section 232, and goods entering duty-free under USMCA from Canada and Mexico are exempt outright, per USTR and Troutman Pepper. So the rate is not the industry's problem, the footing is: this is the third statute behind the same global tariff since February, after the Supreme Court struck the IEEPA version and Section 122 lapsed, and the firm that won that case sued again on day one. "Changing the statute doesn't change the law," Liberty Justice Center chair and CEO Sara Albrecht said, per Politico, which notes Section 301 is widely viewed as the more legally durable authority: duties from a first-term Section 301 investigation on China have now stood for more than seven years. #analyst
BMW tops JD Power's owner satisfaction study: BMW Group won six segment awards in JD Power's 2026 APEAL study, ahead of Hyundai Motor Group's five and GM's three, per BMWBLOG. #market
Heat wave exposes a Cadillac Optiq defect: This month's heat wave surfaced windshield foam seal delamination on 2025-2026 Cadillac Optiq units, a problem GM had already issued a fix for days earlier, per Autoblog and GM Authority. #news
Reveals & culture
Nissan's hottest Leaf skips the extra horsepower: The new Leaf Nismo gets the aggressive bodykit and suspension tuning but no power bump over the standard EV, per Auto Express and Car and Driver. #enthusiast
One of 25 Cadillac Celestiqs already resold for $479,950: Cadillac built just 25 Celestiqs in 2025, and one owner resold theirs on the used market for $479,950 after under 700 miles, per autoevolution. #culture
Quick links
Bluetooth hole in dealer-installed anti-theft gear: Millions of vehicles carry a dealer-installed anti-theft device that can be hacked via Bluetooth, per Autoblog.
Tesla's robotaxi fleet passes 380,000 miles: Tesla says its ride-hailing platform has driven over 380,000 unsupervised miles across several states with no notable incidents, per Teslarati. The figure is the company's own, with no third-party audit attached.
VW's cheapest EVs rack up 70,000 orders: The ID. Polo, ID. Cross, Skoda Epiq and Cupra Raval have combined for 70,000 orders since launch, per InsideEVs.
A 3,700-mile Audi S4 Avant wagon hits Bring a Trailer: The V-8, manual-transmission wagon has covered just 3,700 miles since 2008, per Car and Driver.
Yesterday's picks
VW Held Its Margin Guidance. The Guidance Assumes Zero New Restructuring.: VW's full-year margin target excludes any new restructuring, with a potential 50,000 additional job cuts looming on top.
Ford recalls 565,691 Broncos over engine fire risk: Over half a million 2021-2026 Broncos face an engine-bay fire risk from a wiring harness that can wear through and short-circuit.
Waymo crashes 68% less than human drivers, except in one city: IIHS data shows Waymo's fleet with 68% fewer police-reportable crashes across 50 million miles, but results vary sharply by market and regulation lags.
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