China's blistering pace of new-car launches — expected to average four new vehicles a day in the first half of 2026 — is shifting from a market-winning tactic to a key driver of industry reshuffling and shakeouts, intensifying cutthroat competition in the auto market.
Xiaomi is preparing to unveil a new car technology platform on July 30, signaling a deeper move into the range-extended electric vehicle market. The launch is expected to spotlight not only two flagship SUVs, but also the company's supplier strategy, which could influence competition across China's fast-moving new-energy vehicle sector.
Joby Aviation said at the Farnborough International Airshow that it had reached a multi-year exclusive partnership with Virgin Atlantic to launch a UK air taxi service, and added that certification test flights for its S4 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft were moving ahead on schedule. The company said it is targeting its first commercial passenger flight by the end of 2026.
Japanese autonomous driving startup Tier IV listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on July 22 and said it planned to raise capital to expand its self-driving technology ecosystem. The offering came as the company sought to advance its goal of democratizing autonomous driving technology, even after a weaker-than-expected first-day trading debut.
Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor Group used the San Francisco AI Summit to outline separate artificial intelligence (AI) expansion plans spanning semiconductors, autonomous driving and robotics.
As the global electric vehicle (EV) market enters a growth adjustment phase, the auto industry is shifting from "electrification" toward "intelligence," while AI agents move rapidly from the cloud to end devices. Qualcomm says the end devices with which future AI agents will mainly interact include about 6 billion smartphones, 2 billion AI wearables, 2 billion PCs, and 500 million connected cars, underscoring how vehicles are becoming a key gateway to AI services.
