Automotive Industry News & Contents 2026 [Daily Updates]

Sep 28, 2026

This edition highlights the digitalization of smart car cockpits and chassis in China, August automotive sales and production statistics for the UK and U.S., and an exclusive joint interview with NHK Spring and Daido Steel on heavy rare-earth-free EV motor rotors.

Updated daily with the latest information for the automotive industry. Coverage (Japanese/English/Chinese) of information directly related to business, including complete vehicles, EVs, automated driving, sales figures, and industry reports.

Table of contents

▶ Market & Tech Reports

▶ Statistics

▶ Joint Interview: NHK Spring and Daido Steel

▶ Exhibitions

▶ Exterior Supply Chain

▶ News

Market & Tech Reports

The Digitalization of Chinese Smart Cars: Cockpit, Seats, Chassis

18th China (Guangzhou) Automotive Parts Tech. Conference: Leapmotor, XPeng, Dongfeng, and RoboSense

Leapmotor: Global Scenario Asset Digitalization
XPeng: Intelligent seats - Towards proactive services
Dongfeng: Exploring and Practicing Dongfeng Smart Chassis
RoboSense: Transformation of LiDAR's Underlying Architecture: SPAD-SoC Evolution from Analog to Digital

Cockpit related reports

GlobalData Global Light Vehicle Sales Update (August 2026)
India and Brazil maintain stable double-digit growth, while China shows little signs of improvement.

Statistics

Sales in UK rise 12.1% in August

Sales in UK rise 12.1% in August. Chery posted a significant increase, driven by rising sales of EV and PHV models such as the Jaecoo 7/J7. In addition to strong sales of EVs from various manufacturers — such as the Opel Frontera and Ford Puma—sales of hybrid models like the MG HS also rose, with growing demand for electric vehicles supporting the overall market growth.

VW Group: 21,894 → 21,622 (-1.2%)
Stellantis: 11,962 → 12,560 (+5.0%)
- Opel Frontera: 185 → 1,331 (+619.5%)
Chery Automobile: 2,465 → 8,618 (+249.6%)
- Jaecoo 7/J7: 1,367 → 2,022 (+47.9%)
Ford Group: 10,362 → 8,381 (-19.1%)
Hyundai Kia: 8,403 → 8,162 (-2.9%)
BMW Group: 7,532 → 7,178 (-4.7%)
Mercedes-Benz Group: 5,625 → 6,537 (+16.2%)
SAIC: 2,912 → 5,494 (+88.7%)
Renault: 5,100 → 5,410 (+6.1%)
Toyota Group: 4,835 → 5,210 (+7.8%)

U.S. August production fell 2.1%
Production cuts, primarily affecting the Tesla Model 3, BMW X5, Ford Expedition, and Toyota Camry, dragged down overall production. Although Nissan, Stellantis, GM, and others increased production, overall output fell short of the same month last year.

1 Ford Group 200,314 → 185,574（7.4%Down）
- Expedition 9,386 → 7,547（19.6%Down）
2 GM Group 143,448 → 148,369（3.4%Up）
3 Toyota Group 126,079 → 117,813（6.6%Down）
- Camry 33,342 → 26,851（19.5%Down）
4 Honda 88,056 → 92,732（5.3%Up）
5 Stellantis 77,656 → 84,379（8.7%Up）
6 Hyundai Kia Automotive Group 69,993 → 74,754（6.8%Up）
7 Nissan 45,937 → 53,340（16.1%Up）
8 Tesla 62,642 → 46,332（26.0%Down）
- Model 3 24,030 → 11,279（53.1%Down）
9 Subaru 31,790 → 31,206（1.8%Down）
10 BMW Group 39,188 → 24,617（37.2%Down）
- BMW X5 14,770 → 2,032（86.2%Down）

Email notification setting for Sales/production volume updates

Joint Interview: NHK Spring and Daido Steel

Pushing the Boundaries of EV Motor Performance with Two New Types of Rotors

NHK Spring and Daido Steel jointly developed a high-speed, high-output SPM rotor and a Spring-Fixed IPM Rotor using heavy rare-earth-free magnets. The SPM rotor achieves more than 1.5 times the rotational speed and approximately 50% higher output than conventional products, while the IPM rotor uses leaf springs instead of resin to facilitate magnet removal and reuse. MarkLines interviewed the two companies about the background to the collaboration, their respective roles, challenges toward commercialization and mass production, and future plans.

More exclusive interviews