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What major events have happened in the Chinese auto market in the past week? Jilin and Shaanxi: Starting from September 1, hydrogen-powered vehicles will be exempted from highway tolls; Xiaomi responded to the quality problems after SU7 collided with Zeekr 007, and the test blogger apologized; SAIC Volkswagen announced senior personnel adjustments; the launch of the 2025 Zeekr 001/007 caused controversy, and the official responded.

Some provinces exempt hydrogen-powered vehicles from highway tolls

On August 16, the Jilin Provincial Department of Transportation, the Provincial Department of Finance, and the Provincial Development and Reform Commission recently jointly issued the "Notice on the Implementation of Preferential Treatment for Hydrogen-Energy Vehicles on Jilin Provincial Expressways", aiming to fully support the large-scale promotion and use of hydrogen-energy vehicles in our province. Shaanxi Province also recently announced that from September 1, 2024, hydrogen-energy vehicles equipped with ETC equipment will be fully exempted from highway tolls in Shaanxi Province. This policy will end on September 1, 2027. Since the beginning of this year, in addition to Jilin and Shaanxi, Shandong, Sichuan, Guangdong and other places have issued favorable policies for hydrogen-energy vehicles.

According to public information, hydrogen energy, as a high-calorie, zero-pollution, and abundant energy source, has always been considered an ideal energy type. At present, in the automotive industry, the application of hydrogen energy is mainly concentrated on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. It is understood that hydrogen fuel cells are power generation devices that use hydrogen as fuel and directly convert the chemical energy in the fuel into electrical energy through electrochemical reactions. They have the advantages of high energy conversion efficiency, zero emissions, and no noise.

Exempting hydrogen-powered vehicles from highway tolls will significantly benefit the promotion of hydrogen energy in the logistics industry. The logistics industry has more obvious advantages in the application of hydrogen energy than private passenger cars, and logistics vehicles have relatively fixed routes, which is conducive to the construction of hydrogen refueling stations.

However, hydrogen energy is much more difficult to promote than pure electric or plug-in hybrid models due to the large investment and high technical requirements for hydrogen energy transportation and storage. However, as an energy source known as "future energy", hydrogen energy will also be beneficial to my country's future layout of new energy with its technical reserves and a certain industrial scale.

Xiaomi responds to SU7 collision with Zeekr 007

Recently, a car blogger released a video titled "When Xiaomi SU7 hit a Zeekr 007", which attracted attention. The blogger said that the windows and doors of Zeekr 007 could be opened after the collision, while the small battery of Xiaomi SU7 was cut off, the doors could not be opened, and the E-CALL (automatic emergency call system) failed after the collision.

On the evening of August 14, Xiaomi Motors said that after analysis, it believed that the so-called "test" was not rigorously set up, the records were incomplete, and the conclusions were unscientific. Subsequently, the test blogger released an apology and clarification video.

With the rise of the self-media industry, competition in various segments of the self-media industry has become increasingly fierce, and the "investment" of self-media has also increased. Many tests that were once only conducted by professional organizations have also begun to be involved in self-media. However, in order to ensure their authority, professional organizations will control as many variables as possible and ensure that the data is rigorous. However, for the sake of program effects, many self-media only choose the most "eye-catching" aspect and ignore rigor.

SAIC Volkswagen announces senior personnel adjustments

Recently, the Party Committee of SAIC Group decided that Tao Hailong, General Manager of SAIC Volkswagen, will concurrently serve as Secretary of the Party Committee of SAIC Volkswagen. Fu Qiang, former Executive Director of Volkswagen Brand Marketing of SAIC Volkswagen, will replace Yu Jingmin as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing of SAIC Volkswagen and General Manager of Shanghai SAIC Volkswagen Automotive Sales Co., Ltd.

SAIC Volkswagen said that in the face of challenges such as new energy and intelligent transformation and market restructuring, SAIC Volkswagen will make efforts in product strength, brand strength, service strength and other aspects to achieve coordinated progress in both fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles in 2023, with annual sales of 1.215 million vehicles. In 2024, SAIC Volkswagen will continue to seize the opportunity, focus on youth and diversification, promote more direct and efficient communication with users, and launch market initiatives such as the 40th anniversary thanksgiving gift, "Summer Storm", value-preserving repurchase, and value-preserving renewal. From January to July, SAIC Volkswagen sold nearly 600,000 vehicles, with many fuel models ranking first in the market segment; new energy models sold 70,000 vehicles, and continued to be the sales champion of joint venture electric vehicles.

This year also marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of SAIC Volkswagen. SAIC Volkswagen will further enrich its product line and further enhance its product strength and innovation capabilities. While continuing to adhere to high-quality car manufacturing, the new leadership team will focus on accelerating the company's intelligent and electrified transformation.

The launch of the 2025 Zeekr 001/007 caused controversy, the official response

On August 13, Zeekr released the 2025 001 and 007. Among them, the 2025 Zeekr 007 launched 4 models, priced at 209,900-299,900 yuan, a reduction of 10,000-30,000 yuan compared with the current model; the 2025 Zeekr 001 launched 6 models, priced at 259,000-769,000 yuan, and the entry price was reduced by 10,000 yuan.

It has only been half a year since the two models were launched in 2024. Because of this, the upgrade has caused dissatisfaction among 2024 car owners. In response, Zeekr Auto released "Zeekr 2025 New Product Release and Answers to User Questions" on August 14, answering questions such as the reason for the launch and whether the old models can be replaced with the Haohan Intelligent Driving Solution for a fee.

Zeekr said that when the 2024 Zeekr 001 was confirmed and the project was launched, it was not planned to adopt the Haohan Intelligent Driving solution. However, after the release of the Zeekr 007 Haohan Intelligent Driving model, it received widespread praise from users and the industry. Many potential users of Zeekr 001 called for the option of the Haohan Intelligent Driving solution, and the Zeekr brand NPS survey also found that "intelligent driving is a factor that influences users to choose Zeekr 001."

Therefore, Zeekr Auto internally decided to launch a self-developed intelligent driving solution. With the help of the intelligent driving R&D team, "the first phase of functions of the Haohan Intelligent Driving Edition, which was originally planned to be implemented by the end of this year, has been implemented ahead of schedule, and more functions can be realized through OTA within the year." However, the Zeekr 001 model currently on sale cannot be replaced with the Haohan Intelligent Driving Solution. In this regard, Zeekr explained that the 2025 Intelligent Driving Edition and Mobileye Intelligent Driving Solution use different layout schemes in terms of underlying chips, system control, wiring harness layout, etc., and are two sets of solutions at the system and hardware levels.

Zeekr also emphasized that the 2024 Zeekr 001 intelligent driving system will not stop updating. In addition, the 2024 and 2025 models use a cockpit platform, so the cockpit functions will be updated synchronously. At the same time, Zeekr also mentioned that the urban commuting NZP function of Zeekr 007 will soon be delivered in batches, and it is planned to cover all users by the end of the year; the urban NZP function is expected to be delivered in batches by the end of this year.

Xiaoxiang Morning News reporter Hu Xiong

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