L2 ADAS Mandate Proposed, GAC Launches Smart Cockpit Division, Chery Plans European Expansion

On April 16, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released the draft mandatory national standard titled "Safety Requirements for Combined Driving Assistance Systems in Intelligent Connected Vehicles" for public comment until April 22, with planned implementation on January 1, 2027. This marks China’s first mandatory national standard for Level 2 (L2) advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), jointly drafted by companies including Huawei, Xiaomi, BYD, and Tesla. The standard categorizes L2 systems into three types: basic single-lane, basic multi-lane, and navigation-guided combined driving assistance, clearly defining functional boundaries, capability thresholds, and safety requirements. On April 12, GAC Group restructured its organization and established a new Intelligent Cockpit Product Line, led by Zhu Taiping. This move is part of GAC’s “Panyu Initiative” reform. At the 2026 GAC Tech Day, Zhu Taiping announced that GAC has entered a strategic partnership with Tongyi Qianwen to develop a voice assistant based on the Qwen 3 large model and integrate services from Alibaba’s ecosystem, including AutoNavi, Taobao, Fliggy, and Flash Delivery. Chery Automobile recently held launch events in France for its Omoda and Jaecoo brands. Lionel French Keogh, Chief Commercial Officer for Chery in France, revealed that the company is seeking to expand its production capacity in Europe. Chairman Yin Tongyue stated that Chery prefers leveraging existing facilities over building new plants, emphasizing the importance of establishing local partnerships, and confirmed that France is among potential locations under consideration. In 2023, Chery acquired Nissan’s former Barcelona plant through a joint venture with Spain’s Ebro Group, targeting an annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles by 2029. However, executives noted that current capacity still falls short of meeting market demand and complying with EU tariffs and localization requirements. Chery plans to launch vehicles under its core Chery brand in France in Q4 2025, potentially introducing a compact all-electric SUV by year-end, and will also roll out its Lepas brand across Europe. Data shows Chery sold 120,147 vehicles in Europe in 2025, a more than sixfold increase from 17,035 units in 2024. ECARX Holdings recently announced that, in alignment with Geely Holding Group’s “Taizhou Declaration” and the “One Geely” strategy, it has officially taken over all core assets and operations of Flyme OS from Starry Flag (formerly Meizu Group). This includes brand intellectual property, ongoing Flyme Auto business, customer contracts, and R&D teams, all now integrated under ECARX’s unified management to accelerate convergence between intelligent mobility and cross-device ecosystems. Desay SV Automotive has submitted an application for a main board listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, launching its Hong Kong IPO with Morgan Stanley and Huatai International as joint sponsors. Already listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange since 2017, the company aims to expedite its global expansion through this A+H dual-listing strategy. From 2023 to 2025, its revenue grew from RMB 21.9 billion to RMB 32.6 billion, and net profit rose from RMB 15.4 billion to RMB 24.7 billion. The company focuses on intelligent cockpits, intelligent driving, and connected vehicle services, serving over 80 automakers worldwide. On April 14, Wang Hao, President of Tesla China, stated that Gigafactory Shanghai has the capability to produce humanoid robots. The factory, which began producing electric vehicles in 2019 and started manufacturing large-scale energy storage batteries in 2025, currently has no concrete plan to mass-produce robots, according to Tesla China. However, some securities firms project that Tesla aims to establish an annual robot production capacity of 100,000 units by the end of 2026.