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On July 20, Honda China's official website low-key released news: Honda and GAC formally signed a strategic renewal agreement, extending the GAC Honda joint venture cooperation term to 2038. Shareholding ratio remains unchanged at 50:50, just pushing the contract originally set to expire in 2028 back by ten years.
Some in the industry call this renewal "a strategic high-stakes gamble to defy death." For GAC Honda, 2026 is a year of "lying low and gathering strength," with no major new products to be launched all year. Only in 2027 are three new products planned — the all-new Accord, a new hybrid product equipped with Honda's ace hybrid technology, and self-developed models built on China-exclusive new energy platforms. In other words, there is at least one more year of endurance ahead.
Interestingly, on the very same day Honda renewed, another scene was unfolding across the globe — just with Chinese automakers replacing the protagonists.
Chery formally took over a Nissan factory located in Roslin, South Africa, in early July, taking on over 600 employees entirely. The work uniforms changed, and the players at the table changed. Moreover, Chery jointly launched a new production line at Nissan's old factory in Barcelona, Spain, and signed a memorandum of understanding with Nissan — the Sunderland plant in the UK will begin contract manufacturing right-hand drive vehicles for Chery starting from April 2027. This marks the first time a mainstream Japanese automaker has manufactured vehicles for Chinese autonomous brands via contract manufacturing in a core European market. Imagine this scene: Nissan's factories, Nissan's workers, will start building cars for Chery from 2027 onwards.
BYD's Szeged factory in Hungary has entered the sprint before mass production, with a total investment of about 4 billion euros, a full production capacity of 300,000 vehicles per year, and plans to mass-produce the Dolphin Surf model in the fourth quarter. Former Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjarto even announced he joined BYD to serve as an executive — he wrote on social media: "BYD is one of the most successful enterprises in the automotive industry in the past 20 years." Leapmotor, utilizing Stellantis's vehicle factory in Zaragoza, Spain, has the all-new pure electric SUV B10 produced directly on the European assembly line. SAIC is constructing a factory in Galicia, Spain with an annual output of 120,000 vehicles. XPeng's Malacca factory in Malaysia officially put the G6 into production in June.
As of mid-2026, about ten leading Chinese automakers have expanded capacity overseas through methods such as self-construction, joint ventures, and acquiring production lines. The overseas capacity layout of Chinese new energy automakers already covers main target markets in Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America. The power battery segment is also going global — CATL, EVE Energy, and Sunwoda have all laid out battery factories in Hungary, with Sunwoda's power battery project Phase I investment being about 1.9 billion yuan.
Viewing these two sets of scenes together, there is a sense of historical cyclicality. Once, when Japanese and Korean home appliances exited, Chinese enterprises also took over production lines in a similar manner. It's just that this time the script has changed the protagonist — Japanese brands that once held absolute dominance in the Chinese market are now having their factories taken over and share snatched away by Chinese automakers in the global market.
The collective retreat of multinational giants further illustrates the depth of this structural transformation. Stellantis booked 22.2 billion euros in restructuring and electrification losses, resulting in a net loss for the year, with its stock price plummeting 23% in a single day; the Volkswagen Group plans to eliminate 50,000 jobs in Germany and close 4 German factories by 2030, with model numbers reduced by up to 50%; Mercedes-Benz's adjusted EBIT plummeted 40%, and net profit nearly halved to 5.3 billion euros; Porsche plans to lay off 3,900 people by 2029; BMW has downgraded its electric vehicle sales growth expectations. Layoffs in the European parts industry have exceeded 100,000 in the past two years.
Technology is also accelerating in sync. On July 13, the solid-state battery industry witnessed a collective surge of information: Chery's solid-state battery R&D center contract was signed and landed, Baimahu Laboratory completed trial production of 20Ah high-capacity cells, Gotion High-tech announced mass production line design is basically complete, and BYD secured a patent for double-layer coated lithium-rich manganese-based cathode material. Chery's self-developed solid-state cell energy density has reached 400Wh/kg, moving towards 600Wh/kg, with a range target exceeding 1,500 km, and special R&D funds accumulated over 10 billion yuan; Dongfeng's new generation solid-state battery has an energy density of 350Wh/kg, range breaking 1,000 km, with mass production and vehicle installation debuting on eπ 007 in the second half of the year; BYD's sulfide all-solid-state battery pilot line has started production in Pingshan, Shenzhen, with prototype test range reaching 1,218 km. China Auto News' judgment is: industrialization is still far off, but the positioning battle has arrived.
But beneath the prosperity, there are still hidden reefs. The EU's highest comprehensive tariff on Chinese EVs reached 45.3%, with plans to impose additional tariffs on plug-in hybrids; automotive-grade storage chips rose in price by 180% in the last three months, putting cost pressure on models equipped with high-level intelligent driving; German assessment data shows Chinese EVs have a depreciation rate twice that of competitors, so leasing companies dare not purchase in large quantities; NIO only sold 15 vehicles in Germany in the first half of the year, and battery swapping station construction was halted. Localized factory construction is not the endpoint — European unions demand 35-hour work weeks and equal pay for equal work; ESG compliance is the biggest hidden barrier. CATL's Hungary factory production launch was delayed due to environmental controversies.
Some in the industry say, the first half is about who can build factories overseas, the second half is about who can truly take root locally. Honda's 10-year renewal is holding the last line of defense on the old track; Chinese automakers building factories globally is sprinting the first kilometer on the new track. Two routes, two directions, two fates.
Do you think Honda's 10-year renewal is a rational choice or a helpless move? What is the biggest challenge for Chinese automakers building factories abroad? Welcome to discuss in the comments.
