Have you ever seen the roads in India?

I've seen them online.

The scene is usually like this: a sedan blocked behind a cow, motorcycles running wild nearby, even milk tea vendors nearby, so "clean and hygienic".

However, in a place where many feel physically uncomfortable after watching, Toyota, Suzuki, Honda and other Japanese car companies decided to bet on India.

According to the Indian "Brand Quality Foundation" website, the three car companies will invest nearly $11 billion to build factories, increase capacity, and develop exports in India.

Some netizens commented: Did the three Japanese car companies have too much money?

In fact, they didn't have endless money to spend, nor were they bewildered by Indian curry. These Japanese car executives are much clearer than us.

Current Japanese car revenue and market share are declining. Raw material costs are soaring. Looking at the world map, finding a market that can accommodate capacity, expand share, and has gentle competition is not easy.

So, it wasn't that Japanese car companies chose India, but because they had no choice.

The Pain of Japanese Car Companies

Past Japanese cars were truly the envy of others.

Ask old drivers who drove Japanese cars over ten years ago, talking about Japanese cars, almost no one doesn't give a thumbs up, cheap price, fuel saving, durable...

Even many Japanese cars needed to be bought at a markup, but who would think this iron fortress would be beaten out of sight in a few short years.

With the wave of new energy vehicles coming, electrification and intelligence became the goal for many domestic car companies to "leapfrog". Relying on China's strong new energy vehicle industry chain advantages and car companies' own persistence on R&D and technology, Chinese independent brands quickly achieved "leapfrogging".

Domestic cars once criticized are now becoming more and more common on the roads, even surpassing joint ventures in share.

According to CPCA data, in April 2026, the share of independent brands reached as high as 62.5%, far exceeding Japan's 13.1%.

You need to know, the Chinese car market is the largest car market in the world. Losing speed in the Chinese market is like losing a huge piece of cake.

Meanwhile, the main theme of the Chinese market in recent years is still price wars. Racing on configuration, price, and service has become a normal state, which also had a huge impact on Japanese cars' profits.

Apart from China, Japanese cars are also not doing well in the US.

On January 20, 2025, Trump swore in as the 47th US President, starting a series of chaotic operations, including imposing additional car tariffs in the name of national security, causing the tariff rate for imported Japanese cars to reach as high as 27.5% at one point. Although it decreased later, it was still far higher than the initial tax rate.

This operation directly led to a tariff loss of over 2 trillion yen for seven Japanese car companies in fiscal year 2025.

Looking at Japan itself, it is actually not easy either.

Middle East geopolitical conflicts blocked shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, transportation costs and raw material costs soared, Japanese car companies also had to suffer in silence.

Executives looking at the reports, their backs went cold, only to find a new growth curve.

So, Japanese car companies didn't fall in love with India, there was nowhere else to go.

Deep Thought on Choosing India

So, what magic does India have, to make Japanese car companies invest heavily?

The first advantage is big. In 2025, the Indian car market achieved 5.517 million new car sales, up 6% year-on-year, breaking the historical record, ranking as the third largest car market in the world, exceeding Japan for four consecutive years, second only to China and the United States.

The value of this doesn't need me to say much. India achieved this result mainly because India has been promoting tax reduction policies to promote consumption, which led to a significant increase in domestic consumption willingness.

The second advantage is close, meaning it is close to places where Japanese cars sell well, such as Africa.

So, India for Japanese car companies is more like a convenience store built in the center of a crossroad. You don't need to ship cars to eight countries separately, just build well at this stop in India, then unload ship by ship, and you can save a lot of costs.

The Nikkei also believes that India is expected to become its global car supply center.

The third advantage is stability. You know, Japanese cars' advantage is fuel cars, after all, the three major components of engines, gearboxes, and chassis, they have played for many years, technology accumulation is number one in the world.

But the Chinese car market has fully promoted electrification and intelligence development, leading to Japanese cars' advantage becoming weaker and weaker, impossible to play out. But India is different, it has the characteristics of few charging piles and slow electrification process. Indian old people buying cars still look for cheap, fuel saving, easy to fix, and these three points are exactly Japanese cars' old trade.

Especially Suzuki, always been India's car market evergreen, almost always sitting on the best-selling model throne, reputation of being worry-free, better than any advertisement.

So, Japanese car companies' vigorous layout of the Indian market is obviously carefully considered.

But, is the Indian market really that easy to mix?

The Hard-to-Bite Indian Market

Of course, India is not perfect like a hot commodity, its disadvantages are as obvious as its advantages, and every one is enough for Japanese car companies to face a hard time.

First talk about electrification. Yes, right now India has few charging piles and electric cars don't sell well, it is indeed a shelter for Japanese fuel cars. But you have to think, how long can this "shelter" avoid?

India previously shouted the slogan of 30% of new cars being electric vehicles by 2030. Although it sounds like bragging, but can't help but they really give subsidies, really build charging stations.

Imagine, what if one day India suddenly wakes up, starts vigorously promoting electrification, doing infrastructure, charging piles popping out like mushrooms after rain, then Japanese cars will be dumbfounded?

Isn't this a version of the Thai market?

Back then Japanese cars in Thailand won easily. The entire Southeast Asian market was called Japanese cars' backyard. Result Thailand took the lead in promoting electrification. Chinese electric vehicles came in, directly became a hot commodity. Look at Japanese cars again, share in Thailand falling down rapidly.

If India accelerates electrification, history will likely repeat, and this time, Japanese cars don't even have a place to flee, how to prevent will become the first problem for Japanese car companies.

Next talk about policy. India's policy is like a pot of curry, you never know if you will eat chicken or potato next time.

This magical country, today low tariff encourages building factories, tomorrow may fine you a huge amount. What's more annoying is mandatory joint venture. Foreign car companies want to sell cars in India, have to find local partners to partner up. When your factory is built, supply chain is done, India directly backstabs you. At that time whether adding money or withdrawing capital, what you get is heartache.

So you see, this market like India is like a mango that looks very sweet, bite the first mouth it's okay, chew two more mouths hit the hard core.

Japanese cars now is calculating, while the core hasn't bit the tooth, hurry up to nibble a few more mouths, but the core will bite sooner or later, just don't know which day.

Epilogue

Japanese cars this trip to India, not go for tourism, is go to make a living.

Chinese and Southeast Asian dining tables are more crowded, production and transportation costs have risen. Looking around the world, only this pot in India is still steaming, even if what is boiling inside is curry-flavored stones, have to bite hard and chew down.

Japanese car companies want to expand market, India wants to pull economy, solve employment, both sides have their own thoughts.

As for the ending is Japanese cars in India regain their glory, or like past competitors shamefully walk away, then is not known.

But no matter how, this play just started, we slowly watch is okay.

Anyway India's story, never bored.

Folks, today let's talk about big news on going global—not selling cars, but selling "drivers". On June 2, WeRide and Uber jointly announced a plan: to launch the country's first commercial Robotaxi pilot service in Madrid, Spain. In other words: Spanish residents will soon be able to hail a driverless taxi via Uber. This is the first time WeRide and Uber are partnering to enter the European market. Madrid also becomes the 12th city globally where WeRide's Robotaxi arrives.

According to official news, with the support of the Madrid regional government, this service will officially launch within this year. At that time, friends in Madrid can open the Uber App and call WeRide's Robotaxi with one click. It's just like calling an ordinary ride-hailing service, the difference is the arriving car has no driver—at least initially, there is still a difference. In the initial operation phase, a professionally trained safety monitor will be on board, as it's just launched, safety comes first.

This company, WeRide, you might have heard of it, or you might not. A brief introduction: Established in 2017, it has been dedicated to Robotaxi technology R&D and commercialization. Currently, its Robotaxis cover Guangzhou, Beijing, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, Zurich... plus Madrid now, totaling 12 cities. Spain is also the 5th European market WeRide has entered—previously entered Switzerland, France, Belgium, Slovakia. According to the plan agreed by WeRide and Uber in May 2025, they plan to deploy Robotaxi services in 15 new international cities within five years, deploying tens of thousands of Robotaxis globally. With the Madrid launch, the deployment in 4 cities has been completed, and 11 more will be covered successively before 2030.

To be honest, it's not the first time Chinese autonomous driving companies are going global, but the combination of Chinese technology + global mobility platform + European market is quite interesting. Madrid is one of the European Robotaxi markets with the most commercial potential, with a large population, high travel demand, and friendly local policies. Being able to take root in this market is a significant milestone for WeRide. For Uber, introducing Robotaxis is also a way to reduce costs—after all, drivers don't need salaries. For Madrid residents, hailing a taxi might be cheaper in the future.

5 月 22 日，德國大陸集團（馬牌輪胎）喺泰國羅勇府嘅輪胎工廠第二期擴建計劃正式竣工投產。該項目總投資超過 3 億歐元（約 130 億泰銖），不僅實現咗產能嘅大幅跨越，更加首次將子午線摩托車胎喺泰國實現本土化生產，進一步鞏固咗大陸集團喺亞太高端輪胎市場嘅核心地位。

產能躍升同產品線拓展

據悉，該項目於 2024 年動工，二期投產後，工廠新增 300 萬條/年嘅乘用車及輕卡車胎產能，總產能實現跨越式增長，達到 800 萬條/年。喺產品佈局上，今次擴建嘅一大亮點係首次喺泰國實現子午線摩托車胎嘅本土化生產，呢項舉動大幅完善咗大陸集團高端摩托胎嘅全球供應鏈版圖。

“智造”升級同就業拉動

喺生產製造方面，羅勇工廠第二期引入咗德國先進設備同高度自動化系統，實現咗由煉膠到成品嘅全流程智能化覆蓋，產品品質全面達到 IATF 國際質量認證標準。同時，該項目嘅落實亦為當地創造咗約 600 個新增就業崗位，並為大陸集團 2029 年嘅後續擴能計劃奠定咗堅實基礎。

深耕亞太，高效響應區域需求

大陸集團行政總裁克里斯蒂安·科茨喺竣工儀式上表示，羅勇工廠係大陸集團全球生產網絡嘅核心支柱，第二期項目嘅竣工係加強亞太戰略嘅重要里程碑。

依靠泰國作為全球第二大輪胎生產國嘅產業優勢，羅勇工廠嘅產品主要供應泰國本土同東盟、澳洲、日韓等亞太市場。憑藉顯著嘅區位優勢，工廠有效降低咗物流成本，能夠高效、敏捷地響應區內對高端輪胎嘅旺盛需求。

賦能高端化同綠色化轉型

業內分析指出，隨著亞太地區汽車產業嘅快速演進，今次羅勇工廠嘅擴建，將顯著提升大陸集團喺新能源、高性能同特種輪胎領域嘅交付能力。呢個唔單止有助於大陸集團搶佔亞太高端市場先機，更將助力整個亞太輪胎市場向高端化、智能化、綠色化方向加速升級。

5 月 28 日，新款吉利星願上市，新車共推出 6 款車型，上市限時權益價 6.18 萬至 9.18 萬元。新款車型在續航上升級為 CLTC 310km、410km 同 480km 三種可選，其中 410km 版型仍保留 310km 續航反選權益，用戶可選裝後價格減免 7000 元。即日起至 6 月 30 日前大定鎖單嘅用戶，可享 3000 元超級置換金等十重購車好禮。

今次改款，新款吉利星願實現超過 100 項產品力升級，涵蓋駕控、三電、智能座艙、輔助駕駛及安全五個維度。新車基於吉利首個全球化原生架構打造，係同級唯一標配後驅獨立懸架並經過全球化調校嘅純電小車。操控方面，新款星願搭載 G-TCS 2.0 全天候防滑系統，喺平路、坡道同彎道工況下減少打滑、甩尾同溜車現象；全新無刷轉向系統響應速度提升一倍，支援三種轉向模式及轉向中位自學習；G-CST 2.0 全場景舒適制動系統可模擬老司機腳感，降低煞車點頭同行車暈車感。該車以 130km/h 嘅速度成功通過魚鉤測試，並以 80.7km/h 完成麋鹿測試，操控表現喺同級車型中較為突出。

喺最核心嘅三電系統上，新款星願全系標配寧德時代電芯、液冷溫控系統以及 11 合 1 高集成電驅。專屬定制嘅寧德時代新一代電芯能量密度達到 190 Wh/kg，最高續航 480km。配合同級唯一嘅主動式進氣格柵同低風阻輪轂，風阻降低 15 個 counts，實際續航額外增加 10km。補能效率上，車輛從 30% 電量快充至 80% 需 19 分鐘，液冷系統同全新 BMS 電池管理系統確保高溫同低溫環境下充電速度穩定。新車搭載嘅星睿 AI 雲動力 2.0 系統，實現全鏈路能量管理，具備智能充放電、波谷電價識別、電池維溫、能耗診斷同養護等功能。

智能座艙方面，新款星願搭載銀河 Flyme Auto 2 系統，基於 7 納米車規級龍鷹 1 號芯片同 16G+128G 存儲，運行順暢。AI 語音助手 Eva 支援模糊指令理解同上下文記憶，可完成車控、問答、娛樂等操作，並能調用高德 850 版導航自動規劃路線。車機新增支援 CarPlay 手機互联，覆蓋 iOS 設備無縫連接，本地常用應用同雲端 200 多款應用可供選擇。座艙仲提供隱形模式、洗車模式、一鍵尋車等場景功能，並支援千人千面嘅自定義助手。

新車仲搭載咗同高端車型同源嘅千里浩瀚 H3 方案。該系統已累計安全行駛 13.8 億公里，依托 G-ASD 智駕底層同星睿 AI 大模型，支援高速高架 NOA 領航輔助，唔受道路同雨霧天氣限制，具備語音變道、多場景避讓及自動上下匝道口能力；全場景接管里程超過 200km，相當於連續駕駛 3 小時需接管 1 次。新車仲配備咗 APA 泊車輔助支援一鍵泊入、指尖泊車、遙控泊車，覆蓋 300 多種停車場景；HPA 記憶泊車可記錄 2 公里超長路線，學習一次後即可全程自動泊入，具備智能跟車、自主找位、遇障繞行功能。DMS 主動式疲勞檢測可及時提醒駕駛員，哨兵模式 24 小時守護停車安全。

雖然作為小型車，新款星願喺安全上並冇缩水，採用人五縱八橫星甲籠式車身結構，前端三傳力路徑配合雙“三葉草”洩力結構，側面電池至門檻間距 149 毫米並增加雙重防撞縱樑，後端 750 毫米長後懸同雙“井”字形後副車架形成堅固屏障。車頂抗壓強度提升至 3.4 倍車重，AB 柱及頂蓋橫樑等核心區域材料升級。新車搭載嘅電池驗證標準為國標嘅 2 倍，1000 次循環後電池容量仍保持 90.72%。新車仲採用人 BDMU 高壓器件深度集成技術，將 BMS 與 BDU 二合一，減少接口以降低密封失效風險。5 月 12 日，該車完成咗同級唯一嘅正面同側面連續碰撞測試，高壓系統及時下電，電池包冇冒煙起火，乘員艙結構完整，氣囊精準點爆，非碰撞側車門可正常開啟。主動安全方面，配備胎壓直顯、DOW 開門預警、哨兵模式、AEB 主動煞車同 AES 緊急轉向，成功通過 120km/h 靜態車輛煞停同 130km/h“消失嘅前車”主動避讓測試。

自 2024 年 10 月上市以來，吉利星願累計交付超過 70 萬輛，2025 年成為中國車市全品類銷量冠軍，2026 年第一季躋身全球新能源銷量前三。目前，該車型已登陸全球 30 多個國家同地區，喺巴西上市兩個月銷量突破 2300 台，喺泰國車展單周訂單 3300 台，並獲得“巴西年度最佳緊湊型電動車”同“印尼車展最受喜愛電動車”等榮譽。新款吉利星願通過超過 100 項升級，喺續航、駕控、智能座艙、輔助駕駛同安全等方面提供咗新嘅配置組合。其上市權益價格覆蓋 6.18 萬元至 9.18 萬元區間，繼續喺純電小型車市場擴大優勢局面。