AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CHINA

Retail sales of new light vehicles in China slipped 35 percent in January from a year earlier because of the COVID pandemic, lack of incentives and fewer working days, the China Automobile Dealers Association estimates. 

Honda Motor Co. will combine its China-based production planning and vehicle engineering units, to “further consolidate the foundation for developing the electrification business,” the automaker’s China office said this week.

Sales at BYD Co., China’s largest electrified-vehicle maker, forged ahead in January despite the lingering coronavirus outbreak and fewer working days due to the Chinese New Year holiday.

CEO He Xiaopeng says the EV startup's top priority is scale, adding it may not be possible for a “small but beautiful” automaker with revenue of less than 100 billion yuan to survive in China in five years.