China Issues Guidelines to Ban EV Price Wars Abroad

Millennium Group Corporation (Asia) Public Company Limited, or MGC, has been tasked with allocating and managing vehicles for transportation and guest hospitality at the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings 2026, to be held from October 12 to 18, 2026, at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. The company will use BMW vehicles for all services and plans to resell the cars as rentals after the mission concludes. Miss Jerdnaphang Thamchuanwiriya, Chief Financial and Accounting Officer of the group, disclosed that performance in the final stretch of this year will continue to grow strongly from the third quarter of 2026, with full-year net profit potentially exceeding the original target of 900 million baht. In its vehicle sales business, MGC is moving forward with deliveries of the XPENG L03 starting in October, after accumulating nearly 2,000 bookings within a month and a half of its launch. The company also plans to launch two more new models in the fourth quarter of 2026, namely the XPENG G9L and one additional SUV model, targeting combined bookings of more than 1,000 units for the new models and total sales of around 2,000 to 3,000 vehicles in the year-end period. Deliveries are expected to gradually begin from the fourth quarter of 2026 onward.

The United Kingdom electric vehicle market is forecast to grow 4.0% annually to reach US$176.7 million in 2026, according to a new Databook Q2 2026 Update from ResearchAndMarkets.com. After a 3.6% CAGR during 2021-2025, the market is projected to record a 3.8% CAGR from 2026 to 2030, rising from US$170.0 million in 2025 to approximately US$205.4 million by 2030. Growth is being shaped by the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate, the Electric Car Grant, charging infrastructure development and domestic manufacturing strategy, with the government committed to ending sales of new internal combustion engine cars by 2030 and requiring all new cars and vans to be fully zero-emission by 2035. Nissan's Sunderland plant remains central to UK manufacturing, supported by a £450 million investment and the EV36Zero programme behind the next-generation LEAF, while BYD reported becoming the UK's best-selling EV brand in early 2026 and Chinese entrants including XPeng and Leapmotor expand through International Motors and Stellantis dealerships respectively. The report also flags the planned mileage-based Electric Vehicle Excise Duty in April 2028 as a factor expected to shift emphasis toward the total cost of EV ownership.

Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in the third quarter of 2026, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 471,262 units, with deliveries up 1.3% sequentially but down 2.1% year over year. Through the first nine months of 2026, Tesla delivered 1,324,681 vehicles and needs just more than 311,448 units in the fourth quarter to break its streak of annual declines. The competitive picture remains concerning, as BYD sold 762,478 passenger battery-electric vehicles in the quarter, up roughly 31% year over year, while NIO delivered 109,178 vehicles, up 25.4% year over year. In the last reported quarter, automotive gross margin excluding regulatory credits slipped to 16.3%, and energy storage margins fell to 20.4% from 39.5%, while Tesla expects capital spending above $25 billion in 2026. Tesla's robotaxi network had covered roughly 380,000 driverless miles, compared with Waymo's more than 220 million rider-only miles, and the company recently moved its Roadster demonstration from Oct. 1 to Oct. 15. Tesla's Oct. 21 earnings report is much-awaited, and TSLA stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

GAC's own-brand exports reached 25,693 units in September, up 160.9% year-on-year, extending its streak to nine consecutive months of over 100% growth. Cumulative exports from January to September totaled 197,701 units, up 138.9%, which is 156.7% of last year's full-year total and puts the company on track toward its annual target of 300,000 units. In Southeast Asia, September sales rose 32% year-on-year, with Laos up 433%, the Philippines up 301% and Indonesia up 79%, while GAC's Cambodia KD plant launched on September 17, shifting the company from complete vehicle exports to local manufacturing. In Europe, the UK rose 392%, Greece 102% and Switzerland 650% month-on-month, and the AION UT earned a 2026 Euro NCAP five-star rating and launched in the UK, Denmark, Norway and France. In the Americas, terminal sales rose 111% year-on-year, with Brazil up 280%, Colombia up 337% and Ecuador up 137%, and GAC delivered 100 AION UT units in Chile. African sales surged 560% year-on-year and CIS sales rose 176%, with Azerbaijan up 191%, while the GS7 PHEV launched in Dubai on September 12 and the GN8 PHEV, HYPTEC HT and HYPTEC SSR launched in Casablanca, Morocco on September 24.

The UK new car market recorded its best September since 2017, with registrations up 12% year-on-year to 350,518 units, according to figures released on the 2nd by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Supported by strong demand for electric vehicles, battery electric vehicle registrations in September rose 36% year-on-year to 99,199 units, taking a market share of 28.3%. In contrast, petrol car registrations fell 6.7% and hybrid vehicle registrations fell 4.2%. Diesel car registrations rose 11.5% in September, but were down 7% over the January-September period compared with a year earlier, with their market share shrinking to about 4.5% this year. By brand, the Jaecoo 7 SUV from China's Chery was the best-selling model, while among battery electric vehicles the Sealion 7 SUV from China's BYD ranked third, behind US EV giant Tesla's Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV. On a year-to-date basis, battery electric vehicles account for only 26.2% of total sales, well below the 33% mandated for 2026 and also short of last year's 28% target.