91 Ten Articles: LG Magna will trial mass production of cars for Apple, Baidu and Didi obtain autonomous driving licenses

1. Hongguang MiniEV ranked third in the March new car list with sales of 39,745 units. The industry generally believes that the core of the car's hot sales is its absolutely low price, which once again proves a truth: in the Chinese car market with diverse demands, a best-selling car does not have to be a "bucket model" that meets all requirements.

2. South Korean media revealed that the joint venture between LG and Canada's Magna may undertake the trial production of Apple cars, and the two parties are currently negotiating the details of the matter. Sources pointed out that because it is a trial production, the contract amount will not be large. LG declined to comment on the matter. Apple's prototype car is scheduled to be released in 2024.

3. The Beijing Intelligent Connected Vehicle Policy Pilot Zone was officially opened, and the "Beijing Intelligent Connected Vehicle Policy Pilot Zone Overall Implementation Plan" was released. The first batch of application licenses were issued to Baidu Apollo, Pony.ai and Didi Autonomous Driving. Among them, Baidu Apollo received 53 night (16:00-22:00) and special weather test notices, and 5 general road test licenses. Pony.ai received a total of 30 licenses, and Didi did not disclose the number of licenses.

4. The EU may adopt new regulations to phase out plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) ahead of schedule. It is reported that the proposed regulations will no longer allow automakers to label PHEV models as "sustainable investments" starting in 2026. Currently, hybrid vehicles and pure electric vehicles enjoy the same treatment in the EU, and the EU hopes to accelerate the transition to pure electric vehicles.

5. The Technical University of Lübeck (TH) in Germany has developed a fast-charging technology for electric vehicles that can fully charge 10 cars at 1,000 kW in more than ten minutes without disrupting the stability of the public power grid. Its main technical features are: combining electronic charging stations and buffer storage units to relieve grid pressure.

6. Volkswagen has reached a wage agreement with the German Metal Industry Union (IG Metall), which will increase employees' salaries by 2.3% from January 2022, including a one-time "new crown support fee" of 1,000 euros. This agreement covers approximately 120,000 Volkswagen employees, accounting for 18% of Volkswagen's total employees.

7. Dorsheimer, an analyst at Canadian investment bank Canaccord Genuity, raised Tesla's rating from "hold" to "buy" and raised the stock price target by 155%, from $419 per share to $1,071 per share, with a market value of about $1 trillion. The reason is that Tesla is moving towards Apple-style ecosystem products.

9. FF Chairman Jia Yueting was recently fined by the China Securities Regulatory Commission and banned from the Chinese securities market for life. Judging from the published decision, Jia Yueting has repeatedly violated his promises. Of the original 2.6 billion yuan of reduction funds promised to be lent to the listed company, only 630 million yuan remained in LeTV, and the rest went to an account controlled by Jia Yueting. Not only that, LeTV borrowed money from Jia Yueting many times, but all of them were frequently withdrawn.

10. PwC released the third chapter of the 2020 Digital Automotive Report, "Building a Software-Driven Automotive Enterprise". The report shows that automotive products and related services will usher in major changes as demand for intelligent and connected functions increases. Software development costs will increase by 83% in the next decade. Software has become the core of differentiated competition in modern vehicles.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.