Seven days, one industry, a lot of contradictions: China’s EV makers are chasing rich buyers overseas while their home market cools off, BMW is talking investors off a ledge, Waymo just issued its second robotaxi recall in a month, and gas is somehow getting cheaper. Here’s what actually mattered this week.
China’s EV Makers Are Done Competing on Price
At Hong Kong’s auto show, BYD, Zeekr, Hongqi and MG all showed up with the same pitch: forget cheap, buy premium. Chinese brands are targeting affluent buyers across right-hand-drive markets from Australia to Southeast Asia, and the strategy is working well enough that Geely-owned Zeekr’s own chief marketing officer said it’s air suspension and seat massage, not sticker price, pulling in customers now. Zeekr brought its flagship 009 Glory and 9X, Hongqi unveiled a right-hand-drive E-HS9 SUV, and the underlying reason is simple: China’s domestic market is slowing down, so automakers are expanding outward fast. Chinese brands are picking up share across Southeast Asia and Oceania at the direct expense of Japanese carmakers.
BMW Tries to Talk Investors Off the Ledge
BMW supervisory board chairman Nicolas Peter told reporters in Paris the company is “on the right track” with its next-generation Neue Klasse models, which is the kind of thing executives say right after a profit warning rattles everyone. That’s exactly what happened here: BMW’s warning got pinned on weak Chinese demand and fallout from the Iran conflict, and analysts now expect the German automaker to weigh European capacity cuts while leaning harder into localized production in North America and China.
Waymo’s Robotaxis Keep Missing Closed Roads
Alphabet’s self-driving unit recalled nearly 3,900 robotaxis after software failed to recognize ramp-closure signage, sending vehicles straight into closed freeway construction zones. More than a dozen incidents in California and Arizona triggered the recall, and Waymo pulled back freeway operations until a software fix went out. This is the second recall in a single month; the first involved vehicles entering flooded roads, and regulators are separately looking into incidents involving school buses. None of this reads like an isolated glitch anymore, it reads like a pattern of a system that struggles with dynamic, real-world road changes.
Three Big Recalls You Should Actually Check
- Stellantis/Jeep Gladiator and Wrangler: Over 1 million 2021-2025 vehicles recalled over electric-hydraulic power-steering pump wiring tied to 51 reported fires. Owners are being told to park outside until repairs happen.
- Honda/Acura SUVs: 880,514 Pilot, Ridgeline, Passport, and Acura MDX vehicles recalled for rear-subframe components that can rust through and fail, risking loss of control.
- Ford Expedition and Focus: 548,463 Expeditions recalled because chrome console trim can peel and cut occupants, plus 255,404 Focus models over a canister purge valve defect that can stall the engine.
Add to that a less official but very real threat: CARFAX data shows more than 137,000 catalytic converters were stolen in 2025 alone. Hybrid converters are the preferred target, fetching up to $1,400 each because of the rhodium inside, a metal running roughly $11,000 an ounce.
The Economics of Keeping an Old Car Running
The average U.S. vehicle was 12.7 years old in 2024 and is projected to hit 13 years by 2026, according to Claims Journal, as high new-car prices push owners to hang onto what they already have. There’s at least one bit of relief at the pump: AAA reported the national average for regular gasoline fell to $4.24 a gallon in early June, the second straight weekly decline.
Antonelli Keeps Winning, IndyCar Loses One of Its Own
In Formula One, 19-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli extended his breakout season with a win at the Monaco Grand Prix, his fifth straight victory since stepping into Lewis Hamilton’s seat at Mercedes. The race got red-flagged after a section of track asphalt broke apart, but Antonelli held the lead through the restart and now sits 66 points clear at the top of the standings. Away from the track, the motorsport world is mourning former IndyCar driver Rick Treadway, who died in a motorcycle accident.
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