RobotBelt Monthly Auto Tracker — Singapore — August 2026
🇸🇬 Singapore, 2026-08: Chinese brands took 51.7% of the market (46.8% excl MG). BYD alone took 24.2%, more than Toyota and Mercedes combined.
The Belt
Chip supply chain sheds over US$500 billion as Trump lashes out at AI doomsday talk
A wave of safety warnings from leading artificial-intelligence labs, together with OpenAI’s decision to shelve its IPO this year, pushed markets to price in a simple equation: slower frontier-model iteration means weaker chip demand. On Monday the selling swept Asia, Europe and the Americas, and early tallies put the market value wiped from the global … Read more
Jaime Xiao: Shenzhen and Hong Kong are one wealth engine, not two cities
Jaime Xiao on why Hurun’s global rich list miscounts Greater Shenzhen: the customs line at Futian is the only thing separating 132 billionaires (Shenzhen) from 88 (Hong Kong), and merged they outrank New York’s 146. Cut the loop at the border and the ranking reports two cities where there is one wealth engine.
RobotBelt Monthly Auto Tracker — Brazil — July 2026
🇧🇷 Brazil, 2026-07: Chinese brands took 22.7% of the market (22.5% excl MG). BYD set another record at 23,465 units, and sixteen Chinese or China-linked brands now sit in the table.
RobotBelt Monthly Auto Tracker — Singapore — July 2026
🇸🇬 Singapore, 2026-07: Chinese brands took 49.9% of the market (45.2% excl MG). BYD alone took 22.2%, and Chinese badges now hold five of the ten best-selling spots.
RobotBelt Monthly Auto Tracker — Thailand — July 2026
🇹🇭 Thailand, 2026-07: Chinese brands took 36.5% of the market (31.7% excl MG). Omoda & Jaecoo, BYD and Geely each passed 3,000 units and six Chinese badges filled the top ten.
Tesla’s wheel-less Cybercab hits the road, and the rough edges show
Five days after Tesla opened its production Cybercab to the public in its Robotaxi fleet, the verdict from riders is split. The vehicle, unveiled on 4 September, has no steering wheel, pedals or mirrors and relies entirely on Full Self-Driving. Some riders say they felt like VIPs; others say it ran flawlessly. Many more posted … Read more
China’s home-grown self-driving chip tops Nvidia at home, with Volkswagen now on board
China built 34.53 million vehicles in 2025, the 17th year it has led the world, with new-energy output up 29 per cent year on year. The more consequential contest, though, is the silicon behind the wheel. Horizon Robotics says its Journey series of autonomous-driving chips has now passed 15 million units shipped, and the pace … Read more
Hangzhou inspection-robot maker Guoxun closes two rounds in six months as state capital backs industrial safety
Guoxun Robotics, a Hangzhou developer of industrial inspection robots, has closed two funding rounds totalling tens of millions of yuan within roughly six months, with Jiuzhao Investment, Yueke Financial Group and Liang Venture Capital co-investing, the firm’s backer Chenyuan Capital said. The new money carries weight because Yueke Financial Group is Guangdong’s largest state-owned fund-management … Read more
Warehouse-robotics firm Hai Robotics restarts Hong Kong IPO after 15 rounds and RMB 4.13 billion raised
Hai Robotics refreshed its Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing application on 13 September, restarting a process first filed in February, and is positioning itself as the exchange’s first ACR stock. ACR stands for case-handling mobile robot, the box-style warehouse machine the company pioneered. Before the listing the firm had already completed 15 rounds of equity … Read more