Tesla China cut the cash you need for a Model 3 or Model Y in half, Toyota will build Waymo’s driverless taxis for Japan, and BYD’s profit jumped on the back of exports while China’s home market cooled. Here’s the week on EVX News, in eight stories and one number.
If you spent the week carving pumpkins instead of reading car news (no judgment), this is your catch-up. Every item links to our full story, sources and all.
1. Tesla China halves the down payment
A new 0% five-year financing offer drops the minimum down payment on a Model 3 or Model Y in China to 39,900 yuan (about $5,980), from 79,900 yuan (about $12,000). The six-seat Model Y L now starts at 59,900 yuan (about $8,970) down. We added up Tesla’s balloon-loan example to the yuan, and there’s no interest hiding in it. Orders have to be in by Nov. 30. Both payment plans, trim by trim.
2. Cybercab trades the Pearl Tower for the Import Expo
Tesla’s gold Cybercab wraps its stop under Shanghai’s Oriental Pearl Tower on Nov. 1 and heads to the China International Import Expo (Nov. 5–10), where Tesla gets its first dedicated zone in the Lingang showcase. Also on the stand: the newest gold Optimus, which will act out scenes like carrying luggage and walking a dog. Look, don’t ride. Tesla China calls the tour static. The full tour schedule and exhibit list.
3. Toyota builds it, Waymo drives it, in Japan from 2027
Waymo picked the Toyota bZ4X for Japan. The taxi-spec crossovers will be built and fitted with Waymo’s hardware under one roof at Toyota’s Takaoka plant, with testing and validation in Japan starting in 2027 and the UK next. No city and no fleet size yet, which leaves Tokyo taxi fans free to guess. How it fits Waymo’s Tokyo plan with GO and Nihon Kotsu.
4. BYD’s profit is back, thanks to everywhere but China
Third-quarter net profit rose 28.08% to 10.02 billion yuan (about $1.50 billion). The engine is overseas: BYD sold 1,337,831 passenger cars and pickups outside China in the first nine months, already more than in all of 2025. Japan is one of those markets, and BYD’s RACCO kei car starts here at ¥2,145,000 (about $13,580). The full quarter, and what it means for Japan.
5. China’s car buyers hit the brakes
NEV retail sales came to 753,000 from Oct. 1 to 25, down 13% from a year earlier, while factories shipped about 1 million to dealers, up 3%. Gasoline cars fell even harder, so plug-ins still made up 65.7% of retail sales. The gap between wholesale and retail is the part to watch. The October scoreboard so far.
6. Xpeng’s robotaxi gets all of Guangzhou
Xpeng’s robotaxi unit now holds a license for Level 4 trial service across the whole city. The catch: in the first phase you still need an invite code, booked through a WeChat mini program. So “citywide” is a permission slip for now, not a launch. What the approval actually changes.
7. Mercedes brings the electric GLC to Japan
Mercedes-Benz Japan’s first electric GLC starts at ¥9.13 million (about $57,800) with 642 km of WLTC range. Japanese-spec cars charge on CHAdeMO at up to 100 kW, and Nikkei reports Tokyo residents can get up to ¥1.68 million (about $10,640) in combined subsidies if they buy this year. Specs, charging times and the subsidy math.
8. Halloween Mode reached Japan early
Tesla Japan made it official on Oct. 26, though update 2026.38.3.1 had already started landing in Japanese garages on Oct. 22. Pedestrians on the screen turn into skeletons, the turn signal hoots like an owl, and the lock sound is a roar your neighbors will hear. By Tesla Japan standards, a week early is basically time travel. Every spooky feature, plus the sleeper hit.
Number of the week: 39,900 yuan
That’s the new minimum down payment, about $5,980, on a 0% five-year loan for a Model 3 or Model Y in China, half the 79,900 yuan (about $12,000) it was before Oct. 30. It landed in the same week China’s NEV retail sales were reported down 13%, so the timing is hard to miss. How the 0% plans work.
The EVX Take
The two markets moved in opposite directions this week. China’s home market is soft enough that Tesla is cutting the down payment in half and BYD is leaning on exports, and Japan is one of the places those exports are landing. Meanwhile Japan’s biggest autonomy news came from a partnership: Toyota building the cars and Waymo supplying the driver. For buyers here, the takeaway is that more competition, and more of it from China, keeps showing up in Japanese showrooms.
Next week, the Import Expo opens in Shanghai and full October sales numbers start arriving from China and Japan. We’ll be watching both.
This digest summarizes Japan- and China-relevant stories EVX News published between October 25 and November 1, 2026. Sources for each item are listed in the linked articles.
— The EVX News team
Featured image: A BYD Dolphin on display in Japan, May 2023. Photo: Kazyakuruma, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped).
