🟠 Skoda leaves China

.-96% in 7 years

March 27, 2026

☕️ Good morning friends,

Another major foreign player is leaving China with its tail between its legs. Volkswagen has pulled the plug and called Skoda home.

More on that in the Top Bit.

Also in today's issue:

  • Pony AI makes $75 million quarterly profit

  • Vietnam builds first nuclear power plant with Russia

  • Japan's oil reserve in stress test

Enjoy reading!

P.S. Even if they all leave, the Asiabits team stays loyally by your side. Have a great weekend!

The following stories will be exclusive to our premium community starting Monday.

Asia under pressure: South Korea's benchmark index dropped to 5,460 on Thursday, with Samsung and SK Hynix leading losses. Oil climbed to $91/barrel as Iran uncertainty weighs on the region. Foreign investors had already offloaded a record $13B in Korean stocks in February alone.

TOP BIT

Skoda throws in the towel in China

The bestseller in 2018

Volkswagen's Czech subsidiary Skoda is withdrawing from China by mid-2026. What was the brand's largest market for years is now just a shadow of its former self. The numbers are brutal.

The free fall in 7 years:

For comparison: China is a 30-million car market.

  • Skoda's share was recently under 0.1%. Skoda didn't have a single electric vehicle on offer in China. In a market where 54% of all new cars were already electric in 2025, that's a death sentence.

  • Skoda still grew globally by 12.7% to over one million vehicles in 2025.

Strategic pivot: India is the new China

Skoda CEO Klaus Zellmer is radically reordering priorities. Instead of fighting a hopeless price war against 150 competitors in China, capital is now flowing into markets with "combustion engine durability" and growth potential.

  • India focus: Skoda is building India into a global export hub. With locally developed models (Kushaq, Slavia), the brand achieved record numbers there in 2025.

  • Southeast Asia: Market entry in Vietnam and expansion in ASEAN states are to close the China gap.

  • Service guarantee: Existing customers in China will continue to be supplied with spare parts and maintenance via regional partners.

Retreat as strategy

The VW Group emphasizes: China remains "at the very core" of the group's strategy. Skoda is the sacrificial lamb, VW and Audi continue to invest.

Skoda joins the list: Suzuki (2018), Jeep (2022), Mitsubishi (2025). Analysts expect that by 2030, even more Western automakers will have left China. The exceptions: Tesla, Toyota, VW.

All Details & Data: SCMP, China Daily

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MARKET BIT

Pony AI: $75M Quarterly Profit, 3,000 Robotaxis Headed to 20 Cities

Source: Pony AI

Pony AI has posted its first profitable quarter ever. At the same time, the company plans to deploy robotaxis in more than 20 cities globally this year.

  • Net income in Q4 2025: $75.5 million.

  • Full-year 2025 revenue: $90 million (+20%).

  • Annual loss: narrowed 72% to $76.8 million.

The details

There's an asterisk on that profit: the $75.5 million didn't come from the robotaxi business. Pony AI holds an early stake in Chinese chip designer Moore Threads, whose stock surged 425% at its IPO in December.

The core business is growing fast regardless. Robotaxi revenue jumped 160% in Q4, paid rides surged over 500%. The fleet has grown from under 300 to 1,446 vehicles in just one year.

In Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the Gen-7 model hit per-vehicle break-even within four months of launch. Peak day in Shenzhen: RMB 394 in daily revenue, 25 rides per robotaxi.

  • Users in China: nearly one million, triple year-on-year

  • Cash on hand: $1.5 billion

  • 2026 target: double the fleet to 3,000+, across 20+ cities globally

  • Toyota is producing 1,000 bZ4X robotaxis for Pony AI this year

Zagreb + Uber:

In the Croatian capital, Pony AI is teaming up with Uber and local startup Verne to launch Europe's first commercial robotaxi service. Test rides are already underway with Arcfox Alpha T5 vehicles running Pony's Gen-7 system.

Verne operates the fleet, Uber integrates the service into its app and is investing in Verne. In parallel, Pony AI runs commercial services in Doha and launched in Singapore in March. Driverless approval is pending in Dubai.

Bigger Picture

The quarterly profit is a paper gain, not an operational breakthrough. But the trajectory is clear: five times more paid rides, break-even in two cities, and an international push no other Chinese robotaxi player can match.

While Baidu's Apollo Go dominates the home market, Pony AI is building a global network with Uber as its distribution channel.

CFO Leo Wang calls it "front-loaded investment to drive commercialization at a quicker pace." The expensive scaling phase is still ahead.

HIGHLIGHTS 

🇯🇵 Japan's Oil Reserve Under Stress: The Hormuz crisis is hitting Japan hard. 95% of its crude oil comes from the Middle East, nearly three quarters passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Since March 26, the government has been releasing strategic reserves in the largest drawdown since the system was established in 1978. With 241 days of reserves, that sounds comfortable at first, but a prolonged conflict could drain stockpiles faster than expected. Meanwhile, the Q2 aluminum premium has jumped 80% as Japan sources a fifth of its supply from the region.

🇨🇳 RoboSense Posts First-Ever Profit on Robotics Boom: LiDAR maker RoboSense reported its first quarterly profit in Q4 2025, driven by its robotics business. Robotics LiDAR shipments surged 1,142% to 303,000 units, making it the global leader in the segment. Its sensors now power delivery robots from JD.com, Meituan, and Neolix. For 2026, RoboSense is targeting a two- to threefold increase in total shipments.

🇻🇳 Vietnam to Build First Nuclear Plant with Russia: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed an agreement in Moscow for the construction of the Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power plant, Vietnam's first nuclear project ever. In 72 hours, Chinh completed nearly 30 engagements, including meetings with Putin and Mishustin. Beyond nuclear energy, the cooperation covers oil and gas exploration and metro construction. Hanoi wants the project to become a new symbol of Vietnamese-Russian relations, comparable to the Hoa Binh hydropower plant.

🇨🇳 ByteDance Expands Seedance, OpenAI Kills Sora: ByteDance has launched version 2.0 of its AI video generator Seedance, while OpenAI pulls the plug on Sora, its 15-month-old AI video tool. The Pentagon deal cost OpenAI around 700,000 ChatGPT subscribers, and Disney exited the partnership over copyright concerns. OpenAI is now pivoting to agentic AI and robotics, while ByteDance fills the vacuum in AI-generated video.

BEHIND THE BITS

Last weekend: house party in Shenzhen.

But because nothing is normal in Shenzhen, this wasn't a normal party. More like a pitch night. Founders brought their hardware, guests tried it out over wine and pizza and discussed new business ideas.

In the picture you see Michael in the middle of a stress and anxiety reduction session with glasses made in Shenzhen.

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