China’s EV race is usually dominated by giants like BYD, Tesla, XPeng, and Nio. But the real surprise? The country’s top-selling model in September 2025 wasn’t a flagship sedan or high-tech SUV. It was a tiny, ultra-affordable, highly customizable “lunchbox-sized” EV from Wuling.
In this episode, Sophia and Jianggan unpack why this humble Hongguang Mini EV has become a nationwide phenomenon and a global export success. From social media fame to clever product strategy, this little car offers a window into how China builds for real consumer needs.
Tune in to discover:
- Why a sub-USD 4k EV is outselling major brands in China
- How Wuling built a mass-market hit by focusing on accessibility, not specs
- The role of customization culture on Douyin and Xiaohongshu
- Why small business owners love this car’s modular, configurable design
- How Wuling quietly expanded overseas
- What this model reveals about China’s EV supply chain, segmentation, and competition
Timestamps:
00:01:59 – China’s EV leaders and surprising sales rankings
00:03:51 – What a sub-USD 4k EV offers
00:07:52 – The viral Wuling ad that changed everything
00:14:26 – Customization culture and social media fame
00:17:15 – How the Mini EV is expanding overseas
Featured Materials:
Momentum Works Executive (MWX) Immersion
Also available on Spotify
[AI-generated transcript]
[00:00:00] Sophia: So when I first saw it, I was like, wow, I can’t believe that it actually comes from a company that isn’t BYD or Tesla.
[00:00:07] Jianggan: And the most interesting part is that this particular model that we’re gonna talk about only sells for less than 30,000 RMB.
[00:00:14] Sophia: Mm-hmm.
[00:00:15] Jianggan: That, that would make it how much.
[00:00:17] Sophia: Around 4,000.
[00:00:18] Jianggan: 4,000 USD thousand US D. Yeah.
[00:00:25] Sophia: Hello everyone and welcome to the Impulso podcast by Momentum Works. So this is episode 1, 3 3, and we’re gonna talk about one industry that’s currently pretty big in China, which is the electric vehicle or EV industry. So it’s one of the largest. Right now? I think so, right.
[00:00:45] Jianggan: It is the
largest. And of course a lot of things have been talked about this industry.
I think they are not only like top selling in China, displacing lots of international brands, but many of these companies are actually expanding aggressively overseas. So obviously you guys are probably familiar with the brands like BYD XPeng NIO and listed companies. And Tesla is also selling very well in China.
They also have a very large factory in China. But today we’re gonna talk a little bit about a model which not many people have been talking about.
[00:01:12] Sophia: I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen at least. Or even heard about this product.
[00:01:18] Jianggan: Oh, really?
[00:01:18] Sophia: Yeah, because, well, the EV industry back in the Philippines isn’t really that big yet.
Okay. So when I was searching about this one and this being the top selling ev, top selling
[00:01:28] Jianggan: in the Philippines, China.
[00:01:29] Sophia: Oh, not in the Philippines.
[00:01:30] Jianggan: In China.
In China,
yeah.
[00:01:31] Sophia: So when I first saw it, I was like, wow, I can’t believe that it actually comes from a company that isn’t BYD or Tesla.
[00:01:38] Jianggan: And the most interesting part is that this particular model that we’re gonna talk about only sells for.
Less than 30,000 RMB. Mm-hmm. That, that would make it How much?
[00:01:49] Sophia: Around 4,000. 4,000 US D,
[00:01:51] Jianggan: 5,000 USD Yeah.
[00:01:52] Sophia: Yeah.
[00:01:52] Jianggan: So
we came across this, we were looking at the charts of top selling EV brands and models in China in September. Right. So,
[00:01:59] Sophia: September 2025,
[00:02:01] Jianggan: so we first look at the top selling brands, right?
Yeah. So the top one is BYD. Mm-hmm. No surprise. They sold 313,000 cars
[00:02:10] Sophia: Yep.
[00:02:10] Jianggan: In one month. Okay. I thought in the past they used to sell like half a million. But anyway, so the second would be Geely model.
Mm-hmm. What is also interesting is that the Volkswagen, the two joint ventures of Volkswagen in China and the two joint ventures of Toyota in China, all of them made it to top 10.
So people are saying that the international brands have been displaced, but maybe not entirely. They still have have a lot of sales and I think amid all talk about EVs and stuff and people tend to overlook, okay, these are still very significant players in China. But what became really interesting is when we go to the models.
Yeah. Right. And you have, I think, the top selling BYD model, which is Qin Plus. Mm-hmm. I think it’s the entry model for BYD made it to top four. And it’s interesting right there, like most of the top 10 selling places, aside from Model Y mm-hmm. Which made it to number two. Other models probably most of us are not very familiar with.
[00:03:06] Sophia: Yeah, I think for BYD, the most like model that I know is either the dolphin or the seagull.
[00:03:14] Jianggan: So amongst the top 10 there are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 5 BYD models. Mm-hmm. So BYD occupied five or the top 10 models, and I think Model Y is quite impressive. I think they launched a new design. And manufactured in China, which is doing pretty well.
But what is really interesting is the top one, which is the model that we’re gonna talk about.
[00:03:34] Sophia: I’m very
excited for this.
[00:03:35] Jianggan: You are excited for this?
[00:03:36] Sophia: I think. I just like how the car looks. Yeah. And how people also have been customizing it.
[00:03:42] Jianggan: It’s a model called Hongguang Mini EV manufactured by this company called Wuling, which is a joint venture between mm-hmm.
Between two auto factories in China.
[00:03:51] Sophia: I think three.
[00:03:51] Jianggan: Three, okay.
[00:03:52] Sophia: Yeah. So SAIC,
[00:03:55] Jianggan: Shanghai Auto Manufacturing. Yeah,
[00:03:57] Sophia: gm,
[00:03:58] Jianggan: general Motors.
[00:03:59] Sophia: General Motors, and then Wuling.
[00:04:01] Jianggan: So this model, and I’m looking at the different Submodels, so. The cheapest model from dealer in China sells for 23,800
[00:04:10] Sophia: converted. That is around
[00:04:14] Jianggan: 3,300 USD.
[00:04:15] Sophia: Oh really?
[00:04:17] Jianggan: Yeah.
[00:04:18] Sophia: In context, maybe that’s like what, three iPhones of the latest model.
[00:04:26] Jianggan: That’s a full car and it is selling well, so. Looking at the specs, right? The cheaper model, their range is 120 kilometers. So that’s interesting because a lot of the people around us, when they talk about ev, they worry about range, right?
Yeah. Like 450 kilometers is not enough for them. But this guys go for 120 charging takes. Five hours. It’s a long time because, because nowadays I think some EV players are saying that, okay, you can get charged in 15 minutes, so then going for five minutes and with batteries swapping, that takes like a few minutes as well.
So these guys clearly are not optimizing for speed and not optimizing for range, and they’re not optimizing for size. So it’s a pretty basic car.
[00:05:11] Sophia: Yeah. I think it’s more of like about the accessibility of having a car to go around, right? Yes. Since it’s a typical normal four seater, usually packing maybe a family that needs to go around.
[00:05:22] Jianggan: Mm-hmm.
And I also think that there are lots of people who run small businesses, right? I mean, if you mm-hmm. If, you know, run a small, like say a barbecue stand. Yeah. And you need a small car and maybe a van type so you can like transport your goods around and stuff. And typically people like that, they’ll think that, okay, how much am I willing to pay for a vehicle?
And I also looking at. The different models sold by the same company. Yeah. Here’s the whole list. So they make cars, they make vans, and they make pickups.
[00:05:52] Sophia: I think they started with making minivans actually, or micro vans before they converted to making cars.
[00:05:58] Jianggan: When did they start? Like 20,
[00:05:59] Sophia: I think
they started around 2002.
[00:06:01] Jianggan: 2002.
[00:06:02] Sophia: And yeah, their main product at that time was Van. So I guess it does show that they more prioritized like. Helping with logistics and bringing things around. Mm-hmm. And so they decided to somewhat evolve that into cars that are accessible for people.
[00:06:17] Jianggan: Yeah. I remember in early two thousands when I went back to China from high school and, and the driver.
Working for my dad’s school. Mm-hmm. And he said, oh yeah. Instead of driving the school car, I got my first vehicle for my own. Wow. And I remember that was a small pickup and I sat in it. He drove for like 80 kilometers. I was pretty worried, to be honest.
[00:06:39] Sophia: Was it, was it not in top shape or
[00:06:42] Jianggan: It was in top shape, but I think the car just looked small and vulnerable.
And especially when you are driving on the roads with lots of like trucks and stuff, you feel that okay.
[00:06:50] Sophia: Oh yeah.
[00:06:51] Jianggan: I’m just small. Right.
[00:06:52] Sophia: I understand.
[00:06:53] Jianggan: But I think for the former premier of, China said that the 600,000 people in the country still have a monthly income about 1000 RMB. That’s like $160, $140.
So many people, when they need to move things around for their small business to go to work, et cetera. Essentially not looking for a very nice looking car. Yeah. The likes of Tesla and stuff, which will cost like 200,000 RMB and more. Mm-hmm. So they want something that’s practical. Yeah. Easy and cheap.
Do you see that ad about, about the EVs?
[00:07:27] Sophia: Oh yes. I like how they promote their EVs because as someone who like looks around in the different, like marketing strats of companies. It’s the usual when they show the specs of the car. Mm. What terrains it can drive its most promising. Features.
[00:07:45] Jianggan: Features, yeah.
Yeah, yeah,
[00:07:46] Sophia: yeah. But when I saw this ad, it was like I was watching a story more than I was watching an ad.
[00:07:52] Jianggan: Can you play this video?
[00:12:26] Sophia: So can you give us a TLDR, a short run of what happened in this ad?
[00:12:31] Jianggan: So basically in the ad, the story is that okay. A video crew. I went to Wuling to say that, okay, what here? Hired by a company to shoot an ad for the ev, and then the person at the company received them is the sales champion. And she could very easily sort of determine that, okay.
The three people from a crew, one of them runs a barbecue stand. Mm-hmm. As a side job because you know, earning money is not easy. The girl in the crew who just broke up with a boyfriend and who still wants, because the boyfriend wants to start a business. And of course to start a business you need a vehicle to transport things.
And, and the third guy is dating an older lady and who is rich and, and obviously, so through the process of a sales champion, analyzing, okay, what’s your needs and how’s your family like? And how does it feel? And it gave people saying that, okay, I feel having ownership in this car. Right? I feel that, okay, I can imagine my future building a small business and taking my family out for campaign, et cetera, and a small car and it fits everything.
So instead of telling the future straight away, they sold people, what can you use this car for? Yeah.
[00:13:38] Sophia: I think it’s also a way to somewhat connect with their market instead of. Just showing that, oh, this car is really good looking. Mm-hmm. It has very good features. It can travel a while. Mm-hmm. It somewhat digs down into what people actually need or want when it comes to them looking for cars.
[00:13:55] Jianggan: Yes. And the way they sold to the guy who is running in barbecue stand and saying that, okay, in a car they are different, what do you call that? Places you can screw things in so you can configure. The car pretty much the way you want it, right? Mm-hmm. You can make it into a tool car, you can make it into a transportation vehicle, you can make it into a sort of campaign vehicle and stuff.
It is really flexible and yeah, so that made people thinking, okay, what can I dream of in terms of is, especially people who are. Not earning much. Yeah. And who actually dream of a better future?
[00:14:26] Sophia: Speaking of the car’s customizability. Yeah. This car is actually also pretty famous on social media platforms.
Mm-hmm. So like Douyin and Xiaohongshu. Mm. But the way that it got famous was because people like to customize the outside. Mm-hmm. So they usually add stickers like this.
[00:14:44] Jianggan: Oh, okay.
[00:14:45] Sophia: If you’ve seen some of them. Mm-hmm. My personal favorite was a pink version and someone put Hello Kitty stickers on it.
[00:14:53] Jianggan: Okay.
[00:14:54] Sophia: And a lot of people actually like seeing these things.
It’s more of like an Instagramable or like postable look.
[00:15:00] Jianggan: Is that the same reason why people customize their Crocs?
[00:15:03] Sophia: I think so, yeah. At least for me it’s like
[00:15:05] Jianggan: you customize the Crocs. No.
[00:15:07] Sophia: Yes I do. Okay. I have my own Crocs and it’s like we have the Jibbitz on it. Right. Okay. I think it’s the same idea because on social media.
A lot of people, well, these posts are actually like the ones that get a lot of views also when it comes to promoting this car.
Mm-hmm.
So I guess having that connection again, ties back with the ad on having a personal connection when it comes to buying it. It also, again shows when they have bought the car and decided to customize it the way they want.
[00:15:41] Jianggan: I think the car is pretty much a social phenomenon. Right? Yeah. That was designed for audience, that probably doesn’t even raise the tension of the capital market, right? So people who, I don’t know, I mean, most people buy the car probably to replace their electric bikes, bicycles, motorbikes, right? Because I mean, it certainly doesn’t replace Tesla.
It doesn’t have the. He doesn’t have the screen, doesn’t have the entertainment, he doesn’t have the, the range, he doesn’t have the like, short charging time. But for people who are upgrading from a e-bike, yeah. I mean, when you go to China, you see, you go to small cities, you see lots of people while are going around, you know, carrying things on their bikes and stuff.
So for them it’s nice upgrade to a car and something that they feel comfortable inside and they can drive their family around. So, so it’s, I think, I think a few years ago one of the guys from, from a company gave interview. Where he said that, okay, we don’t build things that people don’t need, so whatever people actually need, we build into it.
Yeah. So essentially they came up with this thing which appeals to mass market.
[00:16:43] Sophia: I guess it does do well with the market that they wanted for because I doubt that people who are actually very into cars that care about like the specs and the features push for something like this. Right.
[00:16:56] Jianggan: Yeah. They want something that’s simple, that meet their needs, that doesn’t cost too much money.
And at the same time, they put some personality on it. Right? Yeah. ’cause people want to feel that something special. Yeah.
[00:17:07] Sophia: And either way, it’s still somewhat a vehicle that they’ve purchased.
[00:17:10] Jianggan: Yes. Yes. And they’re doing also pretty well outside China. Yeah.
[00:17:15] Sophia: They’re
number one export right now, I think is Indonesia.
Okay. But also another place that also export,
[00:17:20] Jianggan: I think also have Assembly
Factory Indonesia, if I remember correct.
[00:17:22] Sophia: Oh, I think so. Yeah. Yeah.
And then the other places is also Europe. Mm-hmm. But then when they export to Europe, they actually rebrand to ARI. Motors.
[00:17:31] Jianggan: Yeah. ARI Motors. Okay. ARI motors, yeah. Okay. Yeah.
[00:17:33] Sophia: But it’s still the same car technically, but then they call it. Ari Bruni,
[00:17:38] Jianggan: Ari Bruni. Okay. Mm-hmm. South Italian. Yeah.
[00:17:41] Sophia: I think they also try to fit it to whatever the market
[00:17:44] Jianggan: of course, of course
[00:17:45] Sophia: sees
there. And I think it also goes for the other places that they export to, because when they export also to the Philippines, they also change the name to Game Boy.
[00:17:55] Jianggan: Game Boy.
[00:17:55] Sophia: Yeah. Game Boy.
[00:17:56] Jianggan: Is that a nickname or
[00:17:58] Sophia: they call it The Game Boy? Mini ev. Okay. Interesting. So I think instead of Hongguang. They use Game Boy.
[00:18:07] Jianggan: I’m looking at some stats. So in 2024 and the, the whole company sold 1.5 million cars. Mm-hmm. And amongst which 800,000 are EV or other types of new energy cars?
- Thousand was sold overseas. So basically it’s pretty impressive.
[00:18:27] Sophia: So the main market is still China, but at least they’re also expanding towards the other places around the world.
[00:18:35] Jianggan: I think the reason why we talk about this vehicle is, of course we like shiny models, right? Tesla BYD expand NIO and Xiaomi, right?
Shami appeals to the urban young university graduates who have better spending power, who want to drive something, which looks like a Porsche. Yeah.
[00:18:51] Sophia: Sports car.
[00:18:52] Jianggan: Yeah. But there are a lot more people who have very basic needs and companies which fulfill these needs in a very, very efficient way, actually managed to capture this market.
And it can be pretty competitive internationally.
[00:19:05] Sophia: I think that’s how Chinese companies really try to like market themselves more on getting down efficiency and accessibility for the people. Right.
[00:19:16] Jianggan: I do think that since with all this competition amongst players, there’s a supply chain being built and of batteries of everything, right?
So what is interesting here is that with all this, and you have companies which built sort of. Products and vehicles for different cohorts of people. And I think it’s, it’s not for, Wuling and somebody else would be able to meet this need. Mm. And create something globally competitive. And I think we’ll see more for these companies on the road elsewhere.
Yeah.
[00:19:45] Sophia: I would love to see more of what they can do. Do
[00:19:48] Jianggan: the customization. Right.
[00:19:49] Sophia: As someone who loves to customize things. Okay. This car is very appealing to me. Yeah. Just because again, it would fulfill my needs of just getting around and I’m not really particular with like the specs of a car ride with how fast it goes.
Mm-hmm. But again, when you think about the market that they want to sell it to, those who have small businesses. Mm-hmm. Or those who just want to upgrade from an electric bike, maybe. Mm-hmm. Having this car available to them is already pretty good.
[00:20:16] Jianggan: And I think we also took a lot of look at the company, which manufactures cars, right?
We mentioned about how they kept the cost low, and there’s also something interesting about their corporate culture, how they uncover the customer needs and how they decide what’s important, what’s not important, and build products accordingly. So these are the things that we will. Distill in our Momentum Works executive immersion, which the first cohort will take place in November 26th to 28th.
If you’re interested, I think we’re pretty much fully subscribed, but if you’re interested, we’ll have subsequent cohorts, which you can find information. The link will be in the show notes.
Yes.
[00:20:49] Sophia: So we started this podcast talking about. BYD, Tesla, all the big car brands, expecting that maybe one of their models would also be the top selling in China.
But I guess it comes to a surprise that it’s a small car by Wuling motors that’s pretty accessible to people, also, very customizable. Hmm. And the way they market it to them is somewhat trying to connect with those who need to get it, especially in the evolving world, where a lot of logistics is really needed when it comes to these small businesses.
[00:21:23] Jianggan: So thank you for joining us today, and I think we’ll dissect more companies and models we might not have heard of.
[00:21:29] Sophia: If you did like this video, leave a like and subscribe to our channel to stay up to date, to the latest happenings and trends in tech, new retail, and the broader digital economy. Thank you, and bye-bye.
[00:21:42] Jianggan: Bye-bye.
