On September 19, at the China Automotive Industry Development (Teda) International Forum in 2026, Xiao Lingyun, the director of the Industrial Products Department of the Technical Center for Recalling Defective Products of the State Administration for Market Regulation of the Communist Party of China, revealed that on August 21 of this year, China recalled nearly 8 million vehicles. By the end of 2025, China had recalled 121 million vehicles. Xiao Lingyun stated that these recalls all involve safety defects brought on by new technologies.
According to a report by the “Daily Economic News” on September 19, Xiao Lingyun mentioned that by the end of 2025, China had implemented 3,265 automobile recalls, affecting 121 million vehicles. Among them, investigations led to 662 recalls, involving 64.0821 million vehicles, accounting for 53.14% of the total recalled vehicles.
Xiao Lingyun explained that all car recalls are due to safety defects brought on by new technologies. In China, the training and testing of autonomous vehicles are mostly based on standards, but in reality, vehicles often encounter non-standard situations. Defects in intelligent connected vehicles have characteristics of being “invisible, digital, and hard to reproduce.” While innovation drives development, true automotive safety is defined by the safety of the vehicle. Only with safer cars can sales perform better.
In mainland China, safety accidents caused by the blind pursuit of new technology in electric vehicles are not uncommon. One major safety hazard is the hidden door handles in these vehicles.
In pursuit of aesthetics, many cars in mainland China have replaced manual door handles with button-operated ones. Electric vehicle door handles heavily rely on complex electronic control systems, which can lead to situations where the doors cannot be opened in case of power failure or deformation due to collision. Additionally, the physical door opening mechanisms in electric vehicles are often discreetly designed, leading to difficulties for occupants to escape in unfamiliar situations.
Data from the car model database on the “Autohome” official website in May 2025 shows that out of 14,341 models in 1691 car series, 253 car series with a total of 1,578 models are equipped with hidden door handles. Among them, 198 car series with 1,174 models are electric vehicles.
A veteran automotive media figure in mainland China, who founded the automotive self-media “Car One Line,” commented on August 24 this year, stating that hidden door handles pose potential safety issues concerning control logic, identification of operations, power failure, finger trapping, and present potential risks for escape and rescue in accidents involving collisions or fires.
Furthermore, as autonomous driving technology is being incorporated into civilian vehicles, the disparity between these technologically advanced cars and human-driven ones in China is becoming more apparent. The increasing presence of unmanned delivery vehicles on roads causing sudden braking, sharp turns, intermittent movements at intersections, leading to traffic congestion, has been arousing public dissatisfaction.
According to a report by “China Automotive News” on August 3, the Xiaopeng X9 electric vehicle experienced widespread driving stall faults in high-temperature conditions, prompting some owners to question, “Was there no extreme heat test conducted before the vehicle was launched?” Additionally, there have been a series of battery malfunctions in commercial vehicles equipped with the Zhongchuang Innovation Hang 177Ah battery.
On July 31, the automotive creation community “Car Comic Tribe” emphasized that many hidden risks in cars are shouldered entirely by owners. Issues such as door handles failing to eject, braking software calibration errors, high-voltage circuit insulation failure, driver assistance failing to recognize obstacles, inadequate coolant corrosion resistance, batteries bulging and leaking after three to four years, and air suspension unable to withstand high-temperature depressions, among others, are all critical faults.
Industry experts suggest that automotive malfunctions have shifted from traditional physical wear and material failure to software vulnerabilities, algorithm deficiencies, or vehicle system failures. These invisible code problems can also lead to severe driving hazards.