Chengdu auto show has its own way of life

The Chengdu Auto Show is about to open, but the hustle and bustle of previous years is no longer there.

The automotive market in 2025 is already past halfway through the year, and it has suddenly become apparent that car manufacturers are gradually showing signs of fatigue when it comes to auto shows. With price wars and media battles dragging on, the car market not only lacks vitality amid an overall unfavorable environment, but the intense internal competition within the industry has disrupted too many industrial balances. Even giants like Volkswagen and Toyota seem to have slowed their pace.

For the remainder of this year, Chinese brands like BYD will continue striving towards the goal of selling 5 million vehicles annually, with Geely and Chery closely following suit, and that's a given. However, looking at the current situation, it seems that everyone is betting on the Guangzhou event at the end of the year. Simply put, as competition becomes the norm, compared to participating in auto shows, car companies are clearly more concerned with how to fiercely compete in the terminal market.

Relying on the currently known information, this year's Chengdu Auto Show has increasingly become a main battlefield for regional car sales, or merely a stage for the concentrated unveiling of new models after their launch. Compared to the past, the significant absence of all-new models, regardless of their positioning, and the collective absence of niche brands all serve to confirm this trend.

Luxury brands like Lotus, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Porsche, as well as brands like Genesis, Jaguar, and Land Rover, have abandoned Chengdu as an unavoidable choice due to the tight pockets of consumers. Meanwhile, the departure of brands like Neta, Jiyue, Chevrolet, and Feifan is due to internal issues.

When even Dongfeng Honda, Beijing Hyundai, and Yueda Kia are unwilling to spend extra budget on participating in the exhibition, it clearly shows that the current situation is quite different from the past.

In other words, as leading car manufacturers dominate the market and consumers are no longer willing to pay for individuality or status, the Chengdu Auto Show may become a preview of the Chinese auto industry entering a winner-takes-all stage.

01Nothing is more important than being alive.

After entering 2025, the overall situation of China's automobile market is more or less apparent to outsiders. On the surface, the impact of price wars has filled the market with hostility; so-called competitors have long become thorny obstacles in each other's eyes. If conditions allow, they would rather grind their rivals into the ground. Even more extreme, some have resorted to launching media campaigns and playing dirty tricks.

Why has the Chinese auto market become like this? It is difficult for anyone to give a definite answer to this question. However, there is a consensus that, as consumption downgrading becomes increasingly severe, Chinese consumers have undergone a qualitative change in how they seek emotional value.

The rise of pragmatism may not completely eliminate individuality, but compared to the previously diverse sea of cars, as purely family-oriented vehicles become mainstream and cars gradually take on the characteristics of consumer electronics, the definition of a good car is bound to be interpreted in drastically different ways.

Looking at the sales rankings for the first half of the year, it is clear how many cars are popular because they meet the "want this, want that, and want even more" demands. Even though there are still cars like the Xiaomi YU7 that highlight individuality, they cannot overshadow the current consumer trend of favoring "big and all-encompassing" features.

Given this situation, isn't it perfectly normal that more than 20 car companies that participated in last year's Chengdu exhibition are now absent?

Apart from brands like Jiyue, Nezha, and Yuanhang, which have been phased out by the market, other brands either feel incapable of coping with the current consumer situation or have selectively given up on the Chengdu Auto Show. In any case, they do not expect any breakthroughs in brand promotion.

Compared to last year, all car companies are now focused on one thing: how to survive in the current situation. Therefore, it is perfectly normal for them to downplay the importance of the Chengdu Auto Show in their strategic planning. As the end of the year approaches, nothing is more important than selling more cars.

Although facing the economically vibrant Southwest auto market of Sichuan and Chongqing, we can still see the emergence of some new models, such as the Leapmotor Pursuit L and the Smart Elf 5 plug-in hybrid. However, overall, compared to auto shows in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, the Chengdu Auto Show inevitably tends to be categorized as a "regional auto show" in this era.

Moreover, after summarizing the achievements of the past few years, for car manufacturers, fully utilizing the time around the auto show is undoubtedly more ideal in terms of input-output ratio.

Since August, a variety of actions related to new car launches—ranging from the release of brand-new models such as the Audi A5L from both North and South Audi, to the start of pre-sales for models like the Xiangjie S9T, NIO’s all-new ES8, and the Shangjie H5—have all been aimed at staggering the release of their latest news. Even during auto shows, it is believed that many companies will choose to hold their launch events outside of media days to avoid the rush.

Certainly, in terms of market performance, especially the ownership of new energy vehicles, Chengdu and the entire Sichuan-Chongqing region have a very concrete influence on car consumption.

On the other hand, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in July, automobile production and sales reached 2.591 million and 2.593 million units respectively. Although there was a decline compared to June, they increased by 13.3% and 14.7% year-on-year, respectively. The cumulative production and sales from January to July also experienced double-digit year-on-year growth, maintaining a good development trend overall.

It can be said that regardless of whether the freshness of the Chengdu Auto Show is diminished by the positioning of the car companies themselves, under the continuous promotion of relevant policies and the concentrated promotions by major car manufacturers, the market vitality in the fourth quarter still exists with the Chengdu Auto Show as a new milestone.

However, as the momentum of new product launches becomes increasingly scattered, and car purchase festivals are repeatedly introduced to stimulate automobile consumption, it is unrealistic to expect to see the same flourishing scene of diverse offerings at the Chengdu Auto Show as in the past.

02Mediocrity has become a prerequisite for popularity.

There is only one quarter left in this year, and compared to the past year, the intensity of market competition has visibly increased, with price wars lasting longer and longer. However, as consumer attitudes gradually shift away from prioritizing innovation, there are also some differences compared to before.

First of all, by today in 2025, the number of speculators has dropped sharply. In the first half of this year, with the dramatic collapse of NETA, only “NIO, Xpeng, Li Auto, and Leapmotor” remain among the once-flourishing new forces. Among traditional automakers, BYD, Geely, Chery, Great Wall, and Changan have almost become the absolute representatives of Chinese brands.

Given that this trend of differentiation is likely to continue, other car companies are becoming increasingly conservative in their actions.

A large number of SUVs offering abundant volume are emerging one after another, and the extended-range plus large battery powertrain combination has become the primary purchase criterion for potential buyers. This makes newcomers like the Geely Galaxy M9 and GAC Aion S9 so excited.

But you have to admit, before this year, the product boundaries in the entire car market were quite broad. Quirky models like the Zeekr MIX and Qiyuan E07 appeared before us, along with somewhat unconventional new cars like the Li Auto MEGA and XPeng X9, which together added a colorful dimension to the competition among Chinese car manufacturers.

Looking at it today, not to mention the price slasher Geely Galaxy M9 that was launched on August 23rd, for more than half a year, as far as I can remember, all car companies have been fiercely competing over large SUVs. In an era when the birth rate is so low that the government has to step in and provide childbirth subsidies, one has to wonder: where are there so many families who need to go out with the whole family and would actually buy such products?

For a time, dozens of 6-seat or 7-seat mid-to-large new energy SUVs flooded the market. Are car manufacturers, in their pursuit of safety, not taking a close look at the real capacity of this market? The decline in innovation may seem like a correction to past product planning, but that doesn’t mean that only producing "low-priced large vehicles" is the way forward.

I blindly guess that after the all-new AITO M7 is launched, at least half of the similar SUVs appearing at the Chengdu Auto Show will soon become marginalized models.

On one side, Chinese car manufacturers are following the trend of popular new models without hesitation, while on the other side, from the Shanghai Auto Show earlier this year to the upcoming Chengdu Auto Show, the entire joint venture sector has rather unanimously moved away from their previously rigid mindset.

For them, since the market has already given products like the Toyota Platinum 3X and Nissan N7 such a remarkable opportunity, there is no reason to be stubborn.

This time, after encountering setbacks once again in the transition to electric vehicles, Dongfeng Honda chose to forgo participating in the exhibition. As for other joint ventures, there’s even less to say about their progress in adapting to the Chinese car market. In other words, despite all the noise and apparent tension among the leading players this year, the overall auto market has gradually laid out a clear and traceable development path for all joint venture manufacturers.

Nissan's range-extended sedan N6 and another new energy SUV will soon debut, at least three China-specific new models from the Volkswagen group will officially enter production, and for Toyota, the brand-new Wildlander and RAV4 will make successive appearances. Regardless of the slightly different decisions made during this process, in terms of turning the tide, coming to Chengdu this time, the joint ventures can finally stand tall.

It is well known that the Sichuan-Chongqing region has always been an important base for the development of the automotive industry. Not only is the Changan group stationed here, but Volvo is also a key automotive industry partner in Chengdu. Perhaps this is why the all-new XC70 chose to launch its pre-sale here.

Of course, in terms of economic strength, Chengdu’s purchasing power for luxury cars is also unmatched nationwide. Over the years, it’s not just Volvo—almost all first- and second-tier, as well as ultra-luxury brands, have gathered here with the same goal: they have their eyes on the wallets of Chengdu’s people.

It's just a pity that with Huawei and Xiaomi entering this market, the car market around 500,000 yuan no longer leaves room for weaker brands to thrive. Even Porsche may have experienced continuous sales decline because it couldn't withstand this pressure.

Every year in Chengdu, we can observe a multitude of human experiences. Some people are always full of vigor, while others inevitably come to the exhibition with a sense of trepidation. By 2025, the early exposure of star models may have caused the Chengdu Auto Show to lose some focal points that could attract significant attention. Behind this "stalling," there are also many external factors at play. However, as an annual large-scale auto show, as long as it can create regional influence, the existence of the Chengdu Auto Show is meaningful.