Hundred People Forum 2025 Hot Topics: What are the New Directions, New Models, and New Driving Forces in the Development of the Automotive Industry?

The current focus of the automotive industry has shifted from merely pursuing speed of "fast or not" to placing greater emphasis on quality of "good or not." How can we effectively promote the qualitative improvement and reasonable growth of the automotive industry? By consolidating electrification and advancing intelligence, what new directions, new models, and new driving forces are there for the development of the automotive industry?

In recent days (March 28th to March 30th), a major automotive forum is taking place in Beijing—the "China EV100 Forum." Let's take a look together at the answers provided by the participants at the China EV100 Forum.

Last year, China's auto production and sales hit new records, remaining above 30 million units for the second consecutive year, making it the world's largest auto market for the 16th consecutive year. Among them, new energy vehicles and auto exports remain key growth areas in the automotive industry. Zhang Yongwei, deputy chairman and secretary-general of China EV100, pointed out that today, Chinese auto companies have more diversified and innovative pathways for global development.

Zhang Yongwei:Many automotive companies and parts manufacturers have chosen the approach of localized production overseas, gradually shifting vehicle production and supply chain systems abroad to become primarily localized automotive enterprises in their host countries. This model has been well-received by many overseas nations and has yielded positive results. Another newer approach involves Chinese automotive companies empowering overseas dealers or production partners, helping foreign partners enhance their capabilities. By leveraging China's manufacturing and technological advantages, they empower the automotive industries of other countries, assisting in the development of their own automotive sectors. This represents a more cooperative model of global development with deeper collaborative connotations.

From the past product-centric trade to localized production, joint ventures and cooperation, and then to the co-construction and co-existence of industrial ecology, this is a new model and highlight for Chinese automakers to better participate in global development. Entering a new stage, how will multinational automakers better develop in China? Zhang Yongwei stated that an important direction is the need to redefine the Chinese market and the strategy for development in China. Many automakers have already proposed a new China localization strategy, which is to continuously increase R&D in China and strengthen the construction of local supply chains in China, allowing China's supply chains and the R&D formed in China to inversely serve the global development of multinational corporations.

Zhang Yongwei:In addition to redefining the Chinese market and strategy, a more important task for multinational companies in China is how to better participate in the competition or cooperation with local enterprises. One of the biggest changes in local Chinese companies is their rapid iteration and accelerated innovation, continuously meeting the ever-changing needs of consumers. The development of multinational companies in China can evolve from "in China" to "become China," meaning they need to possess a faster innovation and response capability similar to that of local companies.

Last year, China's new energy vehicle (NEV) production and sales both exceeded 12 million units, accounting for more than 40% of total sales, ranking first globally for ten consecutive years, entering a new phase of high-quality development. This year, the intelligence of NEVs will accelerate comprehensively, with major car manufacturers accelerating the application and implementation of intelligent technologies. Chen Qingtao, chairman of the China EV100, stated that in the coming years, basic intelligent functions are expected to be fully popularized in newly sold passenger vehicles, making automotive products increasingly technologically advanced and intelligent.

Chen QingTai:In fact, the development speed of automotive intelligence in China has exceeded the expectations of the industry and the public. In the first half of 2024, the penetration rate of new passenger vehicles equipped with L2 and above assisted driving in China has exceeded 55%. At this stage of development, the integration of next-generation communication technologies, consumer electronics, the Internet, artificial intelligence, and other cross-border technologies with the automotive industry is becoming increasingly deep, and the boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred. Particularly, cutting-edge AI technologies represented by large models are rapidly penetrating into new energy vehicles, driving the acceleration of automotive intelligence with great momentum. Automotive products, automotive companies, and the automotive industry as a whole are being redefined by AI. AI-driven capabilities will become the fundamental competitive edge for future automakers.

At the forum, many guest speakers indicated that面对如此大跨度的高新技术群，汽车制造企业独行单干会带来很大的困难，跨界融合、协同创新是走向成功的捷径。Facing such a wide range of high technologies, automobile manufacturing companies would encounter significant difficulties going it alone. Cross-sector integration and collaborative innovation are shortcuts to success.

Academician Wu Hequan of the Chinese Academy of Engineering:The computing power for intelligent driving is not something that a single city or automobile manufacturer can accomplish. In my view, if each automobile manufacturer and each city were to carry out this kind of autonomous driving training, it would actually be impractical. As a country, it's best to take the initiative to work with relevant automobile manufacturers and urban traffic departments to develop a training model suitable for roads across the country. In this way, each city can simply make adjustments based on their own unique data on their cloud platforms.

In recent years, domestic autonomous driving technology has been continuously growing and is set to become a significant force in transforming future mobility. Zhang Yaqin, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and dean of the Institute for AI Industry Research (AIR) at Tsinghua University, stated that once autonomous driving is implemented, travel costs will decrease by half to one-third, and safety will see substantial improvements.

Zhang Yaqin:After the emergence of large models, especially generative AI, there has been a significant push for autonomous driving, with 10% of new cars expected to have L4 capabilities by 2030.