[Global Times Comprehensive Report] "The exhibition halls of dozens of China brand electric vehicles are surrounded by visitors, and the neighboring areas are full of foreign brands of gasoline-powered vehicles, but almost no one takes a look." The New York Times’s report on 20th described a strange phenomenon at the Shanghai Auto Show. As one of the largest auto shows in the world, this year’s Shanghai Auto Show is the first auto show of its kind in China since 2019, attracting more than 1,000 companies to participate. Throughout the world’s major auto shows, local enterprises are the absolute protagonists of the exhibition, and also represent the influence of a country’s auto industry on the world. With China’s car-making industry chain being pushed to the forefront of the world with the new energy revolution, the Shanghai Auto Show is becoming a showcase of "Made in China" in the automobile field. The New York Times reported that this year’s auto show showed a very clear signal: in the field of electric vehicles, manufacturers in China are playing the leading role.
Independent brands are attractive.
The Global Times reporter saw at the auto show that compared with previous domestic auto shows, the self-owned brands participating in this year’s Shanghai Auto Show are more and more attractive, and the product prices are more and more "bold". Almost every company has launched models with prices as high as hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan, which has attracted much attention.
BYD brought its high-end brand "Looking Up" to the U8, the first production model, with a pre-sale price of 1.098 million yuan. This new energy vehicle, which focuses on hard-core off-road, is based on two core technological achievements-the power system driven independently by four motors and the intelligent hydraulic body control system. Another brand of BYD Tengshi exhibited the first edition of the medium and large five-seat hunting SUV N7 and Tengshi D9. Weilai ushered in the appearance of the new ES6 and 2023 ET7 at the auto show. The prices of the above models are almost above 300,000 yuan.
Traditional car companies are not weak. Hongqi appeared in two new energy products-Hongqi E202 and Hongqi E001. SAIC exhibited more than 130 new cars from six vehicle manufacturers, of which new energy vehicles accounted for nearly half. Geely brings its krypton series products. Great Wall Motor exhibited new energy vehicles such as Haval Xiaolong MAX, Wei brand Lanshan DHT-PHEV, and tank 500 PHEV, as well as the 6×6 super off-road platform of the Great Wall Gun which can carry a variety of power. Chery brought the first high-end intelligent pure electric car E03 from Starway, and Changan Automobile brought the deep blue S7 and the deep blue SL03.
"Visitors to the Shanghai Auto Show are amazed at the China brand." German "Der Spiegel" magazine said on the 20th that China car companies, which were often laughed at in the past, have already caught up and are moving towards the leading position. China automobile brands participating in the auto show have never been as wide-ranging and high-quality as this year-no matter big companies like BYD, Geely, Great Wall and SAIC, or start-ups like Weilai, beautiful shapes, charming atmosphere and breakthrough technologies can be seen everywhere.
Global Times reporter observed that executives and engineers of multinational car companies also appeared on the booths of China car companies. They are very concerned about the cutting-edge electrification technology exhibited by China car companies. As soon as the reporter entered the 6.1 Hall where China brands gathered, he saw a foreign engineer carefully studying the products of a Chinese lidar company. At the Great Wall Motor booth next to it, the reporter witnessed a number of foreign exhibitors exchanging business cards with booth staff.
China’s electric vehicle industry chain is leading the world.
"Local manufacturers are overtaking German brands in the electric vehicle market in China." Germany’s "Daily" reported on the 20th that at the Shanghai Auto Show, Volkswagen continued to appear as the leader of the world’s largest auto market. However, on the opening day of the auto show on Tuesday, news came that had a far-reaching impact on the industry: in the China market, BYD, a China manufacturer, surpassed the traditional leader Volkswagen in the first quarter. In the opinion of experts, German automotive engineers have become focused on studying the gap size of parts and body adjustment because of their success in the past decades, and are unwilling to take the initiative to meet the changes. But a quarter of all new cars sold in China are electric cars, and this trend is still rising.
At this auto show, Japanese car companies such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan have released new models to attract consumers in China. The Japanese news agency said on the 18th that the popularity of electric vehicles among China car companies is high, while the presence of Japanese car companies, which started late in the field of electric vehicles, is declining, and it is approaching a critical moment.
Japan’s "Daily News" said on the 20th that Japanese car companies are struggling in the field of electric vehicles. In 2022, Toyota sold 10.48 million new cars, ranking first in the world, but only 20,000 electric vehicles were sold. Toyota’s share of electric vehicles in the world is only 0.3%, far inferior to Tesla and BYD. The most worrying thing is that Japanese cars are gradually regarded as "outdated" by China consumers. A 29-year-old office worker in Beijing said, "The durability of Japanese cars is good, but the intelligent service in the car is insufficient." "Daily News" said that Japanese car companies started late in the field of electric vehicles, which also affected the intelligence in the car.
"It turns out that we have always said that China’s auto industry’ wakes up early and gets up late’, but on the new track of electrification, especially intelligent electrification, China enterprises are innovative in the whole industry chain, and their actions are more rapid than those of foreign enterprises." Fu Yuwu, honorary chairman of China Automotive Engineering Society, told the Global Times reporter that overall, the whole industrial chain of electric vehicles in China is in the leading position in the world.
Professor Ferdinand Dudenhoff, director of the German Automobile Research Center (CAR), who is known as the "godfather of automobiles" in Germany, said in an interview with the Global Times on the 20th that the achievements and technologies exhibited by China enterprises at the Shanghai Auto Show were impressive. On the one hand, intelligent cockpit and interconnection, on the other hand, products related to autonomous driving, and then battery technology, the automobile world is changing much faster than some people think. China is playing an increasingly important role in market scale and technology.
Baidu Apollo held an automobile intelligent conference on the eve of Shanghai Auto Show, released a brand-new upgraded product matrix of driving chart, and released "Baidu Intelligent Driving Open White Paper", which opened four key capabilities for automobile enterprises. Also on the eve of the auto show, Tencent demonstrated its technology and product system in the field of "Che Yun Integration" on the technology open day. In terms of battery technology, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited officially released condensed batteries during the auto show. It is understood that the energy density of the battery monomer can reach up to 500Wh/kg, which has the characteristics of high specific energy and high safety, and has mass production capacity within this year. Weilai launched a cooperative product with AR company Nreal to create an immersive cockpit entertainment experience space.
Zhang Xiang, an auto industry analyst in China, told the Global Times reporter that China is leading the global auto development trend, and there are few software in foreign cars, but there is a big market in China, and the software functions of new energy vehicles in China are generally more and richer than those in foreign countries. "In the past, the software of international car companies may be simple functions, but China’s car software can also integrate a variety of maps and entertainment software, which is also the contribution made by China car companies." Zhang Xiang analyzed this way.
Perspective of Industry Trend from Auto Show
The Global Times reporter observed at this auto show that under the blessing of "black technology" in software and hardware, new energy vehicles are showing stronger and stronger product strength and larger market space. Through this auto show, how do people from all walks of life view the future development trend of the new energy industry?
BYD said in its reply to the Global Times reporter that the first is that the market size of the industry will continue to expand. In the past three years, China New Energy Bus Station has achieved a spurt growth in the "double carbon" outlet, with an average penetration rate of 30% in the first quarter of this year, from 5% in 2020 to 15% in the previous year, and then to 26% last year, with a monthly penetration rate of 35% in March. The second is intelligent networking. In the future, new energy vehicles will be more intelligent and networked, and the combination of vehicles with emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence will bring more efficient, safer and smarter driving experience to human beings. The third is diversified development. In the future, the development of new energy vehicles will be more diversified, including new technologies such as pure electric power, hybrid power, hydrogen fuel power and extended range, which will promote the evolution of the automobile power market from different angles.
Li Bin, founder, chairman and CEO of Weilai, said: "I am full of confidence in the development of smart electric vehicle industry in China in 2023, and my confidence comes from the rapid recovery of China’s macro-economy and the improvement of user experience brought by the rapid progress of smart electric vehicle technology.".
Professor Heck Proff, director of the Department of Business Administration and International Automobile Management at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany, said in an interview with the Global Times on the 20th that the Shanghai Auto Show clearly showed that electrification and software are the two central themes of the current global automobile industry transformation. Without the remarkable skills in these two fields, no automobile manufacturer can exist independently for a long time, and China manufacturers have demonstrated that they have these skills in Shanghai.
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