Intelligent vehicle sector braced for new challenges, opportunities

With the automotive industry becoming increasingly integrated with information and communication technology, artificial intelligence and the internet, China's intelligent vehicle sector has entered a new phase of rapid technological advancement and industry expansion that presents new challenges and opportunities.

In the competitive market for new energy vehicles, electrification and intelligence are hallmarks of the first two phases. As the transition to electrification gains momentum, the shift toward intelligence is also accelerating, a trend that industry experts attending the 2023 Global Intelligent Vehicle Summit said will demand substantial investments and rapid iterations.

The summit was held in late September in Hefei, Anhui province.

"Intelligence will determine the winners in the second half of the auto revolution. Without developing intelligence, even the first-mover advantage in electrification may not be sustained," said Zhang Yongwei, vice-president of automotive think tank China EV 100, the organizer of the summit.

With the think tank predicting the actual economic value generated by related industries of auto intelligence will reach 2.8 trillion yuan ($383.49 billion) by 2030, Zhang said intelligent vehicles will play a significant role in driving technological innovation and industrial growth while benefiting society by enabling intelligent transportation and smart cities, addressing issues such as congestion, traffic accidents, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

Zhang emphasized that the pillars of China's intelligent auto industry are electrification, information communication, integration of big data, large models and AI. Among them, big data, large models and AI are emerging forces and hold the promise of realizing autonomous driving. With the foundation of cloud-based high computing power and closed-loop data capabilities, large models will greatly accelerate the iterations of intelligent cockpits and autonomous driving.

Of the roughly 200 existing generative AI large models worldwide it is estimated that more than 190 are likely to eventually be phased out, and market reshuffling for them should be determined by competition rather than government directives, Zhang Yaqin, dean of Tsinghua University's Institute for AI Industry Research, told the summit.

According to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China saw 7 million new passenger vehicles with driving-assist features sold in 2022, a 45.6 percent year-on-year increase, securing a 34.9 percent market share. During the first half of this year, such vehicles made up 42.4 percent of total passenger vehicle sales.

Su Tan, manager of the intelligent automotive business in Baidu's intelligent driving group, said the latest data indicates intelligent driving features now play a significant role in automobile purchasing decisions, constituting 10 percent of the decision-making factors. Su added that the autonomous driving industry is advancing rapidly, with Level 2 functions trending toward becoming standard features.

Meanwhile, Wang Xiaofei, vice-president of Changan Automobile, predicted this year's retail sales of NEVs in China will exceed 7.7 million units, accounting for 38 percent of total sales. It is anticipated they will make up 70 percent of sales by 2025, and domestic brands will usher in their best-ever decade of development. Chinese brands have a market share as high as 82.9 percent of the NEV sector and have established unique competitive and technological advantages.

Wang said intelligence is expected to drive the upgrade of domestic brands with encouraging policies, improved technologies and decreasing costs combining to make advanced intelligent driving a core advantage.

As crucial enablers of intelligent functionality, chips are undergoing rapid research and development transformation to meet the demands of the fast-growing market. Liu Tong, chip giant Nvidia's global vice-president and general manager of its automotive business in China, said intelligent driving will continue to showcase more complex problem-solving capabilities in vehicles.

"We'll reduce the number of chips, increase functionality per chip, and improve cost-effectiveness and vehicle design while moving toward a centralized computing model," Liu added.

Qiu Xiaoshen, founder and CEO of Axera Semiconductor Co, said that with the auto industry's focus on cost reduction and enhanced efficiency leading to intensified competition, Chinese chip companies have an opportunity to excel in the intelligent driving sector, bolstered by the nation's prominent role in the global NEV manufacturing sector. She expects Chinese chip companies to capture a major market share of the domestic intelligent driving chip market within three years.

Wu Feng, an official of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told the summit that along with the advancements there are still some challenges, and the ministry will address them by accelerating policy and regulatory enhancements, exploring technology development routes and commercialization models, and bolstering collaborative industry management.

caoyingying@chinadaily.com.cn