Gasgoo Munich- On June 3, a press conference was held in Beijing for the 33rd SAE-China Annual Meeting and Exhibition. Zheng Yali, deputy secretary-general of SAE-China and executive president of CSAE-AISI, offered insights on the industry's first-half performance, making one point unequivocally clear: L3 is the necessary route for the mass commercialization of autonomous driving in passenger cars.
In the first half of 2026, the debate will center on whether L3 is a mandatory bridge from L2 to L4. Huawei argues that L3 cannot be skipped, while XPENG and DeepRoute advocate moving directly to L4, representing a significant divergence in strategy.
SAE-China's assessment is that while L4 can indeed bypass L3 in closed or specific scenarios like robotaxis, unmanned delivery, and mining or ports, achieving mass, commercial, and standardized L4 production in the passenger vehicle sector requires passing through the L3 stage.
Policy support is paving the way for L3 deployment. Last September, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and seven other departments released pilot guidelines for intelligent connected vehicle access and road testing, clarifying that automakers bear liability for accidents when L3 systems are active. This resolves a long-standing industry issue regarding liability. Changan, BYD, SAIC, Li Auto, and NIO have begun testing L3 autonomous systems, with 2026 viewed as a critical window for the transition from demonstration to mass production.
Zheng noted that L3 autonomous driving achieves a limited transfer of driving control, marking a fundamental shift from "driver assistance" to "automated driving." It represents an inflection point for technological innovation, safety liability, and user perception. Its necessity is threefold: technically, mass-produced L3 vehicles accumulate real-world long-tail data, providing the foundation for L4 algorithm iteration and safety validation; legally, exploring L3 regulations and liability mechanisms offers practical experience for L4 compliance oversight; and psychologically, the gradual adoption of L3 guides users through the transition from human-led to vehicle-led control, cultivating a mature user base for L4 commercialization.
Zheng stated that for the foreseeable future, the industry will see a landscape in which L3 mass production and L4 commercial use in limited scenarios develop in parallel, complementing and advancing together.
