At the 2026 Stuttgart International Symposium on Automotive and Powertrain Technology held on July 8, 2026, Xiaoying Zhou, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, Gasgoo International, pointed out that China's automotive industry is shifting from an advantage in market scale to system-level innovation.
She stressed that China boasts the world's most complete industrial chain supporting system, massive tiered consumer demand and efficient industrial cluster collaboration. Coupled with long-term industrial planning and a talent dividend of engineering professionals, these factors have laid a solid foundation for the rapid iteration of intelligent electric vehicles.
According to Zhou Xiaoying, China's automotive sector has entered a new phase of "AI-defined vehicles". High-level advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) have achieved large-scale commercial rollout, while intelligent cockpits and digital user experience have become core competitive differentiators.
Xiaoying Zhou｜CEO & Editor-in-Chief, Gasgoo International
Excerpts from the speech：
If you recall last year's IAA Munich Motor Show, it delivered a powerful message: China is no longer an outsider, it has firmly established its presence in the European market. Statistically, over 100 Chinese exhibitors attended last year's IAA show, covering automotive OEMs, battery manufacturers, vehicle chip firms, autonomous robotics startups, data solution providers, and traditional automotive component suppliers.
That's because today's Chinese OEMs no longer produce purely mechanical vehicles. Instead, they build what we call smart EVs. This new generation of vehicles relies heavily on a complete supporting ecosystem to succeed in overseas markets.
If you look at the first half of this year's European market data, you will see the top-selling Chinese models across Europe. Many of them come from BYD, Chery, MG, and also Leapmotor, together with Deep Motor International and its analytic partners.We can clearly see these Chinese brands across European streets. To a large extent, they are cost-effective and have gained huge popularity in the European market.
I believe China is no longer merely exporting standalone vehicles, but expanding overseas with a complete industrial ecosystem. That explains our panel theme: how we can cooperate while competing in the global marketplace. The two dynamics are happening simultaneously.
To better understand China's automotive momentum, we can view it from three dimensions. The first is the solid industrial foundation built within China's domestic market.So currently, China is the only country that can produce almost all commodity categories, as it owns a full-scale supply chain covering every component. In addition, logistics costs in China are highly cost-efficient. For example, China boasts extensive highway and railway infrastructure networks. Though not entirely perfect, this robust infrastructure underpins industrial development.From consumer industries to electric vehicles, the rapid development of all domestic industries is fundamentally built on this solid foundation — China's complete domestic industrial ecosystem.Naturally, we have built unrivaled supporting infrastructure for EV adoption: over 9.5 million charging piles nationwide. This vast network makes charging extremely convenient for all EV drivers.
Take my personal experience as an example this past February during the Spring Festival, a holiday comparable to Christmas in Western countries in terms of its significance for family reunions. I drove my own EV and relied on this charging network throughout the holiday travel rush.What surprises me most is that many gas stations have shut down, while charging stations are jam-packed. As more and more Chinese consumers opt for EVs and NEVs instead of ICE vehicles, the majority of potential buyers have completely shifted their preferences.
Over the past three to four years, we have seen a dramatic surge in China's EV exports as the country accelerates its global expansion.Aside from the United States, Chinese vehicles are well-suited for many markets with favorable conditions — these are prime growth markets. Our products enjoy great popularity thanks to their outstanding features and rich configurations. My next slide will illustrate why China's auto industry advances at such a rapid pace. We often describe its development as fast and highly cost-effective.
But actually, I want to walk through six key points explaining the mechanisms that enable faster iteration and development across all industrial sectors—not just the automotive industry. The first point I'd like to highlight concerns long-term industrial roadmapping. As you saw in my previous presentation, our technology layout extends five years into the future. Beyond that, many of you may already be familiar with China's Five-Year Plans, a strategic framework that has been implemented in the country for decades.That means the central government formulates Five-Year Plans for the years ahead. These plans set clear, definitive directions, which serve as a guarantee for all industries. In this way, every market participant can see exactly where the industry is headed and which path to follow. As a result, all types of risk capital and human capital will flow toward the future development track of each industry.
Take the new energy vehicle industry as an example. This sector was first identified and fostered under the 12th Five-Year Plan. This year marks the launch of the 15th Five-Year Plan — its very first year. You can clearly see that once the central government sets a clear strategic direction, all local governments will follow suit and roll out matching supporting policies.Local authorities will then figure out their own positioning, based on local resources, geographic advantages and talent pools. This leads to diversified development paths across regions. Meanwhile, venture capital and other investment institutions are pouring massive funding into this promising track, attracting countless entrepreneurs and new EV startups to enter the market.
Take the latest auto expo as an example: you can see a great many emerging brands on display. These are all newly founded electric vehicle startups.Actually, most of these startups were founded between 2014 and 2016. That was only two years after the government rolled out the NEV development roadmap.
Long-term strategic roadmaps boost confidence for industrial development, particularly for the automotive sector. The auto industry requires enormous capital expenditure, including manufacturing factories and substantial physical asset investment — this stability is extremely critical.
The second point I'd like to highlight concerns demand density. China has a population of 1.4 billion, which translates to an extremely broad spectrum of consumer demands. This enables a full diversity of automotive products, ranging from entry-level models all the way up to ultra-premium vehicles. There are also distinct niche markets where companies can trial and roll out various new product variants for market validation.
The third point I want to highlight is industrial cluster efficiency.I believe most of you are familiar with Tesla's success story in China. The company built its Gigafactory along the Yangtze River in Shanghai, supported by a four-hour logistics circle. In other words, all component deliveries to Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory can be completed within four hours, and around 95% of all vehicle parts are sourced locally — this delivers incredible operational efficiency.Beyond the Yangtze River Delta, we also have the Greater Bay Area industrial hub covering Shenzhen and Guangzhou. This region hosts headquarters for BYD, Huawei, DJI, XPeng, GAC, Tencent and numerous other high-tech enterprises. Right now, the physical intelligence and humanoid robotics sectors are seeing explosive growth across China.
The fourth key point is collaborative supply chain development. When we discuss the rapid iteration speed of the electric vehicle and broader automotive industries, this progress cannot be achieved by OEMs alone. It requires close collaboration with extensive supplier networks. In China, suppliers get involved far earlier than the official launch of a vehicle project. OEMs invite suppliers to co-develop product configurations that can boost vehicle sales. Suppliers therefore participate in development work well in advance of a project's official kickoff, which greatly lifts overall efficiency.Additionally, before suppliers are selected to join a project, they must compete against other rivals. Only those with strong core competitiveness can secure a seat at the table — this is what we mean by collaborative supply chain development.
Fifthly, continuous iteration is another critical advantage, especially for smart electric vehicles. For traditional fuel cars, once you purchase a vehicle, its core functions stay fixed with no further updates. But smart EVs get better the longer you own them: regular over-the-air (OTA) upgrades unlock new features and bring constant pleasant surprises to users.
Here's the comparison I prepared. The AITO series, co-developed with Huawei, delivered around 38 OTA updates last year, a very high frequency. In contrast, Volkswagen only rolled out 5 updates over the same period.I'm not saying more OTA updates equal better performance — this debate can be misleading. What I want to emphasize is that frequent iteration creates abundant opportunities to continuously optimize user experience and expand vehicle functions.
Last but not least, we have the engineer talent dividend. Every year, China graduates over 10 million university students who join enterprises across all sectors. Roughly 60% of these graduates hold STEM majors, equipping them with solid engineering capabilities.You can easily imagine how this pool of talent reshapes the automotive industry. Let me throw out a number for you to guess: how many employees did BYD have by the end of 2024? Anyone want to take a guess? As many of you may already know, the figure stands at nearly one million.Chinese enterprises are also recruiting global talent to support their long-term globalization strategy.By the way, starting from this year 2026, around two million people will reach retirement age in China every year. Yet this group consists of relatively young seniors, meaning they can still join corporate teams at relatively competitive labor costs.Abundant talent pools in both the broader labor market and within individual enterprises, coupled with strong work ethics, further strengthen companies' overall competitiveness.
Chinahasa full innovation cycle: a full pipeline running from technological breakthroughs to finished products, then onward to large-scale commercialization. Mass production of affordable market-ready products remains a lengthy, multi-stage journey.
This is the unique market loop we see in China. Once new tech and features launch and win great feedback from users, lots of companies will follow this direction.Both carmakers and suppliers will work hard to fit this feature into most car models before moving into mass production. Costs fall fast, more customers choose these cars, and soon this feature turns into standard equipment.This innovation cycle moves extremely fast in China. If users give bad feedback, those features vanish in just six months.
LiDAR is a perfect case in point. Ten years ago, LiDAR was ultra-high-end gear only sold in the aftermarket for road testing, costing almost 200,000 RMB each.After ten years of going through this innovation loop, LiDAR is now a regular part of intelligent driving cars, costing less than 1,000 RMB today. Think about how huge that change is, all in one decade.So China moves really quickly from new tech to finished cars, and then affordable mass-market products.
We now have multiple different powertrain technical routes, which many of you have talked about. I'll break down why China's market can support all these options — the biggest factor is local consumers. Young Chinese buyers grew up with the internet from childhood.They want seamless connection between home, office and car via their phones.That's why Xiaomi and Huawei did so well when they stepped into car manufacturing. They already have huge groups of fans using their phones, TVs, smart glasses and all kinds of smart electronics.Users love that their cars connect seamlessly with their phones the moment they get in, and they can control home appliances all at once from the vehicle.
Next, let's talk about brands. China's market is changing fast: buyers now care more about actual features than brand reputation. That's why many luxury brands are losing market share quickly. Customers want great functions and smooth user experience, instead of splashing cash just for a fancy logo — this is a huge challenge right now.
Cars are no longer only about hardware; digital experience matters most. Outside China, a car is just a machine to move people and items efficiently with solid handling. But Chinese consumers see cars as a mobile smart home, a digital zone for family time and relaxation. This big shift in consumer thinking has completely changed how local automakers design vehicles.
I'll show you some pictures and short clips to show all the things you can do inside a car.It has a big 240-liter power system, plus a full outdoor cooking setup up front, running water and a 1.2-meter long countertop. You don't have to stop at gas stations anymore — you can park anywhere to cook.Check out the trunk storage; it stays neat when you open it. The water system lets you wash hands, clean fruit or even take a quick shower, and there's more than enough water storage.
This car works for all kinds of outdoor trips, which makes it totally different from regular cars. I saw many of you looked shocked, and some might think this design is too out there.But most Chinese customers who travel outdoors love these practical functions. Innovation is all about unusual new ideas. Some features might flop, but companies get fast feedback from buyers. If a feature works well, dozens of brands will copy and improve it until it becomes standard. That's how automotive innovation moves fast in China.
All cutting-edge tech development in China is pushed by users and real usage scenarios. If consumers love a new technology, huge resources go into it and it becomes a major trend. Consumers and scenarios lead the way, more than engineers or design teams.Look at the 800V high-voltage platform. It used to only appear on high-end luxury cars, but now nearly every new EV released in China has it — and this shift only took three to five years.
Now let's talk about vertical integration — this is a unique advantage for Chinese carmakers. Take BYD for instance. Apart from wipers, tires and glass, BYD makes almost every major part in-house, yet it still partners with many outside suppliers. So why do top Chinese automakers choose to pursue vertical integration?
First, they want better control over supply chain security. After COVID hit, the chip shortage made every carmaker realize they need tighter supply chain oversight. Otherwise you'll have plenty of customer orders but no parts to build cars — that's a huge crisis.
Second, vertical integration lets them manage costs better and coordinate work much faster.
For electrification and smart driving, there's another key reason Chinese OEMs go this route. Ten years ago, when these technologies were new, domestic carmakers were at the same starting line as suppliers. They had the resources and money to invest and catch up quickly.This model isn't for everyone. Many smaller brands still cooperate with major suppliers. But big, large-volume leading automakers prefer building key components themselves in-house.
Smart car competition is shifting from cool single functions to whole system architectures.Fancy new features do wow customers, but architecture will be the key competition point going forward. That's why every carmaker pours lots of resources into vehicle platforms, electronic architectures and SoC chips while cooperating closely with partners.
We talked about SDV, software-defined vehicles earlier today. Now China is entering the age of AI-defined vehicles. Almost every carmaker cooperates with large language model firms to put more and more AI models inside cars.
AI is used not just during vehicle development, but also for full end-to-end smart driving. All driving functions will run on AI in the future, and ADAS has already been widely commercialized across China's mass market.
Over 60% of all new cars hitting the market come with ADAS now. Take BYD for example — its headquarters are in Shenzhen, founded by Wang Chuanfu. At a local event, he said BYD takes full responsibility if its smart driving system causes any trouble. Buyers can use the ADAS functions without worry; BYD covers all losses if anything goes wrong.
On the night of that launch, Shenzhen's roads were filled with blue indicator lights, the signal that smart driving is active. Lots of BYD drivers started using urban navigation mode nonstop after that.
For regular buyers, three simple questions decide everything: Is this feature easy to use? Can I trust it? Who pays if there's an accident?Chinese carmakers are much more confident about their self-developed smart driving tech, so ADAS is booming in mainstream markets.Also, many Chinese people shop for cars in shopping malls instead of 4S stores. At mall showrooms, you just sit in the car, check space, chat with the voice assistant and test the controls to see if the HMI runs smoothly.
Smart cockpits in China combine entertainment, voice interaction, health features and comfort into one complete ecosystem. Last year some brands launched cars with built-in oxygen machines, so you breathe cleaner, oxygen-rich air inside. Automakers test all sorts of new cabin perks to sell more cars, and this is another key innovation trend in China's auto industry.System integration will be the next big technological frontier. It used to be super advanced tech only a few years ago. Now cars are bigger and heavier, so easy handling is more important than ever. That's why many firms are focusing on integrated chassis solutions.
Electrification and smart driving are reshaping supply chains and value chains completely, especially for old-school parts like engines and chassis.The old supply chain used to revolve around parts like transmission boxes. Now the focus has moved to new core systems: 3-in-1 electric drives, domain controllers and other next-gen components.Moving forward, solid-state batteries and new vehicle architectures will define China's supply chain competitiveness. Right now, we have eight different technical models in the market, bringing huge diversity.
You may wonder why China's auto industry moves so fast. Let's look at development cycles: traditional ICE cars take roughly 40 months from project start to mass production. But Chinese EVs average just 20 months, and some finish in under 10 months. This fast iterative rhythm is a core competitive edge for our industry.
First, extremely flat organizational structures. Let me illustrate this with a real scenario: if I encounter any issues with my new vehicle, I can submit complaints directly via the brand's mobile app. In such cases, customers can even get through to the company's founder, who can resolve the matter personally—and all issues must be addressed right away. This kind of mechanism would never be feasible in German automakers or companies from any other country, absolutely not. That explains why their organizations are so flat and agile; they operate as product-driven enterprises.
Second, early supplier involvement, a point I've touched on earlier.
Third, accelerated iteration and parallel development workflows.
Last, OTA over-the-air updates. The logic works like this: customers use the vehicles, share user feedback, and manufacturers then roll out software upgrades remotely via OTA channels.
By the way, I'd also like to highlight this point: China does not make blanket judgments on different innovation approaches. As long as a product meets the standard, it can be launched onto the market, and continuous over-the-air upgrades will follow. That said, there are certain segments where we have to guarantee 100% product quality before these vehicles hit the market. I believe this is simply a philosophical difference—both models carry their own unique strengths and limitations. That's why we've gathered for this panel, to explore potential ways for all sides to collaborate. Meanwhile, we're also witnessing a clear push for Chinese auto brands to go global.
Over the past three years, China's domestic vehicle exports have surged dramatically. Moreover, export strategies have evolved from relying on single models to offering full product portfolios. When I talk about portfolios, take major OEMs such as Geely, Chery and BYD as examples. BYD focuses heavily on new energy EVs, while Geely and Chery cover the full range of powertrain options: internal combustion engines (ICE), PHEVs, BEVs, REVs and HEVs, all available to customers. The product lineup offered is tailored to the demands of specific overseas markets. This shift has driven OEMs and their industrial clusters to expand overseas hand in hand, forming an integrated industrial ecosystem that advances global expansion collectively. The third trend centers on building a full ecosystem surrounding every vehicle product.
I believe Chinese enterprises are facing new challenges at this stage—not just OEMs, but suppliers as well. They still have a great deal to learn: how to build local ecosystems and local supply chains, comply with local regulations, and act as responsible global corporate citizens. There are numerous new areas they need to explore. Even though they lack relevant experience, they are highly motivated to learn, and this makes it an excellent era to embark on a new globalization journey.
When we look at China's automotive landscape, we have various types of enterprises: state-owned enterprises, private firms, joint ventures, and foreign manufacturers such as Tesla. All of these are key players producing vehicles in China for export to overseas markets. Over the past three to four years, many Chinese automakers have set up overseas production bases across Europe, Southeast Asia, Turkey, Brazil and many other regions.If we look at the top 10 brands by export volume, Chery, BYD and Geely rank among the top four. Speaking of BYD, it only started exporting passenger vehicles two years ago, yet its overseas expansion has grown at an astonishing speed, especially in the European market.
From China's perspective, Europe serves as a critical testbed for global competitiveness. The European market enforces the strictest standards in terms of regulations, product quality and brand localization, representing the high-end benchmark worldwide. Chinese OEMs adopt vastly different strategies when entering new markets like Europe.For instance, BYD invests heavily in local facilities to construct manufacturing plants and supporting supply chains.NIO has operated in Europe for over three years, focusing on premium brand building, much like established luxury automakers.Great Wall Motors takes a more pragmatic approach: it partners with local dealer networks to launch affordable vehicle models.
Last year, I visited Milan and stopped by one of Great Wall's dealers to check out the small Ora 03. The monthly leasing rate is only 99 euros, which I find extremely appealing.We have also seen abundant cases of collaboration between Chinese and German enterprises. Take Volkswagen as a typical example: it has poured substantial investment into new startups in China and formed joint ventures with local high-tech companies such as Horizon Robotics and XPeng. To accelerate its electrification transition, Volkswagen also acquired a 20% stake in Xpeng Motors, gaining access to its EV platforms and enabling itself to tap into China's mature electric vehicle technologies.BMW and Audi have also forged partnerships with Huawei to develop ADAS and intelligent driving systems for vehicles launched in China, competing against local EV brands. Another strong example is the cooperation between Geely and Renault on powertrain development to cater to diversified market demands.
（The above content is excerpted from the keynote speech China's Automotive Momentum: From Market Scale to System-Level Innovation, delivered byXiaoyingZhou, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, Gasgoo International, at the 2026 Stuttgart International Symposium on Automotive and Powertrain Technology held on July 8–9, 2026.）
