Gasgoo Munich- In 2025, the automotive industry stands at a critical juncture of profound transformation. As electrification, intelligence, and globalization advance in lockstep, the sector is shifting from sheer scale expansion to value reconstruction. New energy vehicle penetration continues its climb, pushing electrification into a systemic trade-off between charging efficiency and cost structures. Intelligent features are evolving rapidly, with autonomous driving capabilities moving beyond mere demonstrations to tangible user experiences. Export volumes are expanding steadily, while coordinated supply chain expansion has become a vital route for Chinese automakers to integrate into global markets. AI technology is now permeating R&D, manufacturing, products, and marketing, reshaping the industry's operational logic and propelling automotive brands into a "2.0" era centered on long-term value.
Against this backdrop, the 7th Automotive Brand and Marketing Forum adopted the theme "Steadfast Action & Progress." Focusing on brand building and marketing transformation during this period of deep industry adjustment, the event gathered representatives from automakers, the supply chain, and cross-border sectors. Discussions centered on resilient brand growth, reshaping user value, and innovating marketing models. The forum emphasized driving technology implementation through pragmatic action and solidifying brand foundations through long-termism, all while exploring paths to sustainable growth in an uncertain environment.
This forum aimed to provide a platform for the industry to return to core values and engage in dialogue on trends. Together with industry peers, participants explored ways to break through in the "Brand Upward 2.0" era and exchanged practical experiences in overseas marketing and brand globalization. By building consensus and moving forward collaboratively, the event seeks to help the Chinese automotive industry advance into a new stage of high-quality development.
The Automotive Industry Enters a High-Quality Development Phase in the 15th Five-Year Plan
Gasgoo CEO Zhou Xiaoying noted that China's automotive industry has entered a mature stage of high-quality development. Last year, core metrics—including total volume, new energy penetration, and exports—achieved significant results, yet the challenge of rising revenue without rising profits persists. The dominance of leading enterprises has become even more pronounced. With fierce market competition, a relentless stream of new models, and fragmented consumer awareness, marketing has become a "top-priority project" requiring systematic support and continuous iteration. The value of intellectual property (IP) is also increasingly prominent, helping to elevate a company's overall influence. Technology and scenario innovation are driving industry change; concepts like range-extended technology and the "mobile smart home" are attracting attention across sectors. The smart electric vehicle market has entered its second cycle, with competition escalating from isolated technological points to systemic rivalry.
On the supply chain front, efficiency, security, and resilience have become critical. There is an increasing demand for multi-center layouts and higher overseas localization rates, though expansion abroad still faces challenges from policy uncertainty and brand recognition. Overall, the Chinese automotive industry is shifting from "manufacturing vehicles" to "creating spaces" and accelerating its global layout. The next five years will bring industry reshuffling and upgrades. Companies must deploy resources simultaneously across technology, branding, supply chains, and marketing systems to drive sustainable, high-quality development in the sector.
Zhou Xiaoying | CEO, Gasgoo
Still Waters Run Deep, Continuous Growth — A Decade of Leapmotor
Zhou Ying, Vice President of Leapmotor Technologies, reviewed the company's decade-long journey. She noted that Leapmotor has grown from a small team of 51 to a mature brand with over 20,000 employees and 1.2 million cumulative deliveries. From establishing its first powertrain laboratory to laying out 17 super component factories, the brand's model lineup has expanded from the S01 to a complete product spectrum covering the mainstream market below 300,000 yuan. Zhou Ying stated that brand development is a path of "still waters running deep and continuous growth," using authentic stories to reflect the brand's grounded nature and emotional appeal.
Regarding brand building, Zhou Ying emphasized adherence to the principles of authenticity, heritage, and emotional resonance with users. Leapmotor's 10th-anniversary event fully embodied this philosophy: the CEO personally wrote the speech to lay an emotional foundation, and the event documentary was shot entirely in real-time, eschewing CGI and actors in favor of actual employees and media materials to tell the brand's story. An "attitude video" edited news footage from the past decade to awaken shared memories, accompanied by the song "Chasing Dreams with a Child's Heart" by the band GALA. It authentically presented Leapmotor's ten-year trajectory, highlighting the brand's philosophy and emotional power.
Zhou Ying | VP, Leapmotor Technologies
Under the Changing Landscape: New Narratives for Foreign Brands
Bi Jing, Director of Corporate Communications at AUMOVIO China, introduced the company as formerly the automotive subgroup of Continental Group, which spun off for an independent listing in September 2025. The brand name embodies a heritage of European precision manufacturing, power innovation, and leadership in future mobility. Following its independence, the brand faces intensified local competition, supply chain and geopolitical challenges, and marketing pressures compounded by high communication costs and budget constraints. In response, the China team is driving a localization transition, enhancing customer value through rapid decision-making, cost optimization, and agile response. Simultaneously, they are strengthening AI enablement to achieve a "fast, light, and smart" communication orientation.
Bi Jing emphasized that brand promotion centers on customer needs, leveraging global resources while implementing localized strategies. These include shaping the Chinese brand name, highlighting local executives, and experimenting with localized channels such as WeChat and Weibo. In terms of creativity, the team has created an IP character named "Mobao," a virtual booth for the Shanghai Auto Show, and an AI-powered robot dog guide to achieve digital empowerment. Through ecological co-creation, they engage online with OEMs and industry peers to expand traffic and opportunities for cooperation. She stated that AUMOVIO is reshaping its brand image through localization strategies and digital tools to drive high-quality development in the Chinese market.
Bi Jing | Director of Corporate Communications, AUMOVIO China
"Technology + Green" Dual Engines: Reshaping the Industry Brand Paradigm
BOE is a global IoT innovation enterprise headquartered in Beijing, with branches in over 20 countries and regions. With annual revenue exceeding 200 billion yuan—more than 50% of which comes from overseas—the company is a dominant player. In the display sector, BOE holds the world's top production capacity; it is estimated that one in every four screens globally comes from BOE. Regarding its automotive business, the company has established production bases in Guangdong, Chengdu, and Vietnam, with the Chengdu base serving as the world's largest mass-production base for large-size displays. The company maintains high R&D intensity, allocating approximately 7% of its revenue to research annually, and holds over 100,000 cumulative patents, ranking it among the leaders in global innovation.
Si Da stated that BOE innovatively proposed the "Screen of Things" strategy, continuously driving a "Technology + Brand" dual-wheel approach. Brand value has surged from nearly 20 billion yuan in 2018 to nearly 100 billion yuan today. Centered on brand building, BOE has created global IPs such as "Hello, BOE" and strengthened the perception of high-end displays through a technology brand system, promoting the large-scale integration of high-end technology labels into terminal products. In the automotive display sector, BOE has achieved global leadership in shipment volume and area, continuously upgrading toward multi-scenario total solutions. Concurrently, the company is actively promoting sustainability; in 2025, it launched "One" (Open Next Earth), the display industry's first sustainable development brand. It also continues to drive digital culture and public welfare projects, empowering fields like intangible cultural heritage and education through technology to continuously expand the brand's social value and global influence.
Si Da | VP, CBO, BOE
Evolution, Not Replacement: A Survival Guide for Auto Marketers in the AI Era
Feng Zhuo, Marketing Director for OSRAM Automotive Lighting in the Asia-Pacific region, pointed out that brand marketers currently face a dual challenge: the rapid infiltration of AI and the compression of job roles. Standardized, quantifiable basic execution tasks are being replaced, and the value of marketing urgently needs redefinition. She deconstructed marketing capabilities into a three-layer structure: "execution output," "creative collaboration," and "strategic empathy." Execution-layer tasks—such as copywriting, video production, and data statistics—are the most susceptible to being covered by AI. If marketers remain at this level for the long term, they will inevitably compete directly with AI and be at a disadvantage.
Feng Zhuo stated that truly irreplaceable value is reflected in cross-departmental collaboration, the ability to implement complex creative ideas, and strategic judgments based on experience, alongside deep empathy for customer needs. Citing actual cases, she emphasized that marketers should actively embrace AI as a collaborative tool to amplify their capabilities. By building efficient communication matrices through human-machine collaboration, they can achieve the unity of brand and performance. AI is not an adversary, but a vital aid driving marketers to leapfrog their capabilities and reshape their professional boundaries.
Feng Zhuo | Marketing Director, OSRAM Auto Lighting APAC
Roundtable: Crossing the Cycle: How Can Corporate Brands Build Long-Term Competitiveness in the Next Five Years?
Addressing these hot industry topics, the conference moved into a roundtable discussion. Themed "Crossing the Cycle: How Can Corporate Brands Build Long-Term Competitiveness in the Next Five Years?", the session featured guests including Zhou Xiaoying, CEO of Gasgoo; Zhou Ying, VP of Leapmotor Technologies; Jiang Jian, VP of Bosch China; Si Da, VP and CBO of BOE; and Chen Yao, Head of Marketing and Branding at Horizon Robotics. Combining their respective corporate practices with industry observations, the guests engaged in in-depth exchanges on topics such as shaping long-term brand value, brand expression driven by technology, and strategic resilience amidst cyclical fluctuations.
With that, the "Steadfast Action & Progress — 7th Automotive Brand and Marketing Forum" came to a successful conclusion amidst in-depth exchanges and the collision of ideas. Focusing on key issues in the automotive industry's transformation, this forum gathered automakers, core supply chain players, technology companies, and industry experts to explore new paths in brand building, marketing evolution, and industry collaboration. While sharing practical experiences and cutting-edge insights, the guests built consensus and planned for the future, injecting fresh perspectives and momentum into the automotive industry's pursuit of high-quality, sustainable development through cyclical fluctuations.
