Gasgoo Munich- Speaking at the 14th Automobile & Environment Innovation Forum and the 8th Gasgoo Awards ceremony "China Solutions, Global Value" on October 23, Valeo China CTO Gu Jianmin addressed the industry's shrinking development timelines — and the growing controversy over "fast-tracked" vehicles.
Gu argued that while compressing timelines is inevitable, it shouldn't be conflated with quality issues. "Shortening the cycle isn't the problem; a lack of sufficient verification — and the resulting product failures — is the real issue."
He revealed that nearly two-thirds of Valeo's product development cycles have been slashed from dozens of months to just a few in recent years. Headlight development, for instance, has fallen from 18 months to just seven or eight.
With development windows tightening so drastically, how is sufficient verification guaranteed?
Gu explained that accelerating development isn't about simply compressing existing workflows. Instead, it's about boosting efficiency through front-loaded R&D, platform-based development, and digital tools.
Early co-creation with automakers is particularly critical. Suppliers engage in pre-research and development of product functions and performance targets well before receiving a formal order. In some cases, prototypes are already at the B-sample stage by the time the contract lands.
This means that while the industry sees a drastically shortened timeline from order to mass production, the extensive pre-research work that preceded it remains unaccounted for.
Meanwhile, platform-based and modular development cuts down on repetitive design, while virtual simulation, CAE, and AI tools further streamline both development and verification.
Gu emphasized that the true measure of development quality isn't the length of the cycle, but whether sufficient verification and market feedback have been achieved. Automakers and suppliers must also shift from a traditional client-vendor dynamic to one of joint innovation — sharing verification costs and scenario data to accelerate technical validation and mass production.
