Domestic autonomous driving technology attracts global automakers to pay attention to multinational supply chain enterprises and increase local research and development.

On April 25th, the Beijing Auto Show was reopened after several years. The localization of auto software and AI-led autonomous driving technology has become the focus of multinational auto manufacturers and supply chain enterprises.

Huawei’s Gankun smart car solution debuted at the Beijing Auto Show for the first time, attracting executives from many multinational auto manufacturers to visit. According to sources, Huawei is expected to authorize advanced assisted driving (ADAS) solutions to multinational car companies to land in China, and the specific cooperation mode is still under discussion.

On the other hand, due to the rapid iterative demand of China electric vehicle manufacturers for autonomous driving technology and the trend of going out to sea, European and American automobile suppliers are also aiming at autonomous drivingartificial intelligenceBusiness opportunities generated by technology in the automotive field.

Autopilot has become a key function to boost sales.

Although the price war of electric vehicles has intensified, with China consumers increasingly seeking high-tech functions when choosing cars, domestic automobile manufacturers have promised to invest heavily in technological innovation. AI technology, including autonomous driving, is also the focus of future competition among China automobile manufacturers.

China, a global automotive technology supplier, and Yang Xiaoming, president of Asia-Pacific region, told the First Financial Reporter on the eve of the Beijing Auto Show: "The iteration speed of products in China’s automotive market is far ahead of other regions in the world, especially in electrification and intelligence, such as advanced driver assistance."

Stephen Dyer, the co-head of research institute Ai Ruibo in Greater China and the head of automobile consulting business in Asia, told the China Business News after watching the Beijing Auto Show: "Obviously, many China automakers regard advanced assisted driving technology as a key function to boost sales."

Dai Jiahui pointed out that Ai Ruibo’s recent global electric vehicle survey confirmed that China consumers really care about these functions. "China Automobile Factory is unique in that it can deploy a wider range of ADAS functions at a lower cost than foreign brands."

withXPENG MotorsFor example, He Xiaopeng, the founder and CEO of the company, said that from next month, its software and upgrade will enter an "accelerated cycle", and he also hoped that the application scope of its software platform could be extended to other Asian countries and Europe.

Earlier this year, it has indicated that it plans to recruit 4,000 employees this year and invest 3.5 billion yuan in areas such as autonomous driving.

Last month, Xpeng Motors said that it was upgrading its driver assistance software, and planned to provide all autopilot functions to drivers all over China in 2024. XNGP advanced driver assistance system in Xpeng Motors andXiaomi automobileNOA is related toTeslaThe fully automatic driving technology FSD is similar.

The German Volkswagen Group holds nearly 5% of the shares in Xpeng Motors. Volkswagen is also cooperating with Xpeng Motors to develop a new intelligent electric vehicle architecture, so as to produce new electric vehicles with more economic benefits.

Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi, also recently proposed that the goal of Xiaomi’s intelligent driving is to become the first echelon in 2024. He said that Xiaomi SU7 series models will all support NOA and parking service functions of the advanced assisted driving system on the expressway, and the city NOA is planned to be opened nationwide in August.

Multinational suppliers increase R&D investment in China.

An Bofu’s important customers in the world include multinational automobile manufacturers. Yang Xiaoming said that in order to further meet the needs of China automobile manufacturers for innovative technologies, Amber is considering setting up the first artificial intelligence center in China to increase the strategic layout of China market localization; On the other hand, Amber is also using its global data in the field of intelligent driving to empower China automobile manufacturers to go to sea.

In fiscal year 2023, the sales of China region of Ampofo increased by 12%, and the Asia-Pacific region, including China, contributed 28% of the global net sales of Ampofo. Yang Xiaoming said that Amber China will achieve 50% business growth in the next five years, and a large part of the sales growth will come from expanding cooperation with independent brands in China. He predicted that the business related to China manufacturers will reach 70% in five years.

"Our R&D investment in China will continue to increase. On the one hand, we are increasing the number of software engineers in China R&D Center, and at the same time, we are beginning to implement some forward-looking research in China. In the past, these studies were often placed abroad, and now we will also consider China as the first application site." Yang Xiaoming told the First Financial Reporter.

When talking about what role the artificial intelligence center in China will play in the world in the future, he said: "This artificial intelligence center will test a lot of data, and integrate artificial intelligence into the R&D process of our intelligent cars, greatly improving the R&D speed. These are also the requirements of our customers in China, which can better serve the global business of these enterprises."

Before the end of last year, ZF, a German automotive technology supplier, successfully obtained the Group’s first L4 autopilot test license in China. The company said that this will accelerate the localization development, testing and iteration of autonomous driving technology.

The First Financial Reporter learned that ZF has also increased its investment in R&D in China in recent years, including setting up an autonomous driving team in China, including investing in forward-looking technical research.

Multinational supplier overweightChina softwareLocal technology research and development is also due to the rapid rise of local suppliers. Industry insiders revealed to the First Financial Reporter that many multinational auto giants expressed interest in Huawei’s leading ADAS system. If Huawei’s smart car solution is finally licensed to multinational automobile manufacturers, it will not only help overseas automobile brands to accelerate their entry into the field of autonomous driving in China, but also mean that Huawei will have the opportunity to compete with top automotive technology suppliers Bosch and Continental Group.

A technical person in charge of Huawei’s intelligent driving related products did not comment on the details of the current negotiations between Huawei’s ADAS system and multinational automakers to the First Financial Reporter. "We can’t say anything that the company hasn’t released." He said.

Cross-border flow of automobile data attracts attention.

Dai Jiahui of Ai Ruibo told China Business News: "Multinational automobile manufacturers, especially European automobile manufacturers seem to realize that the development speed of China’s ADAS technology providers is much faster than that of European and American companies, which will also prompt some multinational companies to seek a system purchase or lease agreement with China’s ADAS suppliers for sharing. This business model is beneficial to both sides."

Francois Provost, head of purchasing and partner of French automaker Renault, said in a post on LinkedIn on Friday: "Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault, and China.Li AutoAnd Xiaomi held talks on electric and smart car technology. "This will also open the door for potential technical cooperation between the two sides.

As the global automotive technology supply chain tends to converge, cross-border flows such as data have also attracted great attention from the market. Yang Xiaoming told China Business News that the cross-border flow of data is important to promote the development of global autonomous driving technology.

"In the past, we used R&D data from Europe and the United States to support the landing of smart cars in China. As China automobile manufacturers speed up going to sea, we also hope that we can use the data trained in China to help them land overseas, but this still faces the bottleneck of data supervision." Yang Xiaoming said.

He stressed that data compliance is very important. At present, Amber is actively communicating with relevant institutions to clarify which intelligent networked automobile data can be shared and take advantage of its global data network.

"Recently, we have seen very good signs, and the regulatory authorities have given some clear instructions on data sharing, so that multinational companies like Amber can take advantage of our global data and train the software designed by China more quickly under the premise of legal compliance to help China automobile manufacturers who need to go to sea achieve their goals." He told the first financial reporter.

Recently, CEO Musk said on social platforms,TeslaFSD is expected to be implemented in China soon. In this regard, Yang Xiaoming told the First Financial Reporter: "If the new autopilot software can enter China, it will also promote the progress and development of the overall autopilot technology in China, because we can learn from better experience."

In the eyes of some insiders, the entry of FSD into China will still be a gradual process. Dai Jiahui told China Business News: "We have seen that the global autonomous driving function and autonomous level are gradually increasing, and China has adopted these technologies very quickly. However, I expect that the gradual increase of automatic driving function will become the main development path, rather than achieving a leap in fully automatic driving technology at one time. "