As the price war since the beginning of the year has continued to baptize the auto market, new products, new technologies and new routines have emerged in an endless stream, and all of this is expected to reach a climax at the Beijing Auto Show, which returns after a lapse of 4 years.
The 18th Beijing Auto Show will open on April 25. This year's theme is "New Era, New Cars". The total exhibition area is 230,000 square meters. Exhibitors include well-known domestic and foreign automobile and parts manufacturers, with a total of more than 1,500.
The auto market has undergone tremendous changes in the past two years. The progress of smart electric vehicles has accelerated, and new car manufacturers have gradually established themselves in the market; the pace of reform of joint venture brands has been slow, and the pressure has been increasing day by day; the voice of traditional luxury brands has been diverted by upstarts who are good at making sofas, color TVs, and large refrigerators.
In addition to the product level, competition for traffic has also become fierce with the cross-border entry of technology companies, and the marketing of each company has become strange and bizarre.
This background makes the Beijing Auto Show, which returns after a lapse of 4 years, even more worth looking forward to.
At this year's Beijing Auto Show, it is expected that there will be 117 global debut models (including 30 global debut models from multinational companies), 41 concept cars, and 278 new energy vehicle models.
As the call for diversified electric technology continues, the types of products exhibited by automakers have shifted from pure electric to plug-in hybrid, extended-range and other diversified product combinations. The heavyweight PHEV products at this auto show include the Seres Wenjie series, Avita E15/16, JAC Refine RF8, Ideal L6, Leapmotor C10/C16, Geely Lynk & Co 07EM-P, and Galaxy L5.
To solve the anxiety about cruising range, shortening the charging time is currently the key to improving the user experience of pure electric vehicles. In addition to the high-voltage fast charging solutions launched by Porsche Taycan, GAC Aion AION V, Xiaopeng G9, etc., Xiaomi SU7, SERES Wenjie series, Zhijie S7, Leapmotor C16, SAIC Zhiji L6, Zeekr MIX and other models at this auto show will also launch 800V high-voltage fast charging solutions.
In terms of intelligence, high-computing chips, laser radars and other configurations are being installed in vehicles at an accelerated pace. Representative models include Xiaomi SU7, Wenjie series, Zhijie S7, Xiangjie S9, Avita E15/16, Ideal L6, Leapmotor C10, etc. In addition, some models will gradually launch city automatic navigation assisted driving functions that do not rely on high-precision maps, including Xiaomi SU7, Wenjie series, Zhijie S7, Xiangjie S9, etc.
In terms of smart cockpits, Qualcomm chips have begun to be used in vehicles on a large scale, with Xiaomi SU7, Ideal L6, Leapmotor C10, and Zhiji L6 equipped with Qualcomm 8295 chip solutions. Screens are developing in the direction of larger sizes and multiple configurations, and large-size ARHUDs are gradually being installed.
Although parts manufacturers are usually hidden behind the scenes, in an era when Chinese brands are restructuring the industrial chain system, Chinese parts manufacturers are experiencing their own rise.
In the era of the traditional automobile industry chain, automobile companies dominated the ecological system, Chinese brand automobile companies were relatively lacking in competitiveness, and most parts companies mainly served local brands, making it difficult for them to grow into industry giants.
In the era of smart electric vehicles, the original industrial chain system has been reconstructed, Chinese brands have continued to grow, and Chinese parts companies have been bold in innovation. Relying on the domestic engineering dividend and rapid response speed, their position in the industrial chain is expected to be significantly improved.
Behind the excitement, we also found that some car companies did not appear on this high-profile stage. The reason behind this may be that they think that the traffic of auto shows is scattered and the value is not high; or it may be that they have fallen behind the market and are out of the mainstream vision.
The main representative of the former is Tesla. This car company with almost zero budget for marketing is facing declining sales and pressure on profits. Tesla's absence from the Beijing Auto Show this time was interpreted as a cost-cutting and efficiency-enhancing measure.
In addition, Hycan, HiPhi, and Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen did not appear in the auto show booth distribution map.
The cruel Chinese auto market is a market that only the participants know. A Beijing Auto Show is like a catwalk show. A brand cannot be established by a momentary appearance, but those who are absent will have some unavoidable problems.
