- Chinese EV makers are filling their vehicles with high-tech features to woo customers.
- Automotive industry executives and experts say Chinese customers want their cars to become more “intelligent.”
- In response, companies like BYD and Xiaomi are focusing on enhancing autonomous driving and smart features.
China’s numerous EV companies are facing increasingly fierce competition for customers, with many packing their vehicles with high-tech features to woo drivers who increasingly want “intelligent” vehicles.
Speaking at the Financial Times’ Future of Automotive Summit this month, Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida said, “Chinese customers’ expectations for EVs are very different from those in the rest of the world.” he said.
He said Chinese customers expect EVs to be “intelligent” with features such as self-driving, smartphone integration and multiple screens, and Nissan is adjusting its approach to ” He said there is a need to build vehicles that compete “in China and for China.” local car manufacturer.
Stand out in a crowded field
For many years, these local automakers have been sluggish, overshadowed by European, American, Japanese, and Korean automakers, but are now experiencing rapid growth, thanks in part to a significant increase in demand for electric vehicles.
EVs are expected to account for about 45% of China’s car sales this year, according to the IEA, and domestic automakers currently account for more than half of the country’s car sales, according to Bloomberg data.
The boom has sparked a wave of competition and fierce price wars, with some 123 car companies vying for EV supremacy last year.
To stand out in a crowded field, many Chinese automakers are adding increasingly high-tech and unusual features to everything from cars that shake off snow to cars that transform into living rooms.
Paul Li, CEO of China-based EV technology company UPower, told Business Insider that this is all due to the rise of tech-savvy Chinese buyers who have fundamentally different expectations than U.S. buyers. He said it was part of a strategy to attract consumers.
“The EV customer in China is completely different from any customer in the entire world,” he said.
Li said Chinese consumers expect “advanced intelligence” from EVs and are willing to pay extra for features such as self-driving, smartphone integration and even in-vehicle drones. .
“Innovation in China’s EV market is not only coming from competition, but also from innovation-driven customers. A sophisticated market produces sophisticated products,” Li said.
“It’s highly questionable whether the same level of intelligence is needed in global markets,” he added.
High-tech EVs gain popularity
This demand for high-tech features is narrowing the gap between Chinese EV makers and tech companies, as both companies seek to capture a slice of China’s fast-growing electric vehicle market.
Nio, a Chinese EV startup and Tesla competitor known for its network of battery-swapping stations, unveiled its own smartphone last September that allows owners to park their cars remotely.
Meanwhile, smartphone makers Huawei and Xiaomi have both entered the EV business, with the latter’s SU7 model featuring five screens, smartphone and smart home integration, and Xiaomi’s own self-driving system.
Unlike in the United States, where the technology is still limited and mired in controversy, self-driving systems are fairly common in China, with companies like Xpeng, Huawei, and Nio offering this capability.
Tesla may soon join the group. Tesla is inching closer to releasing fully self-driving technology in China after signing a deal with Chinese technology giant Baidu.
Even BYD, which has had great success selling cheap electric vehicles to Chinese consumers, is feeling pressure to make its cars smarter.
The Warren Buffett-backed automaker said in January it would invest 100 billion yuan ($13.8 billion) in AI-powered features for its vehicles, including improved voice recognition and self-parking.
“The first half [of the game] The second half is about electrification, and the second half is about intelligence,” BYD CEO Wang Chuanfu said at the time.
Experts agree that smart car features are now essential for EV manufacturers looking to sell cars in China.
“Young people in China no longer treat EVs as just vehicles, and they want them to do so.” [function like] ” Cao Hua, a partner at Shanghai private equity firm Unity Asset Management, told the South China Morning Post last year.
“By making cars self-driving and intelligent, we can attract more Chinese buyers,” Hua added.
