Intelligent vehicle sector braced for new challenges, opportunities

With the automotive industry becoming increasingly integrated with information and communication technology, artificial intelligence and the internet, China's intelligent vehicle sector has entered a new phase of rapid technological advancement and industry expansion that presents new challenges and opportunities.

In the competitive market for new energy vehicles, electrification and intelligence are hallmarks of the first two phases. As the transition to electrification gains momentum, the shift toward intelligence is also accelerating, a trend that industry experts attending the 2023 Global Intelligent Vehicle Summit said will demand substantial investments and rapid iterations.

The summit was held in late September in Hefei, Anhui province.

"Intelligence will determine the winners in the second half of the auto revolution. Without developing intelligence, even the first-mover advantage in electrification may not be sustained," said Zhang Yongwei, vice-president of automotive think tank China EV 100, the organizer of the summit.

With the think tank predicting the actual economic value generated by related industries of auto intelligence will reach 2.8 trillion yuan ($383.49 billion) by 2030, Zhang said intelligent vehicles will play a significant role in driving technological innovation and industrial growth while benefiting society by enabling intelligent transportation and smart cities, addressing issues such as congestion, traffic accidents, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

Zhang emphasized that the pillars of China's intelligent auto industry are electrification, information communication, integration of big data, large models and AI. Among them, big data, large models and AI are emerging forces and hold the promise of realizing autonomous driving. With the foundation of cloud-based high computing power and closed-loop data capabilities, large models will greatly accelerate the iterations of intelligent cockpits and autonomous driving.