During the two-week duration of the Auto Show, Shanghai is the centre of the automotive industry in the world. All media and top decision makers gather to discover, analyze, and exchange about what is happening in China. To emphasize China’s key importance in automotive business, I used the figures presented by Valeo and Forvia.
In 2000, China produced about 0.7 million cars. In 2024, that figure was 29.8 million vehicles (S&P data)—fully a third of worldwide vehicle production. Chinese consumers buy younger; in 2022, 67 per cent of car buyers in China were under 45, compared to an average age of 53 in Europe and 51 in the U.S. And Chinese consumers switch brands faster—76 per cent of them plan to change brands for their next vehicle, and 52 per cent say the origin of the car matters less than its ability to meet their needs.
In China, EV sales are expected to surpass combustion-engine models this year—a historic shift, commensurate with the technological and environmental challenges reshaping the future of mobility. Chinese automakers have an EV market share above 60 per cent.
In this challenging market, all the Chinese automakers are competing like hell. Time-to-market and cost have become their main priorities, and non-Chinese OEMs are now trying to adopt that way of development to be competitive. Partnership has become a priority at every level: look at OEMs SAIC and the new 4-letter audi brand, for example. In software development, connectivity, ADAS, and lighting, important partnerships were announced during the show. Valeo and Appotronics; Xingyu, LatticePower, and Oritek.
Coöperation is crucial. We need bridges among industries and companies, to develop faster in a complex environment. DVN is an ideal, proven platform to facilitate the coöperation we have been promoting right from the start.
GTB is an essential platform to propose evolution of the regulatory requirements. Examples abound; just look at the agreement at GRE last week to accept reversing lamp signaling projections after hard work from automakers, tier-1 and -2 suppliers, and test houses to devise and agree a final text proposal.
Sincerely yours
