After visiting this year’s Shanghai Auto Show, what stands out the most is the emergence of numerous new automotive suppliers, with various component suppliers’ booths integrated throughout the exhibition halls, collaborating closely with automotive manufacturers. The staff at the supply chain booths tirelessly introduced their new technologies and products to consumers. This could be a chip, a set of batteries, a motor, or a system. Meanwhile, at the booths of complete vehicle manufacturers, staff emphasized that this car is equipped with Huawei’s intelligent driving solution, while that car uses CATL’s batteries.
This fascinating interaction has become a unique highlight of this year’s auto show. From batteries and chips to autonomous driving technology, the importance of components in the automotive industry has surpassed previous levels. The competition in the global automotive industry is no longer just a contest of vehicle brands but a competition of supply chain technologies. Chinese component companies are reshaping the global automotive landscape through continuous technological innovation.Defining the ‘New Three Key Components’ of Intelligent VehiclesThis year’s Shanghai Auto Show featured 13 exhibition halls, with component and new technology companies occupying 4 of them for the first time, covering an exhibition area of 100,000 square meters. In terms of brands, the number of component companies exhibiting was nearly six times that of complete vehicle brands, marking a historical high. From upstream core raw materials and key components to midstream batteries, motors, and electronic control systems, as well as innovative technologies like intelligent networking, autonomous driving, and in-vehicle AI, everything was on display. Industry insiders joked that these exhibits could almost piece together a new energy vehicle.
The auto show specifically set up a “China Chip” exhibition area, showcasing excellent automotive chips for different application scenarios, including high-performance computing chips, intelligent driving chips, and dedicated chips for new energy vehicles. Visitors could directly feel the critical role of automotive-grade chips in the development of automotive intelligence. Li Bin, the founder of NIO, defined the ‘New Three Key Components’ of intelligent vehicles at this year’s auto show, namely intelligent driving chips, universal operating systems, and intelligent chassis. At the exhibition, Li Bin showcased two automotive-grade 5-nanometer intelligent driving chips, the Shenqi NX9031, which, with its integration into the NIO ET9, became the world’s first mass-produced automotive-grade 5-nanometer intelligent driving chip. The ‘New Three Key Components’ serve as a stage for domestic supply chain companies to break through technologically, allowing some startups with core technological capabilities to quickly become ‘stars’ in the global automotive market.CATL’s booth was located next to Xiaomi, showcasing its second-generation Shenxing ultra-fast charging battery, low-temperature sodium battery, and Xiaoyao dual-core battery; Horizon was near Audi, where it launched the L2 urban NOA system HSD, which has become the first domestically developed software-hardware integrated, mass-producible urban auxiliary driving system.Intelligent driving star company Momenta was adjacent to Toyota. During the auto show, Momenta announced further strategic cooperation with six major brands, including Buick, FAW Toyota, Honda China, Cadillac, SAIC Audi, and Zhiji. Currently, Momenta has collaborated on over 130 mass-produced models. CEO Cao Xudong introduced that the first 100,000 units took two years to achieve, while the second 100,000 units only took six months, and it is expected to complete the third nearly 100,000 units by May this year.The innovation breakthroughs of local component companies are forcing multinational giants to accelerate local R&D. At this year’s auto show, global top 100 component suppliers such as ZF, Bosch, Magna, Continental, Faurecia, Valeo, and Aptiv also launched new products, showcasing the latest achievements in ‘localization.’ For instance, Bosch introduced a new intelligent solution for super heavy-duty and super light-duty trucks, while ZF’s chassis 2.0 made its debut at the Shanghai Auto Show. The competition in the global automotive industry is no longer just a contest of vehicle brands but a competition of supply chain technologies. Chinese component companies are changing the global automotive landscape through technological innovation.Deeply Developing Niche Markets for ‘Gold Mining’Driven by the wave of new energy vehicles, domestic upstream and downstream enterprises in the automotive industry chain are honing their skills and shining brightly. They often start from one category and deeply explore, continuously expanding space in niche markets.STMicroelectronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., headquartered in the Minhang District of Shanghai, is an integrated circuit company focused on the research, design, and sales of image sensors. This year at the auto show, STMicroelectronics showcased its rear-view pedestrian detection application solution, which left a deep impression: ‘You will see several colors in the image; when reversing, objects within one meter are displayed with a red frame, within two meters with a yellow frame, and a green frame for a three-meter safety distance, while pedestrians within the blue frame are outside the reversing area.’Is it necessary to mark so many colors? The staff explained that this precisely reflects the sensitivity and accuracy of the sensor. Many new energy vehicles are now equipped with multiple cameras; for example, BYD’s ‘Heavenly Eye’ has 12 cameras, making it more user-friendly for drivers who need distance judgment for obstacles. ‘Moreover, by installing in-cabin cameras, we can use technology to detect the driver’s fatigue state and passenger conditions, effectively reducing accident risks.’ It is understood that the explosive growth of domestic high-end intelligent driving systems has prompted STMicroelectronics to benchmark against industry leaders like Sony, continuously refining image sensor technology. Currently, products equipped with STMicroelectronics’ self-developed chips have been widely used in automotive, mobile phone, and industrial fields, and are 15%-20% cheaper than similar foreign brands.How many airbags can a car be equipped with at most? Jinzhou Jinheng Automotive Safety Systems Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Wanda Group, provides the answer: airbags can wrap around the entire vehicle. ‘This time we showcased bumper airbags, trunk airbags, zero-gravity seat wrap airbags, and front hood airbags, which can effectively protect passengers and driving safety in the event of an accident.’ The booth staff introduced that the full-vehicle airbag solution is a ‘non-standard’ product, focusing more on the two-way R&D of automotive companies, with very stringent triggering conditions that require the support of high-end intelligent driving systems. Currently, there are fewer than 10 companies globally focusing on ‘passive safety,’ and the airbags produced by Jinheng are 10%-20% cheaper than similar Swedish products. Notably, all components of this airbag are produced domestically, achieving autonomy in design, supply chain, and product quality. ‘Our airbag pricing ranges from 300 to 500 yuan, and the product’s price competitiveness is strong, seeking two-way cooperative R&D with automotive companies like Chery, Geely, and Volkswagen, with some products priced at over 100,000 yuan for ‘quality-price ratio newcomers,’ as well as mid-to-high-end models priced above 300,000 yuan.’The Chinese automotive market has entered the era of intelligence, and the entire automotive supply chain system will enter a period of reconstruction. Those who can better meet user needs, provide reliable products with high cost-performance ratios, and continuously innovate will gain greater influence in the automotive industry chain.