On August 28-29, the 2025 Intelligent Automotive Basic Software Ecosystem Conference and the 4th China Automotive Chip Conference were held in Chongqing.This conference, themed “Expanding Boundaries through Open Source, Achieving Greatness Together,” was jointly organized by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, aiming to unite various forces, promote collaborative innovation, and contribute the “China Solution” for the global intelligent automotive ecosystem.
Renesas Electronics, as a key industry partner deeply engaged in the Chinese automotive market for many years and continuously empowering industrial innovation, was invited to attend this event. During the “4th China Automotive Chip Conference” held on the afternoon of the 29th, Renesas Electronics’ Marketing Director Zhu Xiaofeng delivered a remarkable speech titled “Renesas High-Performance MCUs Supporting the Development of China’s Next-Generation Automotive Electronic and Electrical Architecture through Open Source Ecosystem,” sharing insights and practices from the company in automotive electronic and electrical architecture, chip technology, and ecosystem collaboration.
Renesas Electronics’ Marketing Director Zhu Xiaofeng delivers a remarkable speech
Deeply Engaging in the Chinese Market, Grasping the Innovation Wave
China is not only the world’s largest single automotive market but also an important source of technological innovation in the automotive industry. In terms of market size, China accounts for about one-third of global automotive production and is the center of global manufacturing. With the rapid development of the automotive industry, domestic automotive brands in China have quickly risen, with market share increasing from 46% in 2020 to 72% in 2025, and expected to exceed 80% by 2030, demonstrating strong growth momentum and innovative vitality.
From a technology-driven perspective, China is at the international forefront in three core areas: intelligent driving, electrification, and electronic and electrical architecture (E/E architecture). The penetration rate of L2 and above intelligent driving functions is expected to reach 45% by 2025 and continue to rise; in terms of electrification, China remains the world’s largest electric vehicle market, continuously leading the global industrial transformation process; at the same time, in the technological evolution of E/E architecture, China is also at the forefront of the world, actively promoting fundamental changes in automotive underlying technologies.
Zhu Xiaofeng introduced in his speech: To support the continuous innovation of the Chinese automotive industry, Renesas Electronics provides a rich product portfolio, covering high-performance SoCs, 32-bit MCUs, and cost-effective 16-bit MCUs. Moreover, in terms of process innovation, Renesas is actively developing 3-nanometer SoC chips to adapt to central computing units, focusing on the universality of software and IP, supporting multi-platform compatibility with a single development, thereby helping customers reduce development cycles and costs, and quickly respond to market changes.
Dual Drivers of Technological Innovation and Ecosystem Collaboration to Support Automotive Market Development
The automotive electronic and electrical architecture is accelerating its evolution from functional domain control to “central computing + regional control,” a trend that significantly optimizes the overall vehicle system structure, reduces the number of ECUs, lowers wiring costs and vehicle weight, and improves energy efficiency and software maintenance efficiency. As a global advanced automotive semiconductor solution provider, Renesas Electronics offers a comprehensive product lineup and solutions around central computing units (HPC), regional controllers, and execution units.
In response to the demands of the new generation of electronic and electrical architecture, Renesas Electronics has launched the 28-nanometer RH850/U2 series MCUs, covering multiple product series such as U2A, U2B, and U2C. This series breaks through the limitations of traditional functional domain architecture, supports cross-domain integration, and possesses ultra-high computing power, making it widely adaptable to various automotive application scenarios. Meanwhile, in product development, Renesas has also continued to leverage the mature and proven IP resources from the RH850 series, thus providing customers with flexible choices of different packaging, cores, and peripheral configurations.
Looking towards future technological trends, Zhu Xiaofeng pointed out that Renesas’ new generation RH850/U2 series integrates gigabit TSN and 10-megabit Ethernet communication, suitable for chassis systems and other scenarios with high real-time requirements. In addition, this series also includes built-in hardware acceleration units that support AI acceleration, providing strong computing support for body control and domain control. In terms of safety, the entire U2 series from Renesas is equipped with a high-level safety protection system to ensure reliable system operation.
Localization Strategy and Ecosystem Co-Building: Rooted in China, Winning the Future Together
Renesas Electronics always adheres to the development philosophy of “technology as the foundation, ecosystem as the wings,” placing great importance on automotive ecosystem construction. Zhu Xiaofeng stated that they are actively integrating into the “Xiaoman” ecosystem, completing full adaptation with Puhua Software for the RH850/U2 series products, which can provide integrated local solutions for industry chain customers. Based on the deep integration of Renesas’ high-performance MCUs and the “Xiaoman” OS, both parties have achieved system-level collaborative optimization, significantly improving solution adaptation efficiency, thus accelerating the implementation of local intelligent automotive projects.
Renesas Electronics has always been committed to growing together with partners in the Chinese automotive industry, continuously promoting the localization supply chain construction from product definition to packaging and testing. Currently, Renesas has established sales, technical, and marketing teams in multiple locations in China, and steadily enhances local supply capabilities relying on packaging and testing factories in Suzhou and Beijing. In the future, Renesas will gradually achieve localized production and comprehensive support for automotive MCU products. On this basis, Renesas will continue to work closely with industry partners to jointly promote the innovation and upgrading of automotive electronic architecture, creating an open and win-win industrial “chip” ecosystem.
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Renesas Electronics (TSE: 6723)
Technology makes life easier, dedicated to creating a safer, smarter, and sustainable future. As a global microcontroller supplier, Renesas Electronics integrates expertise in embedded processing, analog, power, and connectivity to provide complete semiconductor solutions. Successful product portfolios accelerate the market launch of automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT applications, empowering billions of connected smart devices to improve people’s work and lifestyle. For more information, please visit renesas.com
