Saic sold 264,200 vehicles in January, an increase of 7.86%. Xopeng Motor delivered more than 30,300 new cars in January, an increase of 268% over the same period last year, surpassing Ideal Automobile to occupy the first place among new car-making forces. Geely Auto Group sold 266,700 units in January, up 25% year-on-year and setting a new monthly sales record. Xiaomi SU7 model delivered more than 20,000 vehicles again in January, Xiaomi Auto has delivered more than 20,000 vehicles for four consecutive months, and the annual delivery target of 2025 is 300,000 vehicles... Behind the "good start" of many car companies, what are the new changes in the automotive industry? The reporter sorted out eight key words to take stock and reflect the new hot spots and new trends of the industry.

People visit Red Flag cars at the Auto World Exhibition in Hawali province, Kuwait, Feb. 3, 2019. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Asad)

　　Price war

After the Spring Festival of the Year of the Snake, Tesla took the lead in "amplification" : from now to February 28, the Model3 is a limited time insurance subsidy of 8,000 yuan, after the subsidy of 227,500 yuan, and can enjoy the 0 interest policy and special charging rights of the purchase of the car for 5 years. Xiaopeng Automobile followed by the launch of "5 years of 0 interest +0 down payment", the New Year price war again.

In fact, with the increasingly fierce competition in the automobile market, major automobile companies have adopted price reduction strategies in order to compete for market share, and the price reduction tide covers the whole industry. Some brands have taken the alternative route of launching lower-priced models, such as BYD's Dynasty Series Honor Edition, which starts at a steep drop from the model on sale. There are also Tesla, Dongfeng Nissan, SAIC Volkswagen, SAIC General and other brands launched a "limited time price", with the "down to the end" strategy to boost sales recovery.

It is worth mentioning that in 2025, before the relevant subsidy policies at the national level and some provincial local subsidy measures have not been announced, various car companies have introduced "bottom" subsidy policies. That is to say, before the introduction of the new policy, car companies will subsidize users "out of their own pockets" for the national and local replacement car purchase subsidies launched in 2024 but not extended to 2025. According to incomplete statistics, nearly 40 car companies and brands have launched "backstop" subsidy promotion policies, covering independent brands, joint venture brands, new energy brands, etc., from January 1, 2025 to the end of January to the end of March, the subsidy range is mostly 10,000 to 30,000 yuan. Among them, some Jaguar models have opened a substantial price cut, with a price cut of up to 170,000 yuan.

　　Increase and mix The Times

At the beginning of 2025, car companies have launched New Year "king fried" models. Since January, BYD released Han L and Tang L, the two new cars provide pure electricity and plug-in two versions of the option, the motor power doubled. Great Wall Motor listed tank 500Hi4-Z, positioned in the plug-in hybrid hard off-road SUV, the biggest feature is the "city can be wild" pass and comfort. There are BYD listed dynasty network's first MPV BYD Summer, equipped with pure electric and plug-in hybrid two power combinations, Jiedu Auto released a new luxury electric hybrid off-road product series Jiedu Vertical, Lynk & Co released the first large plug-in hybrid SUV Lynk & Co 900 and so on.

In the past year, plug-in hybrid extended-range electric models are replacing pure electric vehicles and becoming a new sales growth point in the automotive industry. According to the data of the Passenger Association, the sales volume of new energy passenger vehicles in 2024 was 10.898 million, an increase of 40.7% year-on-year. Among them, 6.314 million pure electric vehicles were sold, accounting for 57.9%, an increase of 22.6%. Hybrid + extended range sold 4.584 million units, accounting for 42.1%, an increase of 76.9%. The growth rate of plug-in hybrid and extended-range electric models is much higher than that of pure electric models, showing a strong growth momentum.

Byd is the representative of the car companies with superior plug-in technology, and its annual sales advantage of 4.27 million vehicles is self-evident. Ideal is a new power brand that focuses on extended range technology earlier, and in 2024, Ideal has rapidly increased the sales of extended range electric models, becoming the first new power car company with annual sales exceeding 500,000. The new power brand Ask Jie, which ranks second in annual sales, also achieved annual sales of more than 420,000 vehicles with extended range electric models, second only to Ideal.

The "era of multiplication and blending" has arrived. At present, Changan, Chuanqi, Chery and other independent brands and Beijing Hyundai, Dongfeng Nissan, SAIC Volkswagen, SAIC GM and other joint venture brands have adopted the strategy of extended range/plug-in hybrid dual-mode parallel, Xiaomi, Xiapeng, zero-run and other new power car companies are also making efforts to layout extended range technology, it is reported that Xiaomi's third model "Kunlun" is an extended range SUV, which is expected to be introduced to the market in 2026.

　　end-to-end

In January this year, Ideal Automobile OTA7.0 version of the vehicle system was officially pushed, becoming the first car company in China and the second car company in the world to apply end-to-end technology to the full scene of urban, high-speed and loop NOA (pilot-assisted driving). The version brings AI reasoning visualization and other functions, showing the major breakthroughs in the field of intelligent driving by Chinese car companies represented by ideals.

In addition to ideal, WEilai has also pushed a new version of the intelligent system. The past year has been the year of the landing and explosion of end-to-end autonomous driving. Tesla, Ideal, Huawei, Xiaopeng, Dongfeng Nissan, Mercedes Benz, Sensetime, Horizon and other enterprises have laid out and released end-to-end large models that can be mass-produced. Huawei Automotive BU intelligent driving product line has set up a technology development department with a scale of about 50 people, which is specifically responsible for the combination of end-to-end and large models. In every press conference of every car company, "end-to-end" is an indispensable vocabulary.

What is "end-to-end"? It is to start from the sensor side to collect data, directly to the vehicle control side to generate vehicle control instructions, skipping the traditional automatic driving system intermediate processing links, more concise and efficient.

In 2024, the end-to-end automatic driving based on the AI large model will accelerate to the car and become a key new technology for market competition. This technology realizes the application of complex scenarios such as unprotected left turn, U-turn, and roundabout, which greatly improves the technical level and user experience of intelligent assisted driving.

2025 May be a decisive year for end-to-end autonomous driving. Not only the new forces of car manufacturing, traditional car companies and joint venture car companies will also be fully invested in reshaping the future pattern of intelligent driving.

　　Oil and electricity are the same

Oil and electricity with the same advance, oil and electricity with the same path, oil and electricity with wisdom, oil and electricity with the right... It is becoming the "slogan" and direction of more and more traditional car companies, especially traditional joint venture brands, on the way to transformation. A number of car companies, including SAIC Volkswagen, FAW-Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Beijing Hyundai, etc., have clearly put forward such a strategy in the 2025 development plan, and many have achieved landing applications.

Saic Volkswagen is an active advocate of "oil and electricity together" and "oil and electricity with wisdom". In January this year, SAIC Volkswagen sold 75,150 vehicles, achieving a "good start" and further consolidating the foundation for the transformation in 2024. Its success is partly due to the aggressive transformation of its products, such as the Tiguan LPro launched by SAIC Volkswagen, which is defined as the "smartest oil car", equipped with high-performance chips, 5G network and IQ.Pilot intelligent driving assistance system. Mercedes recently launched the 2025 GLC coupe SUV equipped with L2+ navigation assistance driving system, and plans to gradually promote more intelligent configuration to more domestic fuel models.

Although the "oil and electricity with intelligence" strategy of automobile companies provides reference and demonstration for the integrated development of oil and electricity and intelligent change of the entire automobile industry, the overall development is still in the exploration stage, and fuel vehicles need greater breakthroughs and innovations if they want to truly realize the same intelligence as new energy vehicles.

　　Reverse joint venture

On February 5, He Xiaopeng, chairman of Xiaopeng Motor, said at the 2025 high-quality Development Conference in Guangdong Province that in terms of enterprises going to sea, Xiaopeng Motor has entered 30 countries and regions around the world, ranking first in the sales of high-end pure electric models in Europe, and also the first in the sales of China's new power car enterprises to the world. In addition, Xopeng Motor has signed the second phase of a strategic cooperation agreement with Volkswagen Group to develop electronic and electrical architectures for Volkswagen vehicles produced in China.

"This is the first time that Chinese car companies have continuously exported reverse technology to overseas car companies. In the past, the automotive industry was all about China introducing foreign technology, and now Chinese technology is going global. In the future, there will be more Chinese technology and Chinese intelligence to go global." He Xiaopeng said that 2025 will be a year when the internationalization strategy of the company will accelerate comprehensively, and it will enter more than 60 countries and regions around the world. In the next 10 years, Xiaopeng hopes that half of its sales will come from overseas.

Not only Xiaopeng Automobile, in the past two years, the "reverse joint venture" in the automotive industry has become an emerging trend, Chery, Zero Run, SAIC and other car companies actively explore in this field, showing the new role and new strength of Chinese car companies in the global automotive industry pattern.

People visit Chery cars at the Auto World Exhibition in Hawali province, Kuwait, Feb. 3, 2019. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Asad)

For example, Chery cooperated with Spain's EVMOTORS to build a production base in Barcelona to help restart its EBRO brand. Reached a strategic cooperation intention with Jaguar Land Rover, authorized it to use the "Freelander Godwalker" brand to build electric vehicles and export overseas, realizing the transformation from technology introduction to technology output.

In 2024, SAIC and AUDI jointly launched the premium electric vehicle brand AUDI, based on a new platform jointly developed by the two sides, SAIC provides its technology in the fields of electronic and electrical architecture, intelligent cockpit and intelligent driving, changing the subordinate position of the previous joint venture model. There is also the cooperation between Huawei and Toyota, in which Chinese companies are playing the role of technology providers.

These cases of "reverse joint ventures" show that Chinese auto companies have occupied a more important position in the key technology field of new energy vehicles, promoting the change and development of the industry with a "leader" attitude, and also represents that China's auto manufacturing is gradually moving to the center of the stage.

　　Integration and reorganization

The automobile industry is accelerating in the wave of change, "integration and reorganization" has become one of the key words in the past two years, and many automobile companies have responded to the current market challenges through integration and reorganization, seeking new development opportunities and competitive advantages.

At the beginning of the New Year, GAC Group took the lead in pressing the "fast forward button" of reform. Since January 1, 2025, GAC Group will integrate the marketing fields of Trumpchi and Ian, set up a brand Marketing Department, responsible for the major customer business of Trumpchi, Ian and Hao Bao, and coordinate the work of marketing, vehicle sales, channel construction, after-sales service and new media marketing. Through unified strategic planning, market layout, channel management and after-sales service measures, the effective integration and optimal allocation of marketing resources are achieved, and the overall efficiency is improved.

In addition to GAC, many domestic car companies have done similar resource integration. In 2024, Geely Group made frequent moves. In October, the Geometry brand was merged into the Geely Galaxy series, taking Geometry as the intelligent boutique car series of the Galaxy, and Geely Galaxy was upgraded to a brand; November Polar Krypton and Lynk & Co strategic integration, polar Krypton holds 51% of Lynk & Co shares, the two sides will achieve collaborative development in research and development, architecture, sales and other aspects; Radar Auto was also incorporated into Geely Auto Group, and its core technology was integrated into the Academia Sinica.

Saic announced the return of Feifan to Roewe in 2024, and the two sides will integrate in research and development, sales channels, services and other levels, and re-organize brand and product positioning to improve resource utilization efficiency and marketing effect.

In fact, the global automotive industry is becoming more intensive, efficient and innovative. On February 4 this year, European car manufacturing giant Strangis Group also announced that it will take a series of measures to streamline its organizational structure, including the integration of the group's software business, product development and technology departments, and the merger of business and corporate communications departments.

　　Flying car

Low altitude economy starts, flying car in gear.

At the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January this year, Xpeng Motor and its blockbuster flying car "Land carrier" (LAC) debuted at CES to show its "air technology". The "land carrier" is composed of a large three-axis aircraft carrier with a range extender and a flight device with two seats inside. It is expected to have a comprehensive range of more than 1,000 kilometers, and the price is about 2 million yuan. It can achieve up to six flights when it is full of fuel and electricity, becoming one of the highlights of this CES.

In recent years, the boundaries of the automotive industry continue to expand, the field of flying cars has become a new track for many car companies to compete, the head of the company frequently, and the technical route is gradually clear.

Xiaopeng Automobile is one of the earliest and fastest enterprises in the field of flying cars layout among automobile enterprises. On February 5 this year, He Xiaopeng revealed that as of now, the "land aircraft carrier" has received nearly 4,000 orders, and it is planned to officially launch and pre-sell the aircraft globally within the year, and start delivery in the second quarter of 2026.

In 2024, GAC Group released a new flying car brand "Gaoyu /GOVY", and launched the first composite wing flying car GOVYAirJet, and plans to start the airworthiness certification of flying car products in 2025. Changan Automobile signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Ehang Intelligence, saying that it will invest more than 20 billion yuan in the low-altitude economic field in the next five years, and more than 100 billion yuan in the next 10 years to explore land, sea, air and humanoid robot three-dimensional travel solutions.

In addition, Chery's three-body composite wing flying car has been successfully tested, and Geely Holding's all-self-developed strategic product AE200 electric vertical Take-off and Landing aircraft (eVTOL) verification aircraft has completed the second domestic public demonstration flight. There are signs that flying cars are becoming a new gateway for the automotive industry. Globally, Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai, General Motors and other leading groups in the automotive industry have also made a layout in the field of flying cars.

　　Humanoid robot

In the evening of the Year of the Snake in 2025, Yushu Technology's uniform and smooth humanoid robot dance performance is like a window showing the infinite possible future of humanoid robots. Automotive companies are becoming a new cross-border force on the humanoid robot circuit.

Before the Spring Festival, robot products company Vita Power announced the completion of a seed round of 100 million yuan financing. Among them, the company's founder and CEO Yu Yinan was a member of the founding team of Horizon, and the other two co-founders Song Wei and Zhao Zhelun were the chief architect of Horizon's software platform and the director of Ideal Car's intelligent driving product, respectively.

It is worth noting that before Yu Yinan, Zhao Zhelun and others started their businesses, the humanoid robot track has attracted the attention of many car companies and industry people. In the past two years, many car companies have entered the field of humanoid robots through investment or self-research, and released humanoid robots related technologies, products or plans.

At the 2024 annual meeting of China Robot Network held earlier, GAC Group released the third generation of embodied intelligent humanoid robots - GoMate. GoMate is a full-size wheel-foot humanoid robot with a variable wheel-foot mobility structure, and according to GAC Group's plan, the humanoid robot plans to achieve mass production of self-developed parts in 2025.

Byd established a embodied intelligence research team as early as 2022, and in 2024, in BYD's Changsha factory, the full stack unmanned logistics solution for the first time applied humanoid robots and unmanned vehicles to work together. At the end of last year, Xiaopeng Automobile released a new generation of humanoid robot "Iron Allen", which is expected to start commercial trials this year. Chery Automobile and an AI company jointly developed the humanoid robot Mornine, one of the highlights is the ability to accurately understand human language interaction intentions, and translate it into specific action strategies and language output.

Tesla's robot Optimus is also constantly evolving, from catching a tennis ball to showing exquisite wrist control to walking steadily on a slope to highlighting autonomous action. Tesla founder Elon Musk said that by the end of 2025, the Optimus will be available for sale, production costs are expected to be less than half of the car, and the final price will be less than $25,000 or $30,000, relatively affordable.

In addition, dozens of car companies such as Dongfeng Motor, SAIC, Xiaomi, and Celis have successively announced their entry into the humanoid robot circuit through independent research and development, technical cooperation, and strategic investment.

According to the analysis of many institutions, humanoid robots and the automotive industry have a certain homology in technology, and some parts such as vision and lidar on the automobile and related software systems can be reused by humanoid robots. Citic Securities Research report also pointed out that 2025 or will become the year of mass production of humanoid robots. (Reporter Li Yifan Chen Yunfu Zhou Rui)