Western car OEMs’ new motto: ‘Copy China’

Not too long ago, the Chinese came West to learn, and possibly copy, how companies develop technologies. In today’s global automotive industry, the tables have turned. – An article written by Junko Yoshida for the OJO-YOSHIDA REPORT, in collaboration with Yu Yang, principal analyst, automotive semiconductors at Yole Group.

Why are incumbent automakers flocking to China? Gaining a share in China – now the world’s largest automotive market – is an obvious reason. But there’s another, bigger reason. They want Chinese partners.
Auto OEMs in the West know they need the nimbleness and daring necessary to build cars at a 12-18-month design cycle, faster than the current cycle of several years.
In short, they want to copy China.
Right now, Western carmakers need partners more than they need customers. The Beijing Auto Show last month laid bare this reality, and China appears willing to encourage it.
At the Beijing Auto Show, Tu Le, founder and managing director of Sino Auto Insights, spotted throngs of German engineers flown in — visa-free — by Volkswagen.
China eased entry to citizens of eleven EU nations, seeking “to facilitate the high-quality development of Chinese and foreign personnel exchanges and high-level opening up to the outside world,” said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson announcing the visa waiver last November. (…)

Given that “EV is not a trend in China, but a fact,” Yu Yang, principal analyst, automotive semiconductors at Yole Group, after attending the Beijing Auto Show, said, “China is turning to a new chapter — ADAS.” Chinese OEMs are pitching NOA (Navigate on Autopilot), a semi-autonomous driving oncept similar to FSD. Yang explained that NOA still requires drivers to keep hands on the wheel, ready to take over. “Normally there are highway NOA and urban NOA. The former is more frequently seen, and the latter is increasingly in penetration.” These drive-assist functions “are increasingly pursued by OEMs/suppliers, and more importantly accepted and used by customers,” Yang explained.

So, who’s supplying chips designed to enable ADAS features in Chinese vehicles? Xpeng’s G9, for example, uses Nvidia’s Drive Orin to enable ADAS features and Qualcomm’s SoC for in vehicle infotainment (IVI).
These two U.S. chip giants appear to dominate among China’s vehicles with ADAS and IVI systems, Le noted. However, local players are emerging. Yang cited Horizon Robotics (a JV with VW group), Black Sesame, SemiDrive and SiEngine (a JV between Geely group and Arm China).
All had booths at the Beijing Auto Show.” Local players are trying to compete on cost, he observed, “while they are attacking the market segments that are now more dominated by Mobileye and Texas Instruments…”

… Read the full article HERE.

Source: https://ojoyoshidareport.com/