Expand the advantages of the new energy vehicle industry


The first is the advantage of foundational elements. Whether it is the number of automotive hardware engineers or software engineers, our country has far surpassed the United States, Germany, Japan, and South Korea, cultivating the world's largest talent pool for the new energy vehicle industry.

First is the advantage of basic elements. Whether it is the number of automotive hardware engineers or software engineers, our country has far surpassed countries like the US, Germany, Japan, and South Korea, cultivating the world's largest talent pool for the new energy vehicle industry. From the perspective of capital elements, after years of continuous high investment accumulation, our country has formed the world's largest automobile production base, with production equipment and technical conditions ranking among the best in the world. From the perspective of data elements, supported by the explosive growth of new energy vehicles, massive amounts of data are generated every day, driving new product design and technological iteration.

  Second is the advantage of production capacity scale. The automotive industry has typical characteristics of "economies of scale." The larger the scale, the more it can spread fixed costs, and the more strength it has for R&D investment. Our country's new energy vehicle production capacity has ranked first in the world for many consecutive years, with a production volume reaching 9.587 million units in 2023, accounting for over 60% of the global share. In addition to meeting domestic market demand, the advantage of production capacity scale also lays the foundation for new energy vehicles to go abroad and explore overseas markets.

  Third is the advantage of the industrial system. Currently, our country has formed a relatively complete supporting system for the new energy vehicle industry. This system includes not only the traditional production and supply network for body, chassis, and automotive parts but also the emerging supply systems for batteries, electric control, electric drive systems, as well as electronic products and software, making our country a pivotal node in the global new energy vehicle industry chain supply chain network.

  Fourth is the advantage of rapid iteration. In recent years, the technology entrepreneurship and business model innovation in our country's new energy vehicle field have been very active, demonstrating a strong ability to adapt to user needs and develop new functions. The frequency and speed of new model launches are remarkable, both horizontally and vertically. Although some new models have declared failure shortly after entering the market, overall, this small-step, fast-running, rapid iteration business model has become a unique advantage of China's new energy vehicle industry at this stage.

  At the same time, the development of our country's new energy vehicle industry also faces some challenges. For example, there are weak links in key core technologies such as automotive chips and basic software, which urgently need technological breakthroughs. The stability and endurance of power batteries still need improvement; moreover, compared to established international automotive companies, the brand influence and recognition of our country's new energy vehicle companies need to be enhanced, and the experience of international operations and global resource allocation is relatively lacking. In view of this, we should accelerate the filling of shortcomings and strengthening of advantages, continuously consolidate the development advantages of our country's new energy vehicle industry, and enhance global competitiveness.

  Strengthen the research and development of key technologies. The three major systems of batteries, electric control, and electric drive are key to the technological competition of electric new energy vehicles and are a concentrated reflection of hard power. Especially in the field of automotive power batteries and electric control systems, domestic and international technological competition is quite fierce. Our automotive companies should continue to increase R&D investment, consolidating advantages in basic research, technological innovation, and industrial promotion at all stages to form leadership.

  Accelerate the exploration of intelligent connectivity. Intelligent connectivity relies on the deep integration of vehicles, roads, the internet, and power grids, and is the major direction for the future development of the automotive industry. If electrification is a significant leap in the history of automotive industry development, then intelligent connectivity will be an even more critical leap in the future development process of the automotive industry. Intelligent connected vehicles will no longer be isolated transportation tools but important mobile nodes in the internet, IoT, and distributed power grids. Currently, the intelligent connectivity of vehicles is still in its preliminary stage, mainly focusing on navigation, in-car entertainment facilities, and driving assistance systems. In the next stage, the intelligent connectivity of vehicles will further develop towards higher levels such as vehicle-road collaboration, autonomous driving, and integration with power grids. Our country should combine the market advantages of the new energy vehicle industry with the institutional and mechanism advantages in infrastructure fields such as transportation, communication, and electricity, innovate the collaboration model between government and market, leverage collaborative innovation advantages, and accelerate the exploration and promotion of the development of intelligent connectivity in vehicles.

  Hone global operational capabilities. The automotive industry is a typical industry with significant scale effects. In recent years, the rapid development of our country's new energy vehicle industry has largely benefited from the domestic super-large-scale market advantage. However, compared to the global market of over 8 billion people, the domestic market of over 1.4 billion is ultimately limited. The more than a century-long history of the global automotive industry has proven that for automotive companies to survive and achieve long-term success, they must take the path of large-scale internationalization. German, American, Japanese, and South Korean automotive companies have all done so. In the future, our country's new energy vehicle industry must hone its global operational capabilities through "going abroad." For automotive companies, they should comprehensively adopt various models such as international trade, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, greenfield investments, and authorized operations, continuously learning and enhancing their international operational capabilities and industrial chain integration capabilities in the process of "going abroad," achieving global operations of supply chains, HR, and sales networks.