Is the senior generation panicking as intelligent driving rapidly sinks?

Author | Wang Xiaojun

Editor | Zhou Zhiyu

The price war after the Lunar New Year has arrived as expected and has become even more intense.

Brands like Tesla and XPeng have indirectly launched a price war in the form of "X years interest-free"; while BYD, Changan, and Geely have initiated a price war on another dimension by introducing advanced driving features.

On February 9 and 10, after the New Year work resumption, Changan and BYD successively dropped advanced driving bombs in the automotive industry. Especially, BYD's "Universal Intelligent Driving" strategy introduced 21 new models at once, covering markets from 70,000 to 200,000 yuan, all equipped with the advanced driving system, Tian Shen Zhi Yan C.

BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu stated at the press conference that 2025 will be the "Year of Universal Intelligent Driving," and it is expected that in the next 2-3 years, intelligent driving will become standard equipment like seat belts or airbags, providing momentum for the future development of the electric vehicle industry.

BYD's aggressive strategy in intelligent driving has also created ripples. On February 14, BYD's A-share price reached a peak, significantly rising during the trading session and setting a historical high, with its A-share market value once again surpassing the trillion yuan mark.

After BYD's press conference, Geely quickly followed up, announcing that it would release its AI intelligent strategy layout in early March.

In this competition of sinking intelligent driving, many leaders of brands that focus on intelligent driving have become restless, and the debate over intelligent driving has begun.

Richard Yu, Chairman of Huawei's Car BU, and Wei Jianjun, Chairman of Great Wall Motors, among other automotive industry leaders, have expressed differing views on universal intelligent driving. Richard Yu stated, "Being usable and being good and safe are completely different realms." Great Wall Chairman Wei Jianjun also commented, "Intelligent driving is not a show; practice makes perfect."

Currently, intelligent driving is still in the development process. Achieving universal intelligent driving first and then improving the overall level seems to be a normal development path; however, users also need to have a better understanding of intelligent driving, judging its quality through more experiences and actual feelings. The debate among the leaders also helps users gain more awareness of intelligent driving.

The sinking of intelligent driving has always been an inevitable trend, but this time BYD is the catfish.

In the past few years, the leaders of sinking intelligent driving have mainly been new forces like XPeng. A clear contrast is that before 2023, advanced intelligent driving was mostly equipped on models priced above 300,000 yuan. Richard Yu also stated that intelligent driving models below 300,000 yuan are currently mostly in a loss state, so Huawei will not launch low-priced models below 200,000 yuan.

By 2024, XPeng has equipped advanced intelligent driving on the 150,000 yuan level XPeng MONA M03 MAX model, further sinking intelligent driving.

The maturity of intelligent driving technology and the reduction in the costs of various hardware have also created conditions for the sinking of intelligent driving.

On one hand, the prices of core sensors such as lidar and high-performance chips have significantly decreased; for example, the cost of DJI's advanced driving solution has dropped to the 7,000 yuan level. Now, BYD further compresses costs through its self-developed pure vision solution (DiPilot 100), achieving standard configuration for models priced below 100,000 yuan The era of autonomous driving for all has arrived. For consumers, intelligent driving has shifted from "having or not having features" to "the quality of experience." Initially, consumers may choose intelligent driving models due to the psychology of "if others have it, I want it too," but in the long run, they will pay more attention to actual performance, such as takeover frequency and scenario coverage. After all, users are rational; previously, the most frequently used scenarios for intelligent driving were parking and the like.

As the industry leaders are concerned, safety remains the bottom line for a vehicle that is on the road.

Last year, several brands' cars experienced collisions during automatic parking. However, the speed during automatic parking scenarios is relatively low, which did not result in serious injuries. On the other hand, safety is even more critical when driving at high speeds on the road.

The essence of advanced intelligent driving sinking down is an inevitable result driven by technology, cost, and market forces, which will have a far-reaching impact beyond the scope of price wars and will reshape the competitive logic of the industry.

Sinking down is just the first step; becoming an intelligent driving system that users dare to use, find easy to use, and enjoy using should be the pursuit of car manufacturers moving forward.

In the future, car manufacturers need to find a balance between scaling down costs and enhancing user experience, while consumers' attitudes towards intelligent driving will shift from "passively accepting" to "actively choosing." Safety, practicality, and cost-effectiveness will become the key dimensions that determine success or failure.

However, whether or not a vehicle has intelligent driving features seems unlikely to become a standard for premium pricing. Universal intelligent driving means that the first-mover advantage of a few brands has been weakened, and all brands need to strengthen their offerings in more areas.

For example, XPeng has previously emphasized intelligent driving as its strong point, but its advantages in other areas were not as prominent. From last year's two models, XPeng has strengthened its performance in aspects such as range, design, and operation, allowing it to return to the forefront of new force sales this year.

The same applies to other brands.

In terms of intelligent driving, since the first-mover advantage has weakened, there is a need to further build differentiation, allowing users to actually feel the differences among brands and be willing to pay for them.

In other areas, it is also necessary to address shortcomings, such as balancing intelligent driving functions with cost-effectiveness, the foundation of three electric technologies, ecological integration capabilities, brand trust, and reputation accumulation, all of which will become key factors in user choice. After all, ultimate players cannot afford to fall short in any aspect.

In the new year, the curtain has been raised on the life-and-death battle of the automotive industry. It remains to be seen who will drop out midway and who can hold on until the end.

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