At this forum, industry giants gathered! Besides the price war and intelligence, what else did Lei Jun, Wang Chuanfu, and Li Xiang discuss?

The 2025 China Electric Vehicle Hundred-Person Forum will be held from March 28 to 30 at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. This year's forum focuses on the theme of "Consolidating Electrification, Promoting Intelligence, and Achieving High-Quality Development."

Lei Jun, Chairman of Xiaomi Group, Wang Chuanfu, Chairman of BYD, Li Xiang, Chairman of Li Auto, He Xiaopeng, Chairman of XPeng, and Li Bin, Chairman of NIO, among other industry leaders, gathered to discuss the future of the automotive industry.

Lei Jun emphasized the strategy of "technology as the foundation" and "a complete ecosystem of people, vehicles, and homes"; Wang Chuanfu declared that China's new energy vehicles are 3-5 years ahead of the global market; Li Xiang shared innovative measures for the open-source operating system of Li Auto; He Xiaopeng laid out plans for flying cars, expecting mass production and delivery by 2026.

Lei Jun: Xiaomi Cars Arrive Just in Time

As a new face attending the Electric Vehicle Hundred-Person Forum for the first time, Lei Jun became a focal point of attention. Deng Chenghao, Vice President of Changan Automobile, joked, "Our last trending topic was like a New Year celebration, but Lei Jun seems to celebrate New Year every day, sometimes several times a day."

"Technology is fundamental, deeply cultivating underlying technology, and making long-term continuous investments," Lei Jun stated in his speech. Five years ago, Xiaomi decided to invest 100 billion yuan over five years, and financial reports show that the actual investment reached 105 billion yuan, with expected R&D investment exceeding 30 billion yuan by 2025. "Only massive investment can truly enhance technology and improve products."

In response to external doubts about the timing of Xiaomi's entry into the automotive market, Lei Jun replied, "This is an era of new energy vehicles and a time for domestic brands to rise comprehensively. Everyone says Xiaomi is late to the game, but it seems just right today. Thanks to the collective efforts of the entire industry, by the time Xiaomi enters the automotive market, technology, consumer habits, and the industrial supply chain have all matured, so Xiaomi cars may have arrived just in time."

Last month, Xiaomi launched the top-spec model SU7 Ultra, which saw over 10,000 pre-orders within two hours of its release. Lei Jun noted that last year, luxury sedans priced over 500,000 yuan sold 121,000 units, "which can be said to have opened the door to the ultra-luxury market." He also expressed gratitude for user trust, stating, "60% of the initial sales of Xiaomi SU7 were 'angel orders,' meaning these users placed orders without seeing the actual car or test-driving it."

Regarding future strategies, Lei Jun stated that Xiaomi's strategy is "a complete ecosystem of people, vehicles, and homes," hoping that peers will share resources and unify standards. They have reached a consensus with several partners and are sharing ecosystems, "and soon Xiaomi's ecological components will appear in the cars of peers."

Wang Chuanfu: China's New Energy Vehicles Are 3-5 Years Ahead of the World, and the Process of User Acceptance and Recognition of Intelligent Driving Will Be Irreversible

Wang Chuanfu, Chairman of BYD, made a significant judgment at the forum: "China's new energy vehicle technology, products, and industrial chain are all 3 to 5 years ahead of the world." He believes that the automotive industry is undergoing a transformation from electrification to intelligence, "If the first half of electrification is about improvement, then the second half of intelligence is about disruption." "Wang Chuanfu stated that the speed of intelligent transformation is very fast and may be completed within 2 to 3 years. He likened it to the evolution of the smartphone industry, saying, 'The transition from feature phones to smartphones in our country took only two years.' He believes that the process of users accepting and recognizing intelligent driving will be irreversible, 'Once you have driven an intelligent car, you will never want to drive a non-intelligent car again.'

In terms of globalization strategy, Wang Chuanfu introduced that BYD's new energy vehicles have entered the top ten of all brands in more than ten countries and markets worldwide, while accelerating the creation of new energy vehicle products with localized characteristics. 'China's new energy vehicle export volume will reach a new high in 2024, welcomed by global consumers.'

Wang Chuanfu emphasized that BYD must seize the opportunities of the times and complete the qualitative transformation from 'going out' to 'going up,' 'taking the responsibility of building a strong new energy vehicle country on our shoulders and putting the interests of consumers at heart.' Chinese enterprises must adhere to open innovation, promote higher levels of opening up with higher-level green technologies and products, and go global through complementary advantages and open cooperation.

Li Xiang: The automotive operating system is the core goal of the next phase

Li Xiang, Chairman and CEO of Li Auto, focused on sharing the company's innovations in the automotive operating system field at the forum. Li Xiang stated that the automotive operating system will become the core goal of intelligent electric vehicle companies in the next phase, 'A highly efficient and high-performance automotive operating system will effectively solve the core contradiction between computing power demand and supply.'

Li Xiang revealed that Li Auto's open-source automotive operating system—Li Auto Star Ring OS will be launched in the open-source community in April, 'Li Auto Star Ring OS is expected to save suppliers and OEMs tens of millions or even hundreds of millions in operating system licensing fees each year.'

According to Li Xiang, under the premise of using the same chips and computing units, Li Auto's self-developed Star Ring operating system can surpass the industry-leading AutoSar operating system in multiple indicators. 'For example, our adaptation is more flexible, with a chip adaptation cycle of about 4 weeks, saving about 5 months compared to the past use of AutoSar; in addition, the range of chip adaptation is broader, with domestic chips like Horizon and Chipone, as well as foreign manufacturers' chips like Infineon and NVIDIA, all providing good support.'

Li Xiang stated that through the innovation of the operating system and the latest computing power, as well as eliminating a large number of redundant sensors and computing demands, the company has already seen results in cost reduction and efficiency improvement, 'For example, in 2024, we expect to save tens of billions in costs in one year.'

When discussing the core competitiveness of the enterprise, Li Xiang pointed out that the changes in the industry over the past decade have proven that the new forces that can survive possess different capabilities, while Li Auto's advantage lies in 'Li Auto understands how to do large-scale software better than all traditional car manufacturers, and understands how to build a car better than all internet companies.'

He Xiaopeng: The flying car market has broad prospects, with mass production and delivery expected in 2026

He Xiaopeng, chairman of XPeng Motors, shared his predictions for the flying car market and the company's layout in this field at a forum. He stated that in the next 10 to 20 years, global flying car sales will account for 3% to 5% of today's automotive scale. In terms of sales revenue, flying cars are expected to reach 20% of the automotive commercial scale. "The global automotive market is roughly USD 10 trillion per year, so the flying car market could reach USD 2 trillion."

He Xiaopeng revealed that over the past decade, XPeng's ecological enterprise, XPeng Huitian, has invested more than 10 billion yuan in flying car financing, with 1,400 personnel dedicated to flying car research and development. In 2025, they will invest 3 billion yuan in the flying field, "In the flying car sector, XPeng Huitian and XPeng Motors are conducting joint research and development."

Regarding technological research and development, He Xiaopeng introduced that XPeng is currently engaged in core full-stack R&D, including the three electrics and composite materials for flying cars. "Each flying car uses 300 kilograms of carbon fiber. The demand for carbon fiber composite materials will expand with the scale of flying cars. If mass production is achieved in 2026, XPeng is expected to become the largest automotive factory in the world using carbon fiber."

He Xiaopeng also mentioned that XPeng is promoting flight training, "We welcome everyone to try and obtain a pilot's license." He revealed that by the end of 2025, XPeng Huitian hopes to have more than 200 flying camps, and by 2026, more than 500. Currently, XPeng Motors has begun factory construction in Guangzhou, with an expected annual production capacity of 10,000 units, making it the world's first mass production factory for flying cars on an assembly line scale.

Li Bin: NIO has invested 60 billion yuan in R&D since its establishment

In his speech, Li Bin mainly introduced NIO's new car ET9 and his views on the company's future development.

When introducing the NIO ET9, Li Bin stated that this car is the longest-developed and most original mass-produced vehicle from NIO, featuring 17 pioneering technologies and 525 patents, reflecting NIO's innovations in intelligence, electrification, and mechanical performance.

Li Bin also introduced NIO's investment in redundant safety, with the overall safety cost of the ET9 exceeding 30,000 yuan.

In terms of R&D, NIO's investment for 2024 is 13 billion yuan, while it was 13.4 billion yuan in 2023. Since its establishment, the company has invested nearly 60 billion yuan in R&D.

NIO plans to release 9 new cars this year and continue to invest heavily in R&D. Li Bin also discussed NIO's efforts in building a charging and battery swap network, which currently has established 3,206 battery swap stations and over 25,000 charging piles nationwide, covering nine vertical and nine horizontal major city clusters.

Li Bin called for the industry to join forces to jointly promote the Chinese automotive industry to a new level. NIO will comprehensively enhance management capabilities and operational quality, striving to achieve profitability as soon as possible

Industry Consensus: Say Goodbye to Price Wars and Promote High-Quality Development

Against the backdrop of years of price wars, many guests at this forum called for the industry to pursue high-quality development.

Shi Jianhua, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Electric Vehicle 100 Forum, stated: "I believe we should first avoid engaging in 'price wars' and instead focus on genuinely improving our technological capabilities and ensuring quality to enhance product competitiveness. We need to increase R&D investment and build our brands through technological innovation. If everyone does this, perhaps the 'price wars' will come to an end."

Regarding the future landscape of the industry, Deng Chenghao, Vice President of Changan Automobile and CEO of Deep Blue Automotive, bluntly disagreed with the view that "there may only be 3 to 5 brands in the future." He said, "As the automotive market is being reshaped, many brands will certainly disappear, and in the end, there may be no more than 20 brands left." He believes that China's vast territory and rich culture can accommodate more differentiated brands to survive.

Gao Xiang, President and CEO of BMW Group Greater China, offered three suggestions for high-quality development in the industry: "First, AI+. The development of artificial intelligence should balance innovation and responsibility, with safety being an uncompromising bottom line that everyone needs to uphold; second, coordination of international policies and standards; third, healthy growth and technological openness. High-quality development is the most important characteristic of profitability and sustainable growth in the automotive industry chain, while the decline in industry profitability will worsen market order."

Chen Qingtai, Chairman of the China Electric Vehicle 100 Forum, stated that the achievements in the development of electric vehicles in China have not come easily and suggested that automotive companies should remain humble and consolidate their foundations from multiple aspects. He proposed four suggestions: firmly establish the national strategy for developing new energy vehicles, continue to strengthen top-level planning guidance; accelerate the R&D and industrialization process of solid-state batteries; improve the service system for charging facilities, financial insurance, etc.; and accelerate the integration of new energy vehicles and clean energy.

Acceleration of Intelligence

At this forum, experts generally believe that 2025 will be a critical juncture for the explosion of intelligent technology.

Ouyang Minggao, Vice Chairman of the China Electric Vehicle 100 Forum and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, stated that 2025 will be the inaugural year for the explosion of intelligent vehicle technology, which will last for five years. "DeepSeek has triggered a wave of large models. In 2025, advanced intelligent assisted driving technology will emerge, ushering in the era of widespread intelligent driving. By 2030, it is expected that L4 level fully autonomous passenger vehicles based on advanced end-to-end large models will achieve large-scale commercialization in mid-to-high-end passenger vehicles."

Yu Kai, Founder and CEO of Horizon Robotics, believes that once autonomous driving reaches L3 level, it can achieve full automation in certain scenarios; at L4 level, it will give rise to many expanded application content for consumption. He predicts that within the next three years, 100% of "hands-free driving" can be achieved.

Shan Jizhang, Founder and CEO of Black Sesame Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., predicts that by the end of 2025, the penetration rate of NOA (Navigation on Autopilot) in passenger vehicles will reach 20%, and by 2030, the penetration rate of intelligent vehicles above L2 level in China will exceed 90%, with the standard configuration of NOA exceeding 24 million vehicles Ouyang Minggao also reminded that multimodal large models, as the foundational models for end-to-end algorithms, can empower advanced autonomous driving technology, but the safety and reliability issues of large models still need to be addressed. "Level 3 autonomous driving needs to quickly resolve related legal and regulatory issues, while Level 4 autonomous driving requires experience accumulation and a gradual approach; it is not appropriate to propose universal autonomous driving for the time being."

Geely Automobile Group CEO Gan Jiayue also emphasized: "The experience of intelligent driving may vary, but we must ensure safety equity. Because safety is the bottom line of technological development, without a safety foundation, automotive intelligence can only be an unstable castle in the air."