Intelligent connected vehicles become the next trend
Intelligent connected vehicles are a new opportunity for the automotive industry to upgrade, and we cannot miss it again
Wen/Liu Shanshan
This is a bad era. The growth rate of China's automobile sales market has not only declined, but has even begun to show negative growth. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, sales in September were 2.3941 million vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 11.55%, reaching the largest decline since January 2012.

Data image: New energy vehicles. Photo by Luo Yunfei, journalist from China News Agency
This is also a good era. Capital is still pouring heavily into the car making industry, with a typical case being the rapid rise of emerging car making forces in the past two years. The showdown of strength is also, to some extent, a showdown of funds.
In the macro situation of sluggish growth in the Chinese automotive market, the new energy vehicle market still maintains a high growth rate, and intelligent connected vehicles have begun to become the next trend.
Billion level new industries
On October 21, 2018, at the closing ceremony of the 2018 World Intelligent Connected Vehicle Conference, Wang Gang, Director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, released the White Paper on the Beijing Intelligent Connected Vehicle Industry (2018), which clarified that the scale of intelligent connected vehicles and related industries in Beijing will reach 100 billion yuan by 2022.
The planned scale of 100 billion yuan in 2022 in Beijing is just a microcosm.
At the closing ceremony, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Management Regulations for the Use of 5905-5925MHz Frequency Band in Direct Connected Communication of Connected Vehicles (Intelligent Connected Vehicles)". "Years ago, we never imagined that one day radio frequencies would be connected to cars," said Xie Yuansheng, Director of the Radio Management Bureau of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
In his view, with the deep integration of new generation information and communication technology with the traditional automotive industry, a billion dollar intelligent connected vehicle (vehicle networking) industry is emerging.
At present, radio frequency has become a key area for the development of intelligent connected vehicles. Xie Yuansheng stated that the period from 2020 to 2025 is a critical period for the transformation and upgrading of the automotive industry, and new types of vehicles represented by intelligent connected vehicles will develop rapidly. It is reported that under current technological conditions, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has planned a 20MHz bandwidth frequency resource to meet the medium to long-term frequency usage needs of intelligent connected vehicle direct communication.
Intelligent connected vehicles not only improve traffic safety issues, but also provide opportunities for overtaking in the development of Chinese automobiles.
"Approximately one person dies in a traffic accident every minute worldwide. Traffic congestion also wastes time and increases emissions. Experience has shown that these situations can be improved through intelligent traffic management," said Wu Hequan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
Wu Hequan bluntly stated, "Intelligent connected vehicles are an industry. Currently, complex information electronic products and automotive electronic systems account for 30% to 60% of the cost of automobiles, and are the main source of profits for automobiles." According to Wu Hequan's introduction, foreign countries estimate that the global automotive electronic system market has a scale of 168 billion US dollars per year, and the Internet of Vehicles drives a new market of 130 billion US dollars, adding up nearly 300 billion US dollars (about 200 billion yuan). 80% of future automotive innovation will come from automotive electronics and intelligent connected systems.
For many years, almost all of China's automotive electronic systems have been imported. Without mastering automotive electronic systems, China will not be able to enter the core field of intelligent connected vehicles in the future, and smart transportation in cities will also be impossible to achieve.
"Intelligent connected vehicles are a new opportunity for the automotive industry to upgrade, and we cannot miss it again," said Wu Hequan.
Intelligent connected vehicles are an open and collaborative platform
How to seize this opportunity? For independent BAIC and Changan, they believe more in the power of cooperation.
On October 21st, BAIC Group signed strategic cooperation agreements with 12 companies including Bosch, ZF, Hella, and Panasonic. BAIC Group will collaborate with domestic and foreign component enterprises and high-tech companies, integrate advantageous resources, and carry out in-depth strategic cooperation in the field of intelligent connected vehicle technology and products, involving BAIC Group's vehicle research and development, manufacturing business segments, and Hainachuan component business segments.
Not long ago, BAIC Group released a five-year action plan for intelligent connected vehicles: the "Dolphin+" strategy. According to the plan, by 2022, BAIC Group will strive to have the world's intelligent driving and intelligent connectivity capabilities.
"The future ICV is an open and cooperative platform, and no one can take all of it. The Internet, software, chips, etc. involved in it are not covered by the original traditional automobile industry." Kong Fanzhong, vice president of BAIC Group Research Institute and president of New Technology Research Institute, said.
A few months ago, Changan announced plans for intelligent networking. Its partners include companies in the automotive industry chain and transportation industry such as CATL, Bosch Group, NIO, and Didi Group, as well as cross-border collaborations with companies such as Baidu, JD.com, iFlytek, Intel, and Tencent. Including Huawei, BYD, and others, they have also formed a deep partnership with Changan Automobile.
Changan Automobile has decided to invest 1.6 billion yuan in the field of intelligent connected vehicles, and has mastered 20 key technologies such as data fusion, planning and decision-making, and control execution in terms of autonomous driving modes and technical architecture. From 2018 to 2020, Changan Automobile will continue to improve its research and development layout, strengthen intelligent research and development, with the goal of becoming a "smart car enthusiast", and invest 20 billion yuan in the next 10 years, expanding the team size to 2000 people.
The era of "opening doors and making cars"
In the wave of intelligent connected vehicles, participating competitors not only include traditional automotive companies such as BAIC and Changan, but also numerous emerging car making forces such as Xiaopeng Motors. The competition model is different from the past, with more emphasis on having oneself within oneself and you within oneself.
Wang Chuanfu, Chairman and President of BYD Co., Ltd., stated that BYD has recently released the DiLink system, which has opened up 341 sensors and 66 control rights. The opening up of the automotive industry is also urgent. The open system of intelligent connected vehicles will also have an impact on smart cities and the smart transportation industry.
BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu believes that the key to intelligence is openness. Currently, a large number of intelligent technologies are universal, and as long as all parties open their platforms, sharing, interconnection, interoperability, and integrated innovation can be achieved.
In the view of He Xiaopeng, Chairman and CEO of Xiaopeng Motors, the future is definitely the market for intelligent connected vehicles, which rely on new energy vehicles. "Intelligent cars are software and hardware products with annual sales exceeding one million, parts exceeding ten thousand, and code volume exceeding one million lines." In He Xiaopeng's view, this is a new challenge for any intelligent car enterprise.
Tencent recently announced a strategic transformation to embrace the industrial Internet, with the automotive industry as a major focus. In the opinion of Ma Huateng, chairman and executive officer of Tencent's board of directors, ICV is an innovative carrier of cross-border integration, and the future development of the automobile industry needs the cooperation of traditional automobile enterprises and Internet technology companies. "Open door car manufacturing" is becoming a reality, and it is necessary to build a new industrial ecosystem through cross-border cooperation.
At the same time, the rapid development of intelligent connected vehicles has put forward higher requirements for China's relatively backward policies and regulations. As Wu Hequan said, intelligent connected vehicles bring challenges in technology, policies, regulations, and other aspects, and the standardization of intelligent connected vehicles is still ongoing.
(China Newsweek, 2018, Issue 41)