SAIC's MG brand attracted a group of foreign dealers to stop, take photos and experience; at BYD's booth, a Pakistani internet celebrity who spoke Urdu started a live broadcast to the camera; a delegation of the French Automobile Association led by former French Prime Minister Raffarin checked in at the Xiaopeng Motors booth and shook hands and fist bumped with a humanoid robot...

The 21st Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition, held recently at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), with the theme of "Embrace Innovation and Win-Win Future", attracted nearly 1,000 well-known automobile industry chain companies from around the world to participate in the exhibition, becoming an undoubted top event in the automotive industry.

Talking about business, cooperation, and live broadcasting - under the shadow of trade protectionism, the surging heat of the 2025 Shanghai Auto Show proves an irrefutable truth: open innovation is still the mainstream trend of world economic development; the open Chinese market is still attractive to global companies.

Brand's "race field"

"I am Tong Oufu. Please take care of me as I am new here. Although my Chinese is not up to the "Mercedes-Benz standard", I will study hard and improve every day at the "Chinese speed." At the 2025 Shanghai Auto Show, Tong Oufu, a member of the board of directors of Mercedes-Benz Group and the "head" of Greater China business for less than three months, showed off his Chinese in his speech. Although it was a bit stiff, everyone at the scene gave him warm applause.

In 2024, China's automobile production and sales will reach 31.282 million and 31.436 million respectively, breaking the 30 million mark for the second consecutive year and maintaining the world's first position. In the first quarter of 2025, China's automobile production and sales will reach 7.561 million and 7.47 million, up 14.5% and 11.2% year-on-year respectively. Tong Oufu said that working in the Chinese market is pressure, but also motivation; competition, but also opportunity; challenge, but also expectation.

English, German, Japanese, Arabic, Spanish... Walking into the 2025 Shanghai Auto Show, you can see faces of different countries and skin colors. According to the information released by the organizer, Shanghai Council for the Promotion of International Trade, as an international A-class auto show, this Shanghai Auto Show attracted nearly 1,000 companies from 26 countries and regions to participate in the exhibition, with a total exhibition area of ​​more than 360,000 square meters, and more than 100 new cars are expected to be launched.

The huge potential of the Chinese market has made the Shanghai Auto Show a "field" for global auto brands to compete. The domestic brands that have risen strongly in recent years still shined at this auto show. Unlike the past when Chinese brands were mostly concerned about economy cars, many local manufacturers focused on displaying their own luxury models at the Shanghai Auto Show.

Zeekr's super luxury SUV Zeekr 9X and BYD's luxury model Yangwang U8L all chose to debut at the Shanghai Auto Show. These domestic brands have collectively broken through the price anchor of 500,000 yuan or even higher, showing that the technological confidence and market competitiveness of China's auto industry are breaking through across the board.

Foreign and joint venture brands that once lagged behind in the electrification and intelligent transformation have also regrouped. SAIC-GM Buick officially announced the high-end new energy sub-brand "Zhijing", Beijing Benz brought the long-wheelbase CLA model with both charging speed and driving range, and SAIC Volkswagen showed off its first extended-range hybrid model ID.ERA concept car... From price to technology, foreign and joint venture brands have put down their burdens and built cars in line with the needs of the Chinese market.

BMW Group Chairman Zipse said that BMW has always adhered to "innovation in China, for China, at the speed of China", and Audi SAIC Cooperation Project CEO Song Feiming said bluntly: "If you can succeed in the Chinese market, you will definitely succeed in the world."

Gu Chunting, Vice President of the Shanghai Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that the Shanghai Auto Show has become an important indicator of the development of the global automotive industry. The active participation of foreign capital and foreign companies reflects the strong attraction of the Chinese market to the global automotive industry, and will further promote the integration and development of the Chinese automotive industry with the world.

Technology "show"

CATL released a sodium-ion battery "Naxin" that can still discharge normally at minus 40℃; multinational automotive technology giant Bosch and local technology company Horizon cooperated to create an upgraded version of assisted driving; BMW, Geely, Dongfeng and many other automakers announced to deepen the "on-board" application of AI large models such as DeepSeek...

If the focus of previous auto shows was the "new car launch conference", the 2025 Shanghai Auto Show is more like an automotive technology carnival. On the major auto booths, there are fewer various traffic marketing and more solid technology releases.

Gu Chunting, who has organized many auto shows, said that at this year's Shanghai Auto Show, the automotive technology and supply chain exhibition area is about 100,000 square meters, accounting for nearly one-third of the total area. Exhibiting companies include Bosch, ZF, CATL and other global top 100 parts suppliers, as well as Horizon, SenseTime Jueying, iFlytek and nearly 100 chip semiconductor and autonomous driving solution companies. "As the saying goes, 'outsiders watch the excitement, insiders watch the doorway', all kinds of amazing new travel experiences are inseparable from the support of automotive technology and supply chain companies. These companies have moved from behind the scenes to the front stage and collectively occupied the C position, which is one of the most distinctive features of the Shanghai Auto Show."

On the one hand, technology is profoundly changing the connotation of the automotive industry. The 2025 Government Work Report clearly stated that "a new generation of intelligent terminals and intelligent manufacturing equipment such as intelligent networked new energy vehicles will be vigorously developed." The integration of AI large models, high-precision maps and automotive chips has enabled cars to evolve from "mobile tools" to "intelligent terminals", and the value chain of the automotive industry is accelerating from "manufacturing-driven" to "technology + service-driven".

"Knowing cars and knowing you better" is the slogan of SAIC Group, which is at the home court, at the Shanghai Auto Show. From in-vehicle software to hardware such as cockpits, interior and exterior decoration, SAIC will provide consumers with more "customization rights". At present, SAIC has created a "family bucket" of smart cars together with partners such as Horizon, Momenta, and Huawei. "Our technology route has no walls or islands. We want to share the beauty with all competitors and partners and each of us has our own beauty." said Jia Jianxu, President of SAIC Group.

In the past joint venture era, China's automobile industry relied on "market for technology". Today, relying on the world's leading intelligent electrification technology, China's automobile technology is accelerating its export. Mercedes-Benz is equipped with China's Doubao AI model, Audi uses Huawei Qiankun intelligent technology, and two customized AI intelligent bodies jointly developed by BMW and Alibaba are launched at the Shanghai Auto Show. BBA, the benchmark of the automotive industry, collectively embraces Chinese technology.

On the other hand, technology is also increasing the extension and imagination of the automotive industry. The Shanghai Auto Show started with cars, but it is not limited to cars. From eVOTL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) to humanoid robots, various cutting-edge technologies frequently appear on major auto booths.

"Iron Man, how do you evaluate this flying car?" "This is a land aircraft carrier, the first mass-produced flying car, full of technology!" At the Xiaopeng Motors booth at the Shanghai Auto Show, founder He Xiaopeng tested the company's self-developed humanoid robot IRON "Iron Man" on the spot to "guide" Xiaopeng's self-developed flying car. This "man" and "machine" quickly caught the attention of visitors and became one of the popular "check-in places" at the Shanghai Auto Show.

Zhang Yongwei, vice chairman and secretary-general of the China Electric Vehicle Hundred People's Association, observed that a very interesting trend has emerged in the automotive industry in the era of artificial intelligence: "'On the road' is a smart car, 'flying up' is a flying car and low-altitude economy, and 'standing up' is a humanoid robot and embodied intelligence. In terms of underlying technologies such as chips and control systems, cars, people, and machines are interconnected and can empower each other."

"Today's China's trends will lead the direction of tomorrow's world." The emotion of Zipse, chairman of the BMW Group, at the 2023 Shanghai Auto Show has turned from a prophecy into reality.

Investment "magnetic field"

The combination of cutting-edge electric intelligent technology source, perfect automotive industry chain supply chain foundation, and huge consumer market hinterland makes Shanghai and China still a hot investment destination favored by global automobile complete vehicle and supply chain companies.

On the eve of the opening of the 2025 Shanghai Auto Show, Shanghai and Toyota Motor Corporation signed a cooperation ceremony, and Toyota's wholly-owned Lexus pure electric vehicle and battery research and development production company announced that it would settle in Jinshan, Shanghai. According to the plan, the total investment of the project is 14.6 billion yuan, and it is expected to officially start construction in June this year, and the first car will officially roll off the assembly line in 2027.

At this Shanghai Auto Show, Toyota used the core strategy of "establishing the world and becoming more Chinese" to declare to the world its importance and commitment to the Chinese market. Li Hui, general manager of Toyota China, said: "China is leading in intelligence and electrification. If the products are loved by Chinese consumers, they can also be favored by the global market." In addition to launching electric vehicle products that are more in line with Chinese consumer needs, Toyota also launched the China Chief Engineer (RCE) system, with local teams leading vehicle development. Taking the Chinese market as the origin of innovation, Toyota has started a strategic leap from "global technology adapted to China" to "Chinese wisdom defines the world".

Automotive supply chain companies are also accelerating their concentration in China. On the eve of the auto show, BASF announced an investment of about 500 million yuan in Pudong to provide shock absorber solutions for China's new energy vehicle market. In fact, since investing and operating in Pudong in 1994, BASF has increased its investment and expanded its production in China many times. From visible body paint, tangible steering wheels, to invisible and intangible exhaust catalysts, local production can be achieved.

"We have observed that global automakers are increasingly adopting Chinese technology, including cooperating with Chinese suppliers on intelligent assisted driving, using joint venture partners' platforms or local engineers to develop electric vehicle models, and establishing or expanding Chinese R&D teams, etc." Gong Min, head of UBS China Automotive Industry Research, said.

Create a good environment for foreign investment and continue to expand institutional opening from the central government to local governments. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that restrictions on foreign investment access in China's manufacturing sector will be fully lifted in 2024. In the next step, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will support foreign-funded enterprises to set up R&D centers in China and jointly carry out technology R&D and industrial application with domestic enterprises.

Han Dadong, the second-level inspector of the Shanghai Economic and Information Commission and director of the Automobile Industry Department, said that Shanghai supports the development of electric smart cars. At present, Shanghai has opened 1,586 test roads with a total length of 2,767 kilometers. Shanghai Jiading and Suzhou, Jiangsu have achieved ground road interconnection and mutual recognition of test licenses. Focusing on key links in the industrial chain and supply chain, Tesla's localization rate in the Yangtze River Delta region reached 80%, and SAIC-GM's localization rate in the Yangtze River Delta region reached 85%. In the next step, Shanghai will strengthen the application of innovative technologies such as all-solid-state batteries, high-computing chips, and large models of intelligent driving to promote the coordinated development of the Yangtze River Delta and national automobile industry chains.

2025 is the 40th anniversary of the Shanghai Auto Show. Over the past 40 years, the Shanghai Auto Show has witnessed the transformation of China's automobile industry from a learner to an innovator, from a follower to a leader. Unswervingly following the path of openness and innovation, the Shanghai Auto Show has always been online, and Shanghai and China have always been present.