Three experts – Tan Minqiang, director of the Dongfeng Motor Corporation Technical Center, Ai Xinping, a professor at Wuhan University, and Tang Huifang, vice president of technology at Lotus Technology Co – were interviewed online by reporters from Changjiang Daily on July 10 about how to define cars in the new era.
According to Ai, the market penetration rate of domestic new energy passenger vehicles in 2020 stood at 5.8 percent, while in 2021, the number rose to 14.8 percent. In May this year, the rate climbed to 26.6 percent, a year-on-year increase of 15 percent. These statistics indicate that China's new energy vehicle (NEV) industry has been developing rapidly, with the industry increasingly guided by the market rather than government policies.
When asked why the NEV industry has seen such impressive growth, Ai highlighted costs and intelligenization, stressing that a NEV's application costs are just one-seventh that of conventional oil-fueled cars.
A mounting number of internet companies are trying to get into the auto-making industry. Tan justified the phenomenon, and expected this trend to intensify in the future.
Tang pointed out that the goal is to bring a better driving experience to consumers. "Previously, we were more focused on hardware, and treated cars merely as a transportation tool. Now they have become an intelligent mobile space closely associated with energy, traffic and city. This change has prompted the whole industry to think about how to achieve differentiated development, how to create a better consumer experience, and how to utilize digital technologies in automotive products," Tang said, "The entire automobile industrial chain will evolve into a three-dimensional travel service ecosystem and will reshape the whole industry."
