BEIJING — Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers are expected to take the spotlight at the world’s biggest car show as it opened on Friday automakers are seeking to lure buyers in a cutthroat market.
The Auto China exhibition initially opened to industry professionals and the media, and will be open to the public from April 28 until May 3.
Rows of influencers taking selfies in front of gleaming models at the cavernous international exhibition center in the capital while animated CEOs worked the crowds in front of massive LED screens.
Hundreds of thousands of auto fans are expected to descend on the Chinese capital next week to size up the latest sleek, teched-out models on the market.
Chinese manufacturers including BYD, Xiaomi and Xpeng are expected to outdo the competition as they showcase the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) software and autonomous driving technology into their EVs, as well as battery charging and futuristic transportation.
At the sprawling expo, crowds cheered as XPeng Chief Executive He Xiaopeng took the stage beside the Chinese company’s latest model, the GX, a six-seat electric SUV.
The imposing 5.2-meter vehicle incorporates AI technology and is aiming at breaking into the luxury market, He said.
It would soon be followed by humanoid robots this year, He promised, and eventually by flying cars, which XPeng hopes to mass-produce.
Manufacturers are also competing on driving ranges.
Xiaomi Chief Executive Lei Jun recently completed a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) trip from Beijing to Shanghai in the SU7 Pro electric sedan, stopping only once to recharge during the 15-hour drive.
Legacy overseas brands such as Volkswagen, Toyota and BMW that have once dominated in China, are losing market share in past years to domestic firms that beat them to the electric vehicle revolution and undercut them on price.
These foreign automakers are now collaborating closely with local companies to keep pace with technological advances.
BMW has partnered with Chinese battery maker CATL and Volkswagen is developing EVs together with Xpeng.
XPeng President Brian Gu told reporters that companies were “leveraging their respective strength to collaborate with China” a trend he said would continue both domestically and overseas.
Fierce competition
The Auto China exhibition will span 380,000 square meters (4 million square feet), according to organizers sprawling more than 50 football pitches and more than 1,400 vehicles from hundreds of foreign and domestic companies will be on show.
This year, companies will also jostle to sell space, analysts say, with roomy SUVs’ new growth area targeting customers prioritizing seating and comfort.
China “has become a customer retention and replacement/upgrade-driven market, and these big SUVs address that need,” independent analyst Lei Xing wrote on a blog this week.
Firms have flooded the domestic market in recent years with trade-in schemes, offering huge discounts to customers to give up their old auto for a new one.
The fierce price war led Chinese officials last year to call for tighter price monitoring and improving long-term regulation of competition.
But newcomers appear unfazed, Lei wrote, naming at least eight EV brands from Chinese automakers that have cropped up over the last two years.
Electric cars, which China dominates, are also getting a boost as spiraling oil prices from the Middle East war are making drivers shy away from fossil-fuel powered models.
