AutoTrends Weekly
News Highlights
Didi forms electric vehicle joint venture with Hainan state firms (Caixin Global, July 4)
Global connected car revenues to grow five-fold by 2025 at $24 billion, study projects (ETAuto.com, July 2)
Blockchain and the sharing economy (ZDNet, July 3)
China's auto consumption market may rebound, green, intelligent, and personalized products become new driving force for market growth (Chinanews.com, July 4)
Ministry of Commerce: International cooperation in auto industry is increasingly active (Autohome, July 2)
1
Urban Transportation
Didi forms electric vehicle joint venture with Hainan state firms
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing has formed a joint venture to operate electric vehicle services with two state-owned enterprises in southern China's Hainan province.
The joint venture which was announced on July 4 will involve a subsidiary of China Southern Power Grid and an investment arm of the Hainan government. It's set to lease and sell electric vehicles and manage charging infrastructure, the statement said.
Didi said the joint venture will allow it to share data analytics and fleet management expertise with the two companies, without providing further details.
Haunted by safety issues, the country's dominant ride-hailing player has recently focused on transforming into a data-driven transportation business while answering Beijing's call to develop the new-energy vehicle industry. (Caixin Global, July 4)
Cao Cao launches hitch riding business that will become operational in September
On July 3, ECARX partnered with Geely Auto to hold the GKUI19 launch event and celebrate the global debut of the Geely Bo Yue PRO in Beijing.
It's worth noting that Cao Cao, a ride-hailing platform strategically invested by Geely, will collaborate with the GKUI19 smart ecosystem to jointly create an intelligent, connected mobility ecosystem.
On that day, Cao Cao also launched its hitch riding business that is scheduled to officially become operational by September, 2019.
The introduction of the hitch riding service represents Cao Cao's further exploration in the development of a green, intelligent human-vehicle ecosystem.
In the future, GKUI19-equipped vehicles will seamlessly offer ridesharing service through the Cao Cao mobility platform.
Leveraging advantages in terms of vehicle resources and technology, Cao Cao will continue exploring the intelligent mobility field. (NetEase Auto, July 4)
It may take 30-40 years for shared mobility solutions to replace private car purchases
It may take 30-40 years for shared mobility solutions to replace private car purchases, said Li Jie, executive vice president of Government Affairs and Alliance Office at Jaguar Land Rover China, at a side meeting concerning international investment trends and cooperation opportunities of the new energy vehicle industry during the 2019 World New Energy Vehicle Congress (WNEVC).
Li believes that with the upcoming 5G era, autonomous driving will possibly embrace some big breakthroughs.
According to him, the auto industry is under great pressure this year, especially emerging carmakers. If both emerging and traditional automakers are not profitable, it is possible that the goal of selling 2 million NEVs in 2020 cannot be achieved.
Facing a large number of car users, 5G might result in some very effective solutions in terms of user operations. (NetEase Auto, July 1)
2
Automotive Innovation
Global connected car revenues to grow five-fold by 2025 at $24 billion, study projects
Connected is the new keyword for the automakers across the world and the revenue from connected cars is expected to grow five-fold by 2025, latest research by Counterpoint's Smart Automotive Service has projected.
The revenue from connected card across the world will reach more than $24 billion by 2025, as the study projects.
US and Europe are the key contributor in this growth story for the connected cars. In the Chinese market as well, demands for connected cars are increasing fast. More than 35% of the global connected car sales is expected to be attributed to the Chinese market.
More than 286 million connected passenger cars will be plying on roads globally during 2019-2025, the study says. The research has also revealed that safety regulations and customer experiences are driving exponential growth for the connected vehicles. (ETAuto.com, July 2)
11 automotive and mobility companies publish framework for safe automated driving systems: SaFAD
Emphasizing safety by design, 11 automotive and automated driving technology companies have published "Safety First for Automated Driving," (SaFAD), a non-binding organized framework for the development, testing and validation of safe automated passenger vehicles.
The 11 companies, including Baidu, BMW, Continental, Daimler, and Volkswagen, comprise the broadest representation across the industry and have published, to date, the largest report on how to build, test and operate a safe automated vehicle.
The SaFAD white paper authors' purpose is to emphasize the importance of safety by design, along with verification and validation, as the industry works toward creating standards for automated driving.
SaFAD offers automated vehicle (AV) developers and operators a system for clear traceability that proves AVs to be "safer than the average driver" through components such as cameras or steering systems.
It is also the first time presenting a summary of widely known safety by design and verification and validation methods of Level 3 and Level 4 automated driving as defined by the SAE (J3016). (Green Car Congress, July 3)
3
Sharing Economy
Blockchain and the sharing economy
Blockchain is likely to play a role in such long-established sectors as financial services, healthcare, government, and others. There is also a possible role for blockchain in the sharing economy segment.
Whether blockchain will ever play a meaningful role in the sharing economy is up for debate. Some skeptics say it's all hype and blockchain's role could be minimal at best. But proponents say there is a natural fit between blockchain and the sharing economy services.
Blockchain has had a negligible, if any, impact on the sharing economy thus far, said Rajesh Kandaswamy, research director at Gartner Inc. But that might change in the coming months and years.
Some companies have already begun to develop blockchain-enabled offerings for the sharing economy.
As the sharing economy continues to grow, that could present new opportunities to leverage blockchain. Statista, a provider of market and consumer data, said there were 44.8 million adults using sharing economy services in the US in 2016, and forecast that this will increase to 86.5 million by 2021. (ZDNet, July 3)
4
NEV Industry
China's auto consumption market may rebound, green, intelligent, and personalized products become new driving force for market growth
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) revealed on July 4 that China's automobile consumption sector is likely to rebound in the second half of this year.
The continuous increase of vehicles conforming to China's National VI Emissions Standard as well as the implementation of a range of favorable policies would boost the passenger car market, while new energy vehicle (NEV) production and sales would maintain relatively fast growth.
The CAAM underscored that green, intelligent, and personalized products are becoming the driving force for the growth of the auto market. (Chinanews.com, July 4)
Volkswagen says 50% of China sales will be new-energy vehicles by 2035
By 2035 half of Volkswagen Group's sales in China will be NEVs, CEO Herbert Diess told a conference in Boao, China, on July 2.
VW intends to offer 14 electrified models in China this year.
By 2028, more than half of the Group's planned 22 million electric cars will be produced in China.
VW has joint ventures in China with FAW Group, SAIC Motor and JAC.
VW previously said it aimed to sell 400,000 NEVs in China next year and to sell around 1.5 million NEVs in China in 2025. (Reuters, July 2)
Sichuan issues notice on implementation of Phase 6 Motor Vehicle Emissions Standard
Sichuan province recently released a notice regarding the implementation of the Phase 6 Motor Vehicle Emissions Standard. The notice comes into effect on the seventh day since its release.
According to the notice, light-duty gasoline-powered vehicles registered in the province are required to meet the national 6a emissions standard, effective from once the notice comes into force.
Starting from July 1, 2020, all light-duty vehicles that are sold and registered in the province are required to conform to the national 6a emissions standard.
Additionally, heavy-duty diesel-powered vehicles registered in Sichuan are required to meet the GB 17691—2018 6a emissions standard once the notice comes into effect.
The new emissions policies are effective for 15 cities of Sichuan province, including Chengdu, Zigong, Luzhou, Deyang, Mianyang and Suining. (Sina Auto, July 5)
5
Others
Ministry of Commerce: International cooperation in auto industry is increasingly active
On July 1, Lin Ruochen, an official from the Ministry of Commerce, discussed the trend of increasingly active international cooperation in the automotive industry at the 2019 World New Energy Vehicle Congress (WNEVC).
According to him, carmakers of different countries are stepping up investment in the NEV sector. Against such a background, Chinese power battery makers and relevant equipment companies are further exploring the international market.
Furthermore, international cooperation in terms of digital technology application for automobiles holds huge potential.
Additionally, localized R&D is becoming a major feature of the auto industry. Many multi-national carmakers are racing to build R&D centers in China. Meanwhile, Chinese carmakers and component makers like Geely and CATL are strengthening efforts to expand their presence in overseas markets. (Autohome, July 2)
Read More
NewsTurbo Focus <Issue 12>
NewsTurbo is China's first English-language automotive news WeChat account that offers sophisticated insights into the industry, with a focus on the government's auto industry policies, and the latest tech trends like car sharing, connectivity, electrification, and autonomous driving.