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The competition among automakers has escalated from a price war to a technology war, shifting from the first half of electrification to the second half of intelligence, and spreading from domestic to global markets.

Produced by | Heyan Yueche Studio

Written by | Li Suwan

Edited by | Heyan Studio

3323 words in full text

5 minutes to read

The young Aion seems to be getting even younger. On November 6, Aion's second global strategic model, the Aion RT, officially went on sale, priced at RMB 119,800-165,800. At the launch event, the catchy "RT Big Eyes Little Panamera" anthem and the prevalence of internet celebrities created an atmosphere where it was evident that Aion was pulling out all the stops to connect with younger generations. The Aion RT boasts high aesthetics, spaciousness, high intelligence, fast charging, and long endurance, especially its advanced intelligent driving features, which are irresistibly appealing to young people who have grown up in the AI era.

△Advanced intelligent driving is irresistibly appealing to young people who have grown up in the AI era

Coincidentally, XPeng Motors, also located in Guangzhou, held the "XPeng AI Technology Day" and the XPeng P7+ launch event consecutively on November 6 and 7 at the alma mater of the company's chairman, He Xiaopeng. Through global live broadcasts from the other side of the Pearl River, they shared XPeng's innovative concepts, achievements, and future visions with users and tech enthusiasts worldwide.

Automobiles are the application carriers that concentrate the latest technological achievements of mankind. Both an auto company backed by a state-owned enterprise and a privately-owned auto company supported by capital have coincidentally emphasized the importance of "AI," intelligent driving, and globalization, indicating that the competition among automakers has escalated from a price war to a technology war, shifting from electrification to intelligence and spreading from domestic to global markets.

△What will future AI cars look like?

Upper and Lower Limits of Intelligent Driving

Whether it's the crash of Aion's pre-sale system shortly after the Aion RT's launch or the temporary crash of XPeng's official app on the day of the XPeng P7+'s launch, both incidents suggest that consumers, especially younger ones, are fond of the intelligent driving experience in cities.

After the Aion RT launch event, Gu Huinan, General Manager of GAC Aion, said in an interview with Heyan Yueche and other media that GAC Aion aims to be a leader and popularizer of intelligent driving. The English name of GAC Aion is AION, where AI stands for artificial intelligence, inherently implying "intelligent travel with love." The company's vision can be seen from its name. "For Aion, the cars we make are not just vehicles but a series of them. Unless the positioning and pricing of lower models cannot be covered temporarily due to the currently high cost of advanced intelligent driving, we will strive to make advanced intelligent driving a standard feature in all Aion cars within two to three years."

△Gu Huinan said that GAC Aion aims to be a leader and popularizer of intelligent driving

Xiao Yong, Deputy General Manager of GAC Aion responsible for marketing, emphasized the importance of product strength and price competitiveness. In the A-segment market where the Aion RT is positioned, the primary consumers are young people who are eager and aspire to advanced intelligent driving. However, previously, such advanced intelligent driving systems with lidar were mainly available in models priced above RMB 200,000 to RMB 250,000, especially functions like city NDA. Therefore, Aion hopes to bring the advanced intelligent driving experience to young consumers through the RT and the previously launched Tyrannosaurus Rex models, allowing their first car to offer such high-tech and intelligent experiences, equivalent to the concept of technological equality.

The price of the Aion RT equipped with the advanced intelligent driving version has dropped to RMB 150,000, and currently, orders for this version account for about 40% of the total orders for the Aion RT. Zhang Xiong, Deputy General Manager of GAC Aion, analyzed from the perspective of an automotive researcher that the popularization of autonomous driving needs to solve two issues: the first is safety. Advanced intelligent driving is not just for show but for enhanced safety. Therefore, it is necessary to raise the upper limit of scenarios and improve the lower limit of safety. All technological iterations and upgrades of Aion's autonomous driving are developed around these two technological concepts. Of course, the rapid advancement of autonomous driving technology today is corely due to technological upgrades, especially new intelligent driving algorithms. As we know, there has been a significant iteration from RBV+Transformer to end-to-end technology. The original algorithms had limitations, but with new algorithms, all information does not need manual screening, naturally making the multidimensional and comprehensive information perceived around more sufficient. Therefore, the urban NDA launched by Aion this year offers a vastly different user experience from last year's, and Aion will continue to introduce new algorithms in the future.

△The price of the Aion RT equipped with advanced intelligent driving has dropped to RMB 150,000

The second issue is cost. "Mr. Gu has set a goal for Aion's R&D team to reduce the cost of intelligent driving by half next year based on the current level. We are confident in continuing to reduce costs through some basic considerations, especially iterations of the chip itself," said Zhang Xiong. Through technological iterations and upgrades, not only can autonomous driving become safer but costs can also be reduced.

The XPeng P7+, which went on sale a day after the Aion RT, also achieved cost reduction through technology, priced between RMB 186,800 and RMB 218,800, with the starting price reduced by RMB 23,000 compared to the pre-sale price. The newly launched XPeng P7+ no longer distinguishes between Max and Pro versions. In the past, the Max version was equipped with lidar and supported advanced intelligent driving functions such as city navigation-assisted driving, while the Pro version did not have lidar and only had basic assisted driving functions. "We will make advanced intelligent driving features available on models without lidar," said He Xiaopeng.

△The XPeng P7+ is XPeng's first model to achieve a 25% reduction in technical costs

As the first model to use XPeng's new-generation autonomous driving hardware platform, the XPeng P7+ is XPeng's first model to achieve a 25% reduction in technical costs. The car will make advanced intelligent driving features available on models without lidar but still achieve the same urban intelligent driving capability as lidar models. Therefore, according to He Xiaopeng, the XPeng P7+ still has a small profit margin.

With technological enhancements, not only can product costs be reduced, but marketing costs can also be lowered. He Xiaopeng posted on his social media that using AI to produce promotional videos is cost-effective.

△Using AI to produce promotional videos is cost-effective

Intense Competition in the Intelligent Driving Market Below RMB 200,000

Technological advancements have accelerated the price drop of advanced intelligent driving vehicles to below RMB 200,000, with the Aion RT even reaching around RMB 150,000. Xiao Yong noted that new energy and pure electric vehicles are rapidly penetrating the A-segment and A+, A- segments. To become a "king" in this fiercely competitive market, product strength and pricing must be "maximized."

Facing China's complex traffic environment and road conditions, advanced intelligent driving systems equipped with lidar at this stage can not only enrich the upper limit of intelligent driving experiences but also enhance its safety lower limit. However, lidar is generally used in models priced above RMB 200,000. The Aion RT breaks this barrier by being equipped with 27 intelligent driving hardware, including lidar, as well as the NVIDIA Orin-X high-performance chip and the fourth-generation perception end-to-end deep learning model. With the top-tier intelligent driving configuration in its class, it hopes to bring users a safer and more convenient advanced intelligent driving experience.

Recently, Aion has conducted nationwide intelligent driving activities, with thousands of users having in-depth experiences. On rural roads, the Aion RT accurately avoids livestock; in the underground maze of Chongqing, it accurately navigates every intersection; on narrow mountain roads, it accurately measures road width and stays centered; on highways, it performs well by accurately recognizing all traffic and speed limit signs to ensure compliant and safe driving; it accurately recognizes road information, making it easy to navigate in unfamiliar cities. The footprints of Aion RT's intelligent driving have spread across mountains, plains, and streets nationwide, fully demonstrating Aion's mapless NDA capabilities.

△Enriching the upper limit of intelligent driving experiences while enhancing its safety lower limit

Additionally, for young people, especially novice drivers, parking is an unavoidable challenge. The Aion RT's automatic parking system adapts to China's unpredictable parking spaces, accommodating over 300 parking scenarios. It can even remotely park in extremely narrow spaces. Due to its appealing intelligence, the Aion RT is popular among young people, having received over 30,000 orders in just over a month from pre-sale to launch, with a surge of orders on the launch day.

Similarly, the XPeng P7+ also experienced server crashes due to network congestion on its launch day. Priced from RMB 186,800, its unexpected pricing coupled with top-tier configurations like the Qualcomm 8295P cockpit chip, 15.6-inch central control screen, 10.25-inch full LCD instrument panel, 8-inch rear entertainment screen, and Nappa leather seats made it an instant hit. The XPeng P7+ received 31,528 firm orders on its launch day, breaking all previous sales records for XPeng. This demonstrates the unstoppable momentum of the advanced intelligent driving market.

△The advanced intelligent driving market is unstoppable

Currently, more and more new-energy vehicle makers have entered the second half of the intelligent driving competition, rushing to mass-produce end-to-end intelligent driving systems. In the intelligent driving race, Tesla, NIO, XPeng, Li Auto, Huawei, Xiaomi, Aion, and others are all vying for a spot in the first tier. Meanwhile, traditional automakers are also stepping up their efforts. BYD is investing RMB 100 billion to accelerate the development of its proprietary intelligent driving technology. Earlier this year, it integrated intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit systems to form an Intelligent Research Institute and later established the "Tianxuan" and "Tianlang" development departments to fully sprint towards the implementation of its proprietary intelligent driving solutions. With the mass production of models like the Tengshi and Yangwang equipped with the Tianshen Eye intelligent driving system, making advanced intelligent driving features available on lower-priced models will be the inevitable path forward. According to media reports, BYD plans to make basic intelligent driving features available on entry-level models. Once advanced intelligent driving is made available on models priced at around RMB 100,000, BYD's momentum will accelerate further. Recently, Chery also unveiled its advanced intelligent driving technology solution for the future, aiming to mass-produce over a dozen models equipped with advanced intelligent driving by 2025, ranging from mapless urban NOA to autonomous flagship highway NOA, relying on end-to-end technology to rapidly scale NOA production. Chery makes no secret of its ambition to enter the first tier of intelligent driving by 2025.

Review

2025 is predicted to be the year when non-advanced intelligent driving vehicles may be phased out. This prediction is not alarmist. As competition among automakers intensifies, many are not only accelerating the development of advanced intelligent driving vehicles to capture market share but also striving to enter the first tier of intelligent driving to ensure their relative safety in the market reshuffle.

(This article is originally created by Heyan Yueche and may not be reproduced without authorization)