China’s tech giants give auto show a miss even as they push to dominate future of mobility
The three biggest Chinese internet companies Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu, collectively known as BAT, each have ongoing autonomous driving projects, services connecting users to their vehicles and have invested in electric-car start-ups.
Visitors to the world’s biggest car exhibition starting later this week in Beijing will get to see thousands of the latest models offered by both Chinese and foreign carmakers. But a big proportion of the most futuristic automotive technology will not be on show.
For that, they may have to go to a tech showcase instead. CES Asia 2018, to be held in Shanghai in June, for instance will see a 50 per cent increase in automotive exhibitors this year, including Hyundai Motor and FAW. But none of the big internet companies will be taking part in Auto China, the annual car exhibition that alternates between Shanghai and Beijing that will open this week.
Auto China gained in prominence as China overtook the US as the world’s biggest passenger-vehicle market, a proxy to the country’s growing importance as a consumer market. The show replaced the Tokyo Motor Show as the most important industry event in the region, a testimony to the shrinking market in Japan.
Foreign carmakers could tip their future China plans this week
The three big Japanese carmakers, Toyota, Honda and Nissan, instead routinely make their most important announcements at the Detroit auto show in January, or increasingly, unveil technology-related advances at the CES trade show in Las Vegas a week earlier.
“What carmakers sell now, driving functions and safety will no longer be considered important. No drivers will be needed and car accidents will be brought down to zero,” said Yale Zhang, managing director of Autoforesight Shanghai Co. “The body of the car will become unimportant and only the ‘brain’ will matter. Tech giants like BAT have advantages in data to train the `brain’ that can power smart cars.”
Even the new electric start-ups that are bringing new cars to market in the next few years are giving the traditional motor show a miss. Xpeng, which counts Alibaba as an investor, opted to take part in the Global Mobile Internet Conference held later this week, also in Beijing. The company will conduct test drives on the sidelines of the meeting. CHJ Auto, the start-up that signed an agreement to co-develop a compact car for Didi, is also a no-show.
The body of the car will become unimportant and only the ‘brain’ will matter
Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.