As an industry giant in the field of intelligent driving, He Xiaopeng, Chairman and CEO of Xiaopeng Automobile, and Yu Chengdong, Executive Director of Huawei, CEO of Terminal BG, and Chairman of Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU, are facing a strong smell of gunpowder through the air.
The incident started in early November, and in an interview, He Xiaopeng mentioned: "Friends told me about AEB, and I think 99% is fake." It is seen as a direct reference to the intelligent driving function of the new M7.
On November 3rd, Yu Chengdong responded through a friend's post: "Even what AEB is, there are even car company leaders who have not yet understood it; they lack basic understanding of industry technology progress and future development
Source: Network
Subsequently, He Xiaopeng also responded in a friend circle, "I recently commented on an industry disorder, but the industry was not in a hurry, while non industry players were in a hurry. I don't know what he was in a hurry about
After a round of confrontation between the two, it seems that the 'verbal battle' has not yet reached its final chapter. On November 5th, a reporter from Time Weekly inquired with relevant personnel from Xiaopeng Automobile and Huawei about the progress of this matter and the company's attitude. As of the time of publication, no specific response was received. In the eyes of market observers, this incident is actually a fierce competition in the automotive market, where car companies compete for customers in the field of intelligent driving.
AEB Technology Debate
The "AEB" at the center of the vortex, also known as the Automatic Emergency Braking system, can monitor the driving environment in real-time in front of the vehicle and automatically activate the vehicle's braking system in case of potential collision danger, slowing down the vehicle to avoid or mitigate collisions.
On November 1st, He Xiaopeng talked about AEB in an interview: "Firstly, most people may never have touched AEB. Secondly, when a friend told me about AEB, I think 99% of it is fake. It's just fake, and all the publicity is not officially released by the company. It's all from small videos. Our people also asked, and its AEB can't be driven at all. There are too many cases of accidental braking on the road
He Xiaopeng believes that the current discussion of AEB in the automotive industry is mainly about vertical AEB, which in most cases has a speed of less than 60 kilometers per hour when triggered. If the speed is too high, once the brake is accidentally applied, it will be a huge shock to the user.
Subsequently, He Xiaopeng returned to his own research and development of intelligent driving systems, Our XNGP technology will take AEB as one of the directions to do well in the future. For example, a term we have been mentioning is called static AEB. Once there are obstacles around, vehicles will actively avoid them and cannot collide with them if they want to. I think it is wrong to treat customers like mice. Some companies dare to do this, but there will also be backlash. I have been working in the automotive industry for several years, but I am not willing to do so. However, we will definitely treat AE as a white mouse B did better
Although He Xiaopeng did not name his friend, the recently popular Wenjie New M7 from Huawei and Celes, equipped with the HUAWEI ADS 2.0 advanced intelligent driving system, is one of the important selling points of AEB. He Xiaopeng's remarks quickly caught the attention of Yu Chengdong.
On November 3rd, Yu Chengdong first reposted an article on his social media titled "OTA Heavyweight Upgrade, Not Relying on High Precision Maps, Intelligent Driving Can Drive Nationwide", mentioning the enhanced AEB and proactive safety capabilities brought by Huawei ADS2.0's advanced intelligent driving upgrade. He also included a repost saying: "Hurry up and experience! Even if AEB is something, there are car company leaders who don't even understand it
Subsequently, Under this dynamic, Yu Chengdong left three consecutive messages: "Some people simply don't understand what AEB is! To tell someone that intelligent driving is just a scam, almost the same!" "Lack of basic understanding of industry technology progress and future development Some car companies are busy with intelligent driving all day long, and the AEB active safety test results are very poor. I was surprised to find out that they didn't even do the basic functions of AEB. Either they were fooled by their subordinates, or they lacked the most basic understanding of the development of the automotive industry
This debate is a discussion about different perspectives on AEB technology. The market potential of AEB technology is enormous, and a report from the China Passenger Transport Association pointed out that as an important active safety function, AEB has achieved full line standard configuration in most new cars launched this year. As of the middle of this year, the proportion of passenger cars equipped with AEB function is 49.5%, among which the proportion of new energy vehicles equipped with this function has reached 55.8%; The popularity rate of this feature in passenger cars priced over 160000 yuan has reached 67%.
However, how to effectively implement and promote this technology is still a question worth exploring. Industry insiders have stated that although AEB functions are already very mature, the corresponding national standards still need to be improved. "The National Standards Commission has also issued relevant standards, and China's standards for passive safety can be said to be relatively complete. However, active safety like AEB cannot be said to be very complete yet
Intelligent driving competition intensifies
Although there are differences in the understanding of AEB between Yu Chengdong and He Xiaopeng, it cannot be denied that AEB has become an indispensable part of future intelligent driving. This time, the two of them are competing against each other across the air, which has become a microcosm of the increasingly fierce competition in the automotive industry in recent years, especially in the research and development of intelligent driving. The industry competition is becoming increasingly fierce.
According to the data of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in 2022, the sales of new intelligent connected passenger vehicles equipped with auxiliary auto drive system in China will reach 7 million, a year-on-year increase of 45.6%, and the market share will rise to 34.9%. In the first half of this year, the sales of new passenger cars with combined driving assistance accounted for 42.4%, an increase of nearly 10% compared to the same period last year.
Specifically for enterprises, in the past October, the delivery volume of Xiaopeng Automobile reached 20002 units, a month on month increase of 31% and a year-on-year increase of 292%, breaking the monthly delivery threshold of 20000 units and breaking a new historical record for single month delivery.
According to Celes' October production and sales report, the AITO Wenjie series delivered 12700 new cars in October, of which the Wenjie new M7 delivered 10547 new cars, with a cumulative sales volume exceeding 80000 in 50 days after its launch.
Intelligent driving is becoming one of the important reference factors for consumers to choose new cars. Yu Chengdong previously publicly stated that in the model structure of the Wenjie New M7, the selection rate of the five seater Max version ADS high-end package is 70%, and the selection rate of the six seater Max version ADS high-end package is 68%.
As for Xiaopeng, according to information disclosed by Xiaopeng Automobile, as of October 7th, out of the 15000 cumulative orders received for the 2024 G9, the MAX version of the standard Xiaopeng XNGP high-end intelligent drive accounted for over 80%.
Intelligent driving has become a top consideration when buying a car, just like comfort and economy. Xinda Securities recently wrote a research report stating that the intelligent driving function has had a significant impact on consumer car purchasing decisions this year. At the same time, the trend of domestic car companies shifting their focus to intelligent driving, software defined cars, and marketing channels is becoming increasingly evident.
A reporter from Time Weekly noticed that one of the biggest selling points of the upcoming Chery Huawei collaboration's first model, the Smart S7, is also to be equipped with the HarmonyOS 4 Hongmeng system and ADS 2.0 advanced intelligent driving system.
Meanwhile, Xiaopeng Automobile recently announced its XNGP urban navigation assisted driving plan, which will increase to 25 cities by the end of November and reach 50 cities by the end of December. He Xiaopeng judges that 2025 will be the turning point for intelligent driving, when all vehicles can be equipped as standard and the price is reasonable when available across the entire region.
For car companies, intelligence is the next development opportunity, and how to achieve commercial implementation and mass production of intelligent driving solutions is becoming one of the important topics for car companies.