Published : 30/04/2024
The Beijing International Auto Show 2024, under the theme "New Era, New Cars", kicked off on April 25, with new-energy vehicles becoming the focus of this year.
Compared to previous Beijing Auto Shows, this year there has been a significant increase in terms of event scale, number of new car debuts, and number of exhibited vehicles, which makes the venue bustling with crowds.
The booth of Xiaomi Auto, who introduces its electric cars for the first time this year, has become a "star" at the show.
Beijing Auto Show｜New-energy vehicles take centre stage
The Beijing Auto Show this year lasts for 9 days, from April 25 to May 4.
The Show is held every two years. But due to the pandemic, the 2022 Beijing Auto Show did not take place. Therefore, it has been four years since the last Beijing Auto Show (2020).
Within these four years, sales of new energy vehicles in China have soared from 1.367 million to 9.495 million, which means a six-fold increase, obviously making new energy vehicles the main focus of this car show.
According to event organisers, Beijing Auto Show hosted 117 world premieres, including 41 concept cars, and there was a total of 278 electric and plug-in hybrid models on display.
Approximately 500 parts and technology companies from 13 countries and regions exhibited innovative achievements.
Beijing Auto Show｜ Xiaomi steals the spotlight
34 years ago, in 1990, when the first Beijing Auto Show was held, China's automobile production was only about 500,000.
However, by 2023, China's domestic auto production and sales exceeded 30 million units. At the same time, Chinese cars made their way into ordinary households and were also widely exported overseas.
Data from the China Automobile Dealers Association shows that in the first half of April 2024, 516,000 passenger cars were sold in retail market of China, of which 260,000 were new energy vehicles.
This marked the first time that the penetration rate of China's new energy vehicle market surpassed 50%, exceeding the share of conventional fuel vehicles.
The booming development of new energy vehicles has led to explosive growth in upstream industries such as power batteries.
CATL (寧德時代), a leading company of electric vehicle batteries in China, made its debut at the Beijing Auto Show this year, bringing a brand-new product - the LFP battery "Shenxing PLUS", which is the world's first LFP battery that achieves a range above 1,000 kilometres with 4C superfast charging.
This year is also the first time Xiaomi Auto participated in the show.
The Xiaomi SU7 became a "star" at the event. Reports say that the queue of visitors waiting to see the Xiaomi SU7 extended outside the exhibition hall, requiring a one-hour wait to get a close look at the vehicle, reminiscent of China's Spring Festival travel rush.
Huawei and Xiaomi, competitors in the mobile phone market, are now extending their "battlefield" into the automotive industry.
At the Beijing Auto Show, Huawei's HIMA, part of its smart car business, brought its entire new family line-up to the exhibition for the first time. STELATO, the third brand in addition to AITO and LUXEED, showcased their first car, the S9.
Li Qiang's inspect the Beijing Auto Show
On April 28, Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited the Beijing Auto Show.
He stated that the development momentum of China's intelligent connected new energy vehicles is very strong, and especially it has formed a leading advantage in market competition and cooperation with complete industrial system and continuous innovation input. Li said that this advantage should be maintained and developed.
Li Qiang also emphasised that China would continue to relax market access, promote trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation with treating domestic and foreign capital enterprises equally;
besides, China would also encourage broader exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and foreign car companies, and sharing opportunities of Chinese market in order to achieve mutual development and benefits.
Li Qiang meets with Elon Musk in Beijing
On the same day, Li Qiang met with Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
Li said that Tesla's development in China is an example of successful China-U.S. trade and economic cooperation. Foreign-funded enterprises are indispensable participants and contributors to China's development. China's large-scale market will always be open to foreign enterprises.
Musk stated that the Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory is Tesla's best performing factory, and Tesla is willing to deepen cooperation with China to achieve more win-win results.
It is reported that the Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory was built and put into production when Li Qiang was Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee.
Regarding Musk's visit to China, Bloomberg quoted an insider as saying that Tesla would cooperate with Baidu, who could provide maps and navigation functions for Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD).
Read more: Xiaomi enters the car manufacturing industry