Yesterday, the 4th Future Automobile Forerunners Conference was held at the Shenzhen Greater Bay Area Auto Show. Six core leaders of car companies, including Li Bin from NIO, Xu Jun from Leapmotor, Wang Hui from Avita, Zhang Zhengping from Cyrus, Xiang Xingchu from Jiangxi Automobile Group, and Zhuang Mude from Mercedes-Benz, gathered to collectively "fire" against industry price wars and parameter involution, pointing out the drawbacks of extensive growth in the industry.
Wang Hui, chairman of Avita Technology, bluntly said that sales without profit are false sales, and the scale gained through price wars is false prosperity.
Citing data, he said that domestic car sales will exceed 34.4 million units in 2025, and the industry profit margin will be only 4.1%. From January to February 2026, it will fall to 2.9%, and price and configuration involution will continue to eat up corporate profits.
Wang Hui called on the industry to bid farewell to homogeneous competition and shift from price competition to brand and value creation. He also said that Changan Group has streamlined the planned models for the next five years from 63 to 36 models, taking a high-quality route.
NIO founder Li Bin judged that even if the price war gradually cools down, competition in the auto market will still be brutal in the next one or two years, and auto companies will usher in a comprehensive competition of products, technologies, and system capabilities.
He revealed that NIO has invested more than 68.8 billion yuan in total research and development and has achieved operating profits for two consecutive quarters. It will continue to focus on pure electric and battery replacement systems and will not blindly expand its product line.
Xu Jun, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Leapao, criticized the parameter competition, believing that parameters such as battery life and computing power are just industry tickets, not the key to victory or defeat. Excessive parameter accumulation will only make consumers pay for excess functions. Companies should return to users' real travel scenarios and replace simple price cuts with cost reduction capabilities.
Zhang Zhengping, chairman of Cyrus Automobile, pointed out that high-end development cannot only rely on configuration stacking, safety is the greatest luxury, and car companies should pay more attention to manufacturing quality and user experience.
Xiang Xingchu, chairman of Jiangxi Automobile Group, said that the industry has entered a stage of value reconstruction and must break out of low-level competition and focus on high-end intelligent manufacturing and system upgrades.
Mercedes-Benz Zhuangmude proposed that competition will promote innovation, but Mercedes-Benz will still adhere to its own safety and brand standards and refuse to fall into the quagmire of a bottom-line price war.
The six leaders reached a consensus that China's new energy vehicle industry has bid farewell to the extensive stage of competing for scale, price, and parameters, and has entered a new cycle centered on profitability, brand value, and technology base. The industry elimination competition has officially accelerated.
Wang Hui, Chairman of Avita Technology