Chinese brands force Europe to rethink its strategy
China has become the leading power in connected-car innovation.
Adobe Stock / Gorodenkoff
Chinese manufacturers now set the pace in connected-car innovation, yet German OEMs still hold important advantages. The decisive question will be how quickly they can convert these strengths into competitive progress.
Ten years ago, when the first edition of the Connected-Car
Innovation study was published by the Centre of Automotive Management (CAM)
with automotiveIT and Cisco Systems, vehicle connectivity was only beginning to
reshape the industry. At the time, German manufacturers dominated many of the
emerging digital fields.
A decade later, the competitive landscape has shifted
dramatically. In 2015, Geely was the only Chinese manufacturer appearing in the
CCI rankings. Today, ten Chinese OEMs make the Top 20 — half of the entire
list. According to CAM’s innovation database, Chinese brands have escalated
their efforts particularly in the premium segment, a part of the market
traditionally dominated by established Western manufacturers.
A new automotive ecosystem is emerging — one in which
companies that were once considered outsiders now play leading roles. Xiaomi,
long known as a smartphone manufacturer, has entered the market with scale and
surprising speed.
VW and Mercedes-Benz still lead — but China
climbs fast
CAM’s latest Connected-Car Innovation Index, covering nearly
1,800 innovations over the past four years, paints a more nuanced picture.
Volkswagen Group and Mercedes-Benz remain at the top of the overall ranking.
However, the upward momentum from Asia is unmistakable.
For the first time, BYD reaches the podium, followed by
SAIC, Geely, Hyundai, Xiaopeng and Nio. Further down the list sit familiar
names such as GM, BMW, Toyota and Ford. Tesla appears in twelfth place — a
modest result for a company often credited with shaping
the software-defined vehicle concept.
Lower in the ranking are Stellantis and Renault, alongside
rising Chinese players including Avatr and Li Auto. The speed of China’s ascent
becomes even more visible when innovations are weighted against sales volumes,
a relational metric introduced in this year’s study. Here, Xiaopeng and Nio
score strongly, while Mercedes-Benz stands out in third place: despite selling
around ten times more vehicles than the top two OEMs, it achieves comparable
innovation output per unit sold.
Who leads in ADAS, user interfaces and other technology
fields?
A central focus of the 2025 CCI study is ADAS and autonomous driving — weighted more heavily
due to its technological importance. BYD delivered the most substantial
innovations among OEMs in 2024. Its Level-2+ system “Navigate on Autopilot”
covers both urban and motorway environments in models such as the Han and Seal.
Looking at individual technology categories provides deeper
insight into the competitive shifts. This year’s index includes the new field
“Electric Vehicle Ecosystem,” which will grow in relevance as electrification
expands. Renault takes a leading position here with the R5 E-Tech, whose bidirectional charging allows the vehicle to feed electricity
back into the grid — a practical step towards energy resilience and more
sustainable mobility models.
In the fast-moving domain of user interfaces, the Volkswagen
Group holds a clear lead over Mercedes-Benz. Audi, in particular, contributes
significantly with its learning-based Audi Assistant, which adapts to driver
behaviour and contextual cues. Volkswagen also dominates “Connectivity &
Infotainment,” accounting for a quarter of all series innovations recorded for
2024 across its brands Audi, Porsche and VW. Mercedes and BMW follow closely,
reinforcing Germany’s longstanding strength in classical vehicle connectivity.
