When China Auto Tier1 Competes In The Iaa, Who Is The Vanguard Of "Going To Sea"?

Against the backdrop of deep changes in the global auto market structure, China's automobile industry is accelerating its entry into the era of great navigation.

 

According to the latest statistics, in the first half of this year, domestic automobile exports totaled 3.083 million vehicles, an increase of 10.4% year-on-year, continuing to maintain a steady upward trend. From the perspective of regional markets, according to the analysis of the Gastronic Automobile Research Institute, Mexico became the number one destination for China's passenger car exports with an increase of 224,000 vehicles, an increase of 25.3% year-on-year. In addition, exports to UAE, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and other markets have also achieved good growth.

 

While independent passenger cars are blooming in multiple places in overseas markets, core automotive parts companies represented by Desay SV and Horizon have also begun to deeply participate in the reshaping of the global automotive industry chain and the competition for voice with new opportunities for intelligent and electrified transformation. The IAA MOBILITY that is being held is the most powerful declaration of China's automobile industry going overseas.

 

The entire industrial chain is set off, and China's automobiles go overseas to a deeper level

If the IAA Auto Show was mainly an exclusive stage for foreign auto companies and parts giants, then now, with independent Tier1 companies represented by Desay SV and others, relying on their full-stack technical capabilities to deeply participate in the reshaping of the global industrial chain, this world-class automobile event has transformed into a key window for global insight into the development of China's automobile industry.

 

According to relevant statistics, a total of 103 Chinese companies participated in the IAA Auto Show this year. Compared with the 29 companies in 2021 and 75 companies in 2023, not only has the number further increased, but the exhibit matrix of exhibitors has also been fully expanded, and the product coverage breadth and technical display depth have reached a new level.

 

In the vehicle sector, this year's IAA has attracted many Chinese brands such as Hongqi, Changan, GAC, BYD, Chery, and Zero-Player to participate in the exhibition. These car companies not only entered the Munich booth with their celebrity models, but some brands also took this opportunity to launch important new cars globally and simultaneously launched a new strategic layout for the European market, marking that Chinese car companies are collectively moving from "strategic concept" to a new stage of qualitative change from "strategic concept" to "deeply cultivated".

 

 

Changan Automobile held a signing ceremony for dealers in ten European countries at this exhibition, and announced that the Deep Blue S05 will be launched in Europe and completed the first car delivery. GAC's second-generation AION V also took this opportunity to officially land in the European market. According to GAC's plan, GAC will enter Poland, Portugal, Finland and other markets from September, striving to achieve full coverage of the European market by 2028. Leapmotor Automobile launched the world's first pure electric new Leapmotor Lafa5, and also completed the overseas launch of Leapmotor B10.

 

The wave of overseas travel by leading auto companies, coupled with the transformation of the intelligent and electrified global automobile market, also provides new opportunities for the global development of domestic auto parts companies, and promotes China's automobile supply chain to enter a new stage of in-depth development simultaneously.

 

First of all, China's automobile industry chain has shifted from the single product output in the past to the full-chain value empowerment.

 

Looking back at the 2023 IAA, it was mainly based on head power batteries, assisted driving sensors and chip companies. This year, many Chinese leading companies have gathered in terms of power batteries, electric drive, energy replenishment and thermal management, assisted driving, smart cockpits, and even emerging tracks such as embodied intelligence and flying cars.

 

In the field of electric drive, Huichuan Technology, Jingjin Electric, and Honeycomb Automobile Technology have brought the latest electric drive assembly technology; in the field of intelligence, there are new forces such as Momenta, Qingzhou Zhihang, and Yuanrong Qixing, as well as industry veterans such as Desay SV and Zhongke Chuangda, which fully demonstrate the complete technical ecosystem of China's core supply chain of smart cars. In the field of embodied intelligence and flying cars, companies such as GAC, Xiaopeng Motors, and Zhixing Technology have demonstrated forward-looking innovative achievements.

 

It is particularly worth paying attention to Desai SV. This time, IAA has fully exhibited a full-stack smart travel solution. Its fifth-generation smart cockpit platform G10PH is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon cockpit supreme version platform. It has received orders for new Ideal Auto projects, and at the same time it has also attracted the attention of many world's top car companies. In terms of full-stack assisted driving solutions, Desai Sivet also provided global customers with assisted driving experience covering highways and urban sections during the exhibition.

 

It is reported that this is the first time that Desay SV has unveiled a large international exhibition with a full stack solution, which fully demonstrates its strategic determination to continue to deepen its global layout. It is also an important manifestation of the acceleration of the transformation from a single product supplier to a comprehensive service provider with systematic and scenario-based solutions.

 

Secondly, with the continuous improvement of the overall technical strength of China's automobile supply chain, the cooperation between local enterprises and foreign giants is gradually transcending the traditional one-way output model and evolving into a two-way rush with deep technical cooperation as the core. The announcement of a series of major cooperation during the IAA period is the most intuitive endorsement of China's supply chain strength.

 

On September 10, Desay Sive announced that it had reached in-depth cooperation with NTT DATA, a global leader in artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure. The two parties will jointly develop a new generation of SDV (software-defined automobile) platform to help Europe reshape the SDV experience with China's innovative genes and promote the compliance of Chinese automobiles overseas. During the same period, Desai Sivet also further deepened cooperation with NVIDIA and jointly announced that it would promote assisted driving solutions to the global market based on the successful experience of the Chinese market.

 

These technological "marriages" across national borders not only confirm the global adaptability of Desai SV's "China solution", but also demonstrate the qualitative breakthrough of China's automobile supply chain from following to side-by-side, and then to partially leading.

 

It is worth mentioning that as a Volkswagen's in-depth partner, Desai SVV's products have been successfully adapted to many global strategic models of Volkswagen. With their outstanding performance in technological innovation, product quality and delivery capabilities, Desai SVV was awarded the "2025 Volkswagen Group Award", becoming the only Chinese supplier to win this honor, and is also one of the ten supply chain partners in the world to win this award.

 

Not only to "go out", but also to "integrate into"

Since China's automobile exports exceeded 2 million for the first time in 2021, it has maintained a strong growth rate of one million vehicles per year in the following years. By 2024, the overall export volume has reached nearly 6 million vehicles. China's automobile export volume continues to set a new historical record, marking that the "going out" strategy has achieved a phased victory.

 

However, from "going out" to "going in" and then to "taking root", Chinese auto companies need to further build a three-in-one global operation system of "localization of technology research and development + localization of operation services + localization of production and manufacturing" in the overseas market, so as to truly achieve the transformation from single product trade to ecological overseas, and occupy a more core position in the global automobile industry value chain.

 

Insight into this trend, while continuing to promote the overseas product and technology, Desai Sivet also began to foresee the "R&D-Production-Service" trinity operation system in overseas markets very early. It has made good progress to this point.

 

 

In the European market, Desay Sivy not only set up an office in Paris, France, but also invested and built a factory in Germany. It is currently preparing for a Spanish factory. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2025 and will start supplying smart products such as smart cockpits and assisted driving to customers in 2026. At that time, we will serve European customers with the German factory, such as Volkswagen, Volvo, etc.

 

In addition to Desai SV, the leading power battery suppliers represented by CATL, Guoxuan Hi-Tech, China Innovation Airlines, Yiwei Lithium Energy, etc. also began to actively promote the capacity construction of the European market as early as the last IAA Auto Show.

 

Among them, CATL's German factory has been put into operation and is currently stepping up investment in Hungary and Spanish factories, and plans to be completed one after another before the end of 2026. The Ewei Lithium Energy Hungarian factory and the China Innovation Airlines Portugal factory are both in the construction stage and are expected to be officially put into production in 2027.

 

In the global power battery market, Chinese companies have already occupied a significant leading position. According to SNEResearch statistics, among the top 10 suppliers of global power battery installations in the first half of 2025, Chinese companies accounted for 6 seats, with a total market share of nearly 70%, continuing to lead the global market. Next, as the production capacity of leading players overseas is released one after another, it will surely further consolidate the global competitive advantage of China's power battery industry.

 

Following this trend, many Chinese auto companies and supply chain companies once again set out their swords at this IAA Auto Show, launching a new round of offensives to the European market with the new R&D and service overseas strategy as the "spear".

 

 

On September 8, Xiaopeng Motors announced that it will officially launch the company's first R&D center in Europe, as the ninth largest R&D center in the world, forming synergy with the R&D centers of Silicon Valley and San Diego.

 

On the same day, Horizon and Qingzhou Zhihang both announced the establishment of European headquarters in Germany. Among them, Qingzhou Zhihang will establish European headquarters in Germany in the fourth quarter of this year, responsible for core work such as product technology research and development, safety & certification & testing and operations. In addition, Zhuoyu has also confirmed that it will set up a branch in Germany and launch a team that covers R&D, testing, business and other functions to achieve rapid response and in-depth support for the European market.

 

And Desai Siv, even put forward the slogan "In Europe, with Europe, for All". In Desai Sive, going overseas is not simply copying Chinese solutions, but adapting R&D and services based on local needs. Only in this way can China's experience be quickly migrated in different regions and achieve a full-stack, open and fast-realized value proposition.

 

 

Desai SV's continued growth in overseas markets has provided strong evidence for this strategic proposition. In 2020, Desai SV’s overseas revenue had just exceeded 600 million yuan, and by 2024 it had exceeded 1.7 billion yuan. In the first half of this year, Desai Sivy's overseas revenue continued to increase rapidly, reaching 1.038 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 36.82%, showing strong growth resilience.

 

Thanks to the rapid growth of overseas revenue and the outstanding performance of the domestic market, Desay SV's international influence is also rising rapidly. Since 2021, Desay SV has been selected as the "Top 100 Global Auto Parts Suppliers" for five consecutive years, and has jumped to 58th this year, up 16 places from 2024 and 39 places from its first appearance in 2021.

 

This achievement is also a strong proof of the leap-level development of its overseas business from "product output-ecological construction-value empowerment" to some extent, and is also an important microcosm of the continuous improvement of the status of Chinese auto parts companies in the global value chain. You should know that in 2020, only 7 parts companies in China entered the top 100 list, and now it has increased to 15. This change fully demonstrates the overall rise of China's automobile supply chain.

 

With the help of the development opportunities of smart electric vehicles, China's current automobile supply chain is deeply involved in global market competition with technical solutions verified by fierce competition in the domestic market, as well as a brand new ecological cooperation and global operation model. This wave of going out to the sea is not only a competition for market share, but also a competition for industry's voice and future technical standards.

 

Next, as more and more Chinese companies break through the traditional international division of labor system and enter the global stage, the new pattern of the global automobile industry will surely be deeply reshaped due to the rapid rise of Chinese forces.