The future of smart cars at the Guangzhou auto show

Chinese carmakers have introduced their latest development in new energy vehicles during the Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition, demonstrating their determination to enter the high-end pure electric and intelligent vehicle market.

Intelligent electric vehicle company Jidu, a joint venture established by tech giant Baidu Inc and carmaker Geely Holding Group, unveiled its first robocar Robo-01 during the auto show, which opened in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Friday.

Featuring unique design elements including a U-shaped folding steering wheel, a 3D borderless one-piece screen, a 3D human-machine co-driving map, full-scene voice inside and outside the car and a millisecond voice response, and an offline intelligent voice assistant, Robo-01 is symbolic of a fast coming intelligent car era, the company said.

Robo-01 will be sold in 2023, according to Jidu, which was established in March 2021.

Also, the company unveiled the appearance design of its second robocar Robo-02, a pure electric car using innovative technologies, during the auto show.

"Launching robocars aims to meet user needs for intelligent travel with in-car assistance and cabin," said Xia Yiping, chief executive officer of Jidu.

GAC Aion, a subsidiary within the Guangzhou-based GAC Group, also unveiled its latest development during the auto show, Hyper GT, a home-made product challenging Tesla's Model 3.

With its design, intelligent driving control and cabin enjoyment, Hyper GT has formed an all-round strength leadership in high-end NEV market, according to Gu Huinan, president of GAC Aion.

"Launching the latest development demonstrates our determination to comprehensively enter the high-end luxury pure electric vehicle market, which is usually dominated by foreign brands," said Gu.

According to Gu, GAC Aion will continue to focus on boosting the product's competitiveness and increasing efficiency of sales and after-sales service to maintain its leading position in the high-end NEV market.

GAC Aion, along with GAC Motor, a home-developed brand under GAC Group, are expected to realize a total production and sales of more than 620,000 vehicles in 2022, of which 43 percent will be contributed by NEVs, according to the company.

After finishing the share reform and A-round financing, GAC Aion's market valuation has exceeded 100 billion yuan ($14.39 billion), becoming the highest valuation among domestic unlisted NEV enterprises.

GAC Motor brought its latest future-oriented concept car Green Space, which uses new clean hydrogen energy, revealing the technology layout of the company's transformation to a new energy technology company.

"As a traditional fuel-driven carmaker, we will upgrade our products by electrification and advanced intelligent technologies," said Zhang Yuesai, president of GAC Motor.

In addition to facilitating development of electric and intelligent vehicles, GAC Group will also promote commercial use of robotaxi, according to Feng Xingya, president of GAC Group.

The number of users of Ontime, a mobile transport platform facilitating commercial use of robotaxi, has exceeded 16 million, according to Feng, adding preparation of an IPO for the platform is under way as planned.