China auto industry to undergo 4 main changes this year

According to a local media, in 2018, four great changes will take place in China auto industry.

First of all, autonomous vehicles will be mass produced this year. Baidu seems determined to produce autonomous vehicles ahead of the industry to gain more market shares. According to the official news, the autonomous commercial vehicle, jointly developed by Baidu and Kinglong will be produced this year. The vehicle features L4 autonomous driving function while the mass-produced Audi A8 is only capable of L3 autonomous driving function.

Secondly, auto startups will launch their intelligent electric vehicles. Ever since their entry into auto market, these startups have sparked hot discussion. They have encountered many problems, like financial crisis and some even declared failure. However, several startups have managed to launch their first mass-produced vehicle, such as NIO and WM. And also, they will deliver the products to customers this year and we will see whether the products can withstand the test from the market or not.

Then, the purchasing tax rate for fossil-fuel powered vehicles went back to 10 percent from the first day of 2018. However, the new energy vehicle (NEV) purchasing tax exemption will be continued for another 3 years, from the first day of 2018 to the last day of 2020.

The last change in 2018 would be that new vehicle safety technical specifications took effect from January 1, 2018. The new specifications set a number of new requirements on the auto industry. For example, the vehicle’s logo should be consistent with the brand. Zotye vehicles should not bear the logo of Porsche.