On October 8, 2024, Hong Kong /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, at the 2024 World New Energy Automobile Congress, a sub-forum on "New Energy Vehicle Consumer and Service" was held. Autohome (NYSE stock code: ATHM; HKEX code: 2518), Vice President and Director of the Autohome Research Institute, Zhou You, released the "2024 China Smart Electric Vehicle User Insight" report. Starting from the intelligent cockpit, level of intelligent driving assistance, user experience, user needs, and user perceptions, the report utilized over 4,000 real user research samples, data from over 0.1 billion vehicle models, data on over 0.06 million vehicle configurations, and professional smart evaluation data. Through big data mining and analysis, it helps consumers to better understand the performance of smart cars, and assists automobile companies and industry practitioners in grasping the development trends of smart automobiles in China.

Compared to 2021, the standard rate of intelligent new vehicles has doubled in the past three years.

Starting from the second half of 2021, there has been explosive growth in the new energy market, leading to the first half of 2024 where the number of new energy vehicle releases surpassed that of gasoline vehicles for the first time, driving the new energy penetration rate to over 50%. The development of intelligence is closely related to new energy. Within just three years, the standard rate of intelligence in new energy vehicles has doubled, with the standard rate of intelligent cockpits increasing from 47% to 88%, and the standard rate of intelligent driving assistance increasing from 31% to 65%.

From the perspective of energy types, due to new forces represented by Tesla, forming an intelligent image in user's minds, leading to the misconception that pure electric models are the smartest. However, in reality, in recent years, plug-in hybrids and extended-range new vehicles have higher rates of intelligence standard configuration. Especially in extended-range new vehicles, driven by brands such as Ideal and WIMI, the standard rate of intelligence has always been significantly ahead.

Many configurations in the smart cabin are overly satisfactory.

Many configurations in the smart cabin have been basically standardized, such as remote control via APP, large center console touch screen, voice recognition, vehicle networking, with a penetration rate of 90%. Due to cost and other factors, the penetration rates of the co-pilot entertainment screen, rear multimedia screen, AR-HUD, and other configurations are currently only single digits, which is a means for automakers to achieve differentiation in the high-end market segment. For smart cabins, users are most concerned about hardware and driving enjoyment configurations. Most users pay close attention to the comprehensive performance and computing power of the chip, with high-end users above 500,000 looking at chip brands.

In addition to chips, what users need are precisely the driving enjoyment configurations with relatively low penetration rates mentioned earlier. Users born in the 70s and 80s hope to have screens everywhere, with a particular preference for the co-pilot screen and rear screens. The most prominent are young people born in the 90s, who are looking for an overall immersive experience, such as projection and ambient lighting; while users with higher car purchase budgets have a more significant emphasis on technology and software demands, such as HUD, OTA, and cabin DIY settings, making them more 'self-adaptive'.

According to user needs and the current configuration penetration situation, if the level of attention and penetration rate are equivalent, then demand and deployment are matching; otherwise, there will be supply and demand differences.

Through comparison, it is found that many configurations of the smart cockpit are in a state of excessive satisfaction, with a configuration penetration rate higher than the user's actual needs. For car manufacturers, under cost and profit pressures, whether to equip users with low-demand configurations is a topic worth exploring. In this so-called 'screen-centric' era, users have a particularly strong reliance on screens, and it is these unmet demands for multiple screens, especially for users with medium to high car purchase budgets, that will have a higher preference for this. Car manufacturers can focus on considering the installation of such configurations in future planning.

Smart driving: high car prices do not necessarily mean high levels of intelligent driving.

As of the first half of 2024, the penetration rate of intelligent driving in China's new energy vehicles has reached 50%. The penetration levels of different price segments for intelligent driving are different, with higher prices not necessarily meaning higher levels of intelligent driving.

Looking at the model data from Autohome, the 0.3-0.4 million price range is actually the most popular segment for intelligent driving. This is because this price range is mainly dominated by China's independent new energy brands, these brands aim to achieve breakthroughs in the high-end market at this price point, and intelligence is their core weapon for moving towards the high-end, thus achieving the fastest penetration of high-level intelligent driving.

To test the actual performance of these advanced smart driving features, autohome selected brands that are relatively advanced in smart driving for the experience. The availability of high-speed navigation has approached maturity, with a nearly 100% range of usable sections, an average takeover interval of up to 240 kilometers, and this performance has approached the maturity of ACC adaptive cruise control and LCC lane centering assist. Of course, when dealing with extreme lane changes, small road targets and other situations, the smart driving system still has limitations in recognition and predictive capabilities. In terms of urban navigation functions, due to its limited understanding of road scenarios, its handling of extreme situations is still not ideal, and the average takeover interval in kilometers remains at a single-digit level.

In addition to high-speed and urban assistance features, the key to demonstrating the level of smart driving lies in the ability to handle high-frequency, sudden events, and extreme scenarios. Autohome specifically conducted experiences on 10 major accident scenarios, showing that intelligent driving has a relatively good ability to handle sudden events, while its performance in backlighting, shading, and adverse weather conditions is weaker.

Most intelligent driving configuration functions have a lower penetration rate than user demand. While users have a strong desire, manufacturers have not been able to incorporate them due to cost pressures and considerations of technological maturity. For example, high-level automated configurations such as active safety systems, automatic parking, and remote summoning have penetration rates far below the level of user demand. Users lack an intuitive perception of safety-related configurations like active braking/active safety systems, and are not very clear about the effects that can be achieved, especially requiring correct cognitive guidance.

In the context of manufacturers actively incorporating and users strongly desiring it, intelligence is shifting from a differentiation selling point of 'from nothing to something in humans' to becoming 'standardized'. Users will only pay for their own needs, and manufacturers need to balance product competitiveness and cost-profit. Only by comprehensively considering industry competition, technological experience, user demands, user perceptions, and attitudes, can intelligent equipment be relatively 'reasonably' advanced, and intelligent selling points be more effectively created.

About Autohome

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM; HKEX:2518) is China's leading online service platform for automotive consumers. According to QuestMobile data, Autohome's mobile daily active users reached 67.91 million in June 2024, an increase of 8.3% compared to the same period last year. The company's mission is to enhance the purchasing and driving experience of Chinese automotive consumers. Autohome provides original content (OGC), professional creative content (PGC), user-generated content (UGC), AI-generated content, comprehensive car model libraries, and extensive car release information covering the entire car purchase and use cycle. As it is able to reach a large and active group of automotive consumer users, Autohome has become the preferred platform for automotive manufacturers and dealers to promote advertising activities. In addition, the company's dealer subscription and advertising services allow dealers to market their inventory and services through the Autohome platform, expand their physical showrooms to millions of potential Internet users in China, and obtain sales leads. The company provides sales leads, data analysis and marketing services to assist automotive manufacturers and dealers in improving efficiency and facilitating transactions. Autohome operates its "Auto Mall", a full-featured online trading platform that helps automotive manufacturers and dealers promote transactions. In addition, the company provides other value-added services through its website and mobile applications, including automotive finance, car insurance, used car trading and after-sales services.

For more information about the company, please visit the corporate website.