Ultimate preview of the Guangzhou Auto Show: Large SUVs and personalization draw attention, and there may be new breakthroughs in solid-state batteries
Each major auto show is a snapshot of the industry's development at a particular stage.
For example, at this year's Shanghai Auto Show, car manufacturers shifted their focus from flashy promotion of intelligent driving technology to the practical implementation of high - end capabilities and affordable prices. Moreover, new "species" such as flying cars and humanoid robots made frequent appearances, and the cross - border collaboration between the automotive and technology industries continued to deepen.
As the industry's grand finale event of the year, the 2025 Guangzhou Auto Show will be held from November 21st to 30th. Its core theme of "New Technology, New Life" means that the Guangzhou Auto Show will surely pick up the baton from the Shanghai Auto Show's trends and become a crucial stage to test the industry's mettle.
Image source: Shot by Electric Vehicle News
As the knockout stage of the industry accelerates, who can stand firm and lead the next phase? The Electric Vehicle News team will be on - site to bring you exclusive first - hand reports and decode the industry's changes. Before that, let's take a look at what new cars and technologies are worth paying attention to at this year's Guangzhou Auto Show.
A Flurry of High - Profile New Cars: Large SUVs and Personalized Vehicles in the Spotlight
There are about 20 days left before the opening of the Guangzhou Auto Show. Currently, the official list of exhibitors has not been released. However, we can make inferences based on the official product launch plans. For example, Li Auto has already launched two pure - electric vehicles this year, so it is unlikely to unveil a new model at the auto show.
Let's start with the major manufacturers. BYD Group has launched many high - profile models, and its speed of launching new products is unmatched by other car manufacturers. Its upcoming lineup is also impressive: a Denza sports car, a high - end Denza sedan competing with Mercedes - Benz S - Class/E - Class, a large MPV in the 500,000 - 600,000 yuan range, and MPV products planned by the Ocean Network. The overall positioning is more towards the niche market.
Geely Group has quite a few unreleased new cars. Among them, Geely Galaxy plans to launch two SUVs and three sedans this year. Currently, there are already three new cars: Xingyao 8, Galaxy M9, and Galaxy A7. The launch time of Xingyao 6 has been confirmed, and another unannounced SUV is expected to make a surprise debut at the Guangzhou Auto Show. Zeekr has released the 007GT and 9X, and the new SUV 8X is about to be unveiled.
VOYAH has confirmed that it will launch two new flagships, the VOYAH Zhuiguang L and the VOYAH Taishan, at the end of the year.
Image source: VOYAH official
Now let's look at the new - force brands. Most of the high - profile products of Li Auto, Xiaomi, Hongmeng Zhixing, and XPeng have been launched in advance. Relatively speaking, Leapmotor and LeDao still have some highlights.
The high - profile products of Li Auto and Xiaomi have basically been unveiled in advance, while Hongmeng Zhixing, XPeng, Leapmotor, and NIO will be the core attractions among the new - force brands.
Among them, Hongmeng Zhixing's Zunjie and Zhijie will launch new models this year to explore new price markets. XPeng is rapidly applying range - extender technology to its models. Hybrid models such as the XPeng X9 range - extender version and the XPeng G01 have been planned and are likely to be unveiled at the Guangzhou Auto Show.
Leapmotor will simultaneously launch a new SUV, the D19, and a pure - electric compact car, the Lafa 5. NIO's new flagship SUV, the ES9, will debut in the first quarter of next year. It is not ruled out that it may be unveiled in advance at the Guangzhou Auto Show. Its sub - brand, LeDao, plans to release two LeDao SUVs positioned between the L60 and L90 to improve its product matrix through precise market segmentation.
Image source: Leapmotor official
Overall, new - energy car manufacturers are targeting two major battlefields: the red ocean of large - scale SUVs and the blue ocean of the personalized market.
Looking back at the first ten months of this year, new players such as Leapmotor, Chery, Deepal, Galaxy, and Denza have all entered the large - scale family SUV market. However, there is no permanent leader in the market, only continuously evolving competitiveness. The core product strengths of Li Auto and Wenjie have been deeply dissected and replicated by their competitors, and their once - leading advantages are being rapidly diluted.
From the above new - car plans, it is not difficult to see that car manufacturers will not give up the competition in the large - scale family SUV market. More importantly, the continuous improvement of the charging system has completely eliminated the charging anxiety of pure - electric SUVs. Moreover, hybrid SUVs equipped with large - capacity batteries can precisely address the consumer pain point of "no range anxiety".
This means that the competition logic in the large - scale family SUV market has been completely rewritten. It is no longer a competition of which car is more suitable for dads, but a comprehensive confrontation between pure - electric and hybrid models, and a multi - dimensional battle of product strength, charging ecosystem, and cost - effectiveness.
Beyond the mainstream family car market, the personalized market has evolved from a "niche supplement" to a "new growth curve" for car manufacturers to break through. Models such as the Leapmotor Lafa 5, Denza sports car, and VOYAH Zhuiguang L have precisely entered different niche markets, using differentiation labels such as "personality", "high - performance", and "executive luxury" to break into the market.
Image source: Weibo @ Huawei Kunpeng Intelligent Automotive Solutions
You may think that personalized products are just for attracting traffic to the brand. However, the popularity of "new - energy box - shaped cars" in the past few years shows that whoever can accurately capture the core needs of niche groups can seize the opportunity in the personalized blue - ocean market and achieve a double breakthrough in brand and sales.
Black - Tech Gathering: Continuous Breakthroughs in Intelligent Driving and Solid - State Batteries
The Guangzhou Auto Show is never just about unveiling new cars. It is also a stage for the concentrated display of cutting - edge black - tech. Looking back at the technology layout of car manufacturers this year, intelligence remains the core theme throughout, becoming a key factor in building competitiveness for each company.
Especially in the field of intelligent driving, Electric Vehicle News has observed that the industry is clearly developing in two major directions: "low - cost high - end experience" and "upgraded safety redundancy".
High - end intelligent driving models equipped with lidar under 150,000 yuan have changed from "rare items" to "common options". Independent models such as the XPeng MONA M03 and Leapmotor B01 have taken the lead in breaking through. Even joint - venture brands such as GAC Toyota have lowered their stance and are seizing the market with "high - end intelligent driving substitutes" as the core selling point.
Two years ago, the combination of lidar and high - end intelligent driving was concentrated in models above 300,000 yuan. Now, the price has dropped by more than 50%, which is due to the synergistic effect of cost reduction of sensors/chips and algorithm optimization.
Image source: Shot by Electric Vehicle News
In the process of popularizing high - end intelligent driving, the changes are particularly significant. Previously, limited by cost, the intelligent driving functions of models in the 100,000 - 150,000 yuan range mostly remained at the basic ACC+LCC level. Now, companies such as BYD and Chery have directly introduced a complete assisted - driving system including high - speed NOA and automatic parking to the price range below 100,000 yuan. This move will surely prompt competitors to follow suit, further accelerating the market penetration of high - speed intelligent driving.
For users pursuing the ultimate experience, car manufacturers are continuously increasing their investment in "upgrading safety redundancy" and are willing to invest in high - end hardware to build a technological moat. The VOYAH Taishan, which will be released at the end of the year, is a typical example. Its more than 500 - line lidar performs better than the 192 - line lidar in key dimensions such as detection distance, recognition accuracy, adaptability to complex environments, and system redundancy.
However, the industry currently still faces the real bottleneck of "advanced technology but lagging policies". Some car manufacturers have announced the implementation of L3 - level autonomous driving technology. Domestically, Huawei and XPeng have also completed the technical verification of the L3 - level intelligent driving system. However, currently, only a few cities such as Shenzhen and Shanghai have issued management measures for L3 - level autonomous driving road tests and demonstration applications, and national regulations have not been fully liberalized.
Perhaps at this year's Guangzhou Auto Show, car manufacturers will collectively release the latest progress of L3 - level and above autonomous driving technology, thereby promoting the connection between policies and technology.
Compiled by Electric Vehicle News
In addition to intelligent driving, this year has also witnessed double breakthroughs in the technological explosion and scenario implementation of solid - state batteries. Chinese scientists have successfully overcome the difficulties of all - solid - state metal lithium batteries. The range potential of a 100 - kg battery pack has increased from 500 km of traditional lithium batteries to 1000 km, doubling the range.
Electric Vehicle News has learned that more than 10 Chinese car manufacturers and battery companies have disclosed the development progress or mass - production schedules of solid - state batteries this year. For example, suppliers such as Gotion High - tech, Farasis Energy, and Sunwoda have announced solid - state battery technologies with an energy density of about 300 Wh/kg and will achieve mass production in 2027.
BYD, Changan, SAIC, and GAC have all taken actions related to solid - state batteries. BYD's solid - state battery has a theoretical range of 1875 km under CLTC conditions and can charge 80% of its capacity in 12 minutes. The first model equipped with it, the Seal EV, has entered the road - test stage and is planned to be demonstrated in vehicles in 2027.
There are still many difficulties to overcome for solid - state technology to be implemented, and it seems to be a long way off. However, these seemingly distant technological breakthroughs have reached a turning point in 2025 and will surely be demonstrated during the Guangzhou Auto Show.
In August this year, the SAIC MG4 was equipped with a semi - solid - state battery and was priced in the 100,000 - yuan range. This just shows that the commercialization of solid - state batteries is getting out of the misunderstanding of being "exclusive to high - end products" and is forming a dual - track promotion pattern of "attacking all - solid - state technology + popularizing semi - solid - state technology".
Conclusion
Currently, the organizers of the Guangzhou Auto Show have only revealed basic information such as the exhibition hall scale. The number of exhibition vehicles and participating brands have not been announced. However, after reviewing the new cars that will be unveiled at the Guangzhou Auto Show, Electric Vehicle News believes that there will not be many truly unique new products. Most new cars have a high degree of commonality, especially large - scale family SUVs.
Even though the new cars may not bring much freshness, it further shows that car manufacturers clearly understand what the market wants. Therefore, there are many similarities in their products. The key to whether a new car can survive depends on the differentiated advantages that car manufacturers can create.
In addition, car manufacturers and suppliers have made many new moves in terms of technology. Especially in the field of intelligence, they are no longer limited to intelligent driving but are building intelligent cars covering multiple aspects such as intelligent chassis and intelligent cockpit. With the gradual liberalization of L3 technology, the intelligent level of future cars can be further improved.
Nowadays, no car manufacturer can rest easy. Even BYD, with high sales, is desperately making up for its shortcomings in the field of intelligent driving. Xiaomi, which is in a rapid growth stage, is still trying its best to enrich its product matrix. The knockout stage in the auto market has arrived, and the margin of error in the auto market is gradually decreasing. This year's Guangzhou Auto Show is likely to become the dividing line that determines the survival of some car manufacturers.
(Cover image source: Shot by Electric Vehicle News)
This article is from "Electric Vehicle News" and is published by 36Kr with permission.