June 13, 2026, Chongqing. At the closing meeting of the Chongqing Auto Forum, a discussion on "breaking through cycles" unusually tore open the industry's warm facade. Leaders from core enterprises and industry chain tech companies such as Horizon Robotics, Xpeng, Xiaomi, Nio, Leapmotor, Avatr, Mengshi, and Li Auto contributed many sharp observations pinpointing industry pain points during speeches lasting several hours.
Connecting these viewpoints, a clear logical thread emerges: The Chinese auto industry is at a critical juncture transitioning from a "price war" to a "value war". During this process, the path choice of "self-research or cooperation" is being redefined, and ultimately the answers to all questions point in the same direction — long-termism.
From Price War to Value War: A Transition That Must Be Made
"Competing on price now is a dead end, at most two months." Avatr Technology Chairman Wang Hui's statement was straightforward. He cited McKinsey's latest data: the net impact of price factors on purchasing decisions is only 3%, while technical factors reach 20.7%, a seven-fold difference. In other words, consumers are not waiting for a cheaper car, but for a car that brings more value.
But the reality is that the industry is still struggling in the quagmire of the price war. Mengshi Auto CEO Wan Liangyu admitted bluntly: "20 years ago, if you made cars, you could make money; now, if you can make a profit making cars, that is very fortunate." He revealed that from January to April 2026, the industry average profit margin had dropped to 3.4%, "price wars are biting back at consumer confidence". When "buy early, enjoy early" becomes "buy early get a discount", and price cuts turn from a competitive tactic into a consumption expectation, the trust foundation of the industry is loosening.
Nio Founder Li Bin gave a more macro judgment: The total number of passenger vehicles in the country has reached 370 million, and the market has entered the stock era from the growth era. He believes that the industry has not fully recognized this fundamental shift. "If there was this understanding, many marketing and product strategies would be completely different".
Leapmotor Senior Vice President Xu Jun defined this stage as "the normalization of the low-margin era". He used a vivid metaphor to explain the difference between the two eras: The tactics of the bonus era are "daring" and "fast", like climbing a mountain — clear goals, speed up and you can reach the summit; the tactics of the low-margin era must be "precision" and "flexibility", like surfing — you don't know where the next wave is coming from, the only thing you can do is maintain your body posture and adjust direction at any time.
So, where does value come from? Xpeng Group Vice President Yu Peng gave the answer from a technical dimension. He believes that as AI moves from the digital world into the physical world, the underlying logic of the automotive industry is changing, "the chassis is the battlefield being redefined in this revolution". The true intelligence of a car cannot only stay at the screen and algorithm level, it must go deep into vehicle motion control. Xpeng's native AI chassis architecture is the systematic expression under this judgment.
Horizon Robotics Founder Yu Kai gave a more actionable observation from upstream of the industry chain. He pointed out that any industry will experience two cycles — "dream-making period" and "exam submission period". "In the past few years, the market value of the automotive industry once exceeded Mercedes-Benz and BMW, but today we have entered the exam submission period. Enterprises have two types of buyers, one is consumers, one is investors. In this stage, what everyone looks at is what value you actually created." He used two data points to prove that the inflection point of technology creating value is arriving: In models priced between 100,000 and 200,000 equipped with Horizon HSD solutions, consumers generally choose the top spec — whereas traditionally consumers in this price range "one-sidedly choose the lowest spec"; meanwhile, the proportion of intelligent driving mileage is close to 50%, "meaning consumers trust autonomous driving more than themselves".
Self-Research or Cooperation: A Choice Being Redefined
As the industry shifts from price war to value war, an old question has become more urgent: Is core technology in-house R&D or cooperation?
Mengshi's Wan Liangyu's answer represents an upgraded thinking of the "cooperation camp". He revealed that Mengshi's cooperation with Huawei has entered "2.0 stage" — not simple component procurement, but all-round integration from technology to business model. "Mengshi was previously B2B, doing dealers; Huawei has direct B2C retail experience. After cooperation, user voices can return faster to the entire R&D, production, and manufacturing chain." He also revealed that the three parties have jointly established the "Deep Exploration Lab" to explore next-generation technologies and mobility models for smart off-road scenarios that are not fully met. His core judgment is: Enterprises should make strategic choices based on their track characteristics, rather than this-or-that.
Li Auto Senior Vice President Liu Liguo represented a path more biased towards "self-research dominance". He believes the industry has entered an awkward stage of "technical convergence, specification convergence", "everyone has refrigerators, color TVs, and big sofas, the excitement is declining". The answer given by Li Auto is: The next decade is not a contest of specifications, but a "contest of life" — making cars into a vital third space, able to perceive, think, and evolve. To achieve this goal, the traditional supplier R&D model of "divide then combine" no longer works. "Chassis engineers must sit with AI engineers, letting AI participate in collaboration." He revealed that Li Auto has "done very painful things" for this — rebuilding the R&D organization, breaking the architecture divided by hardware domains, forming cross-domain teams organized around the perception, decision, execution entire chain. "In the past, internal collaboration for a requirement took two weeks, now the same team can close the loop in two days." His conclusion is: "Embodied Intelligence is not only a technical proposition, but also an organizational proposition. Whoever builds a system adapted to AI first can run faster."
Yu Kai of Horizon Robotics, as an industry chain enabler, gave a relatively neutral observation. He frankly reviewed Horizon's "countryside encircling cities" path and admitted that when facing the real crisis last year, he chose "self-reliance and self-improvement" — launching HSD to build a benchmark showpiece for urban intelligent driving. But he also announced that Horizon has extended from intelligent driving chips to cockpit chips and software, positioning as "an enabler of full-category intelligent computing solutions for Chinese vehicles". He spoke to the OEMs in the audience: "Li Auto, Nio, Xpeng, BYD are all researching chips themselves, let's take this great lesson of the era together — let domestic chips truly occupy the mainstream." The subtext of this sentence is: Whether you choose self-research or cooperation, ultimately you must return to the starting point of "creating value".
Xiaomi Auto Vice President Song Gang entered this topic from another dimension. He believes manufacturing is the "third power" outside of products and brands, and the quality short board of the supply chain determines the quality short board of the whole vehicle brand. He brought concepts such as digital capabilities, HyperOS, and production line co-construction to supply chain partners, "helping them establish full-process digital management capabilities". This idea actually provides a "third path": instead of simply discussing self-research or outsourcing, build a symbiotic and prosperous ecosystem by deeply empowering the supply chain.
Long-termism: The Only Answer to Cross the Cycle
Whether it is the value war or the choice between cooperation and self-research, they all point in the same direction — long-termism.
Li Bin summarized Nio's twenty-plus years journey in one sentence: "The automotive industry is a marathon on a muddy road." He believes that the longer the time, the more aware one is of the importance of doing solid basic work, moving forward step by step, and working tirelessly for a long time. He revealed that Nio began implementing the "Business Unit" concept starting from last year, each business object must clarify the "logic of creating value" — save where necessary, spend where necessary, and do not develop models that cannot be calculated. Profitability is not the end goal, sustained, high-quality profitability is the embodiment of a company's full-chain operating capabilities.
Xu Jun extracted a common point from his experience serving three hundred-year-old enterprises: "The greatest common divisor of a company is user-centric. If an enterprise's DNA determines its lifespan, being user-centric is the enterprise's greatest commonality." The purpose of all process reengineering and system building at Leapmotor is only three words: Walk steadily, Live long, Accompany far.
Wan Liangyu's answer was the most simple: "Cycles are fair, they will reward long-termism." He called on industry colleagues to maintain their focus and show their strengths, "climbing peaks on their respective tracks, let's meet at the top of the mountain". This view was echoed by Xiaomi's Song Gang: "Quality and reliability determine how far China's automobiles can walk on the international track."
Regarding the specific topic of going global, the perspective of long-termism is also clear. Wang Hui shared a moving detail: After the Avatr Thailand factory was put into production, a local friend invited him to his home, many car owners "had more passion for our brand than I did for the brand". After reflection, he raised a sharp question: "Chinese brands coming here, besides selling for profit, what did we leave for them?" He believes that if only cars are left, it is a passer-by; if capabilities, employment, and trust are left, it is a local insider. Xu Jun strongly opposed "exporting domestic involution": "Today going global, every forehead bears the five words 'China New Energy'. Without these five words, all brands belong to others in the world." He suggested that industry organizations should take on the responsibility of being responsible for the China New Energy overall brand — this itself is a long-termism at the industry level.
Yu Kai summed up this discussion on long-termism with one sentence as the most refined footnote: "In this stage, what everyone looks at is what value you actually created."
Say, from price war to value war, from the path choice of self-research or cooperation, to the ultimate answer of long-termism — these three topics constitute the complete logic chain for China's auto industry to cross the cycle.
Price war is a short-term painkiller, value war is the long-term cure; self-research and cooperation are not a black-or-white choice, but a strategic configuration around the core of "creating value"; and the background of all this is the steadiness and patience of long-termism.
This forum did not avoid problems, nor did it paint a false peace. The consensus is also clear: The cycle will eliminate speculators and also reward long-termists. When the first half of electrification has made China's automobiles a global calling card, the second half of intelligence will no longer compete on numbers in the specification sheet, but on whether the enterprise has the ability and vision to truly cross the cycle.
After all, the next decade has begun.
