Leading German automakers are showcasing cutting-edge innovations at Auto Shanghai 2025, the largest edition in the event’s history, drawing over 100,000 daily visitors to explore breakthroughs in smart cockpits, new energy vehicles, and intelligent platforms.
Since the show opened on Wednesday, nearly 1,000 automakers and suppliers from 26 countries and regions are participating, solidifying its status as the largest edition in the prestigious event's history.
At the BMW booth, a super-sensory smart cockpit, developed by the Shanghai R&D team, made its Asia debut. This groundbreaking human-machine interaction technology is set for mass production by year’s end, with plans for introduction in European factories.
"So, the largest R and D group outside of Germany is located here in China. More than 3,000 people work on exactly this feature-- automated driving and the digitalization of the user interface. And a lot of the elements of the Neue Klasse have been developed here in China. An emphasis lies here on AI, artificial intelligence, which is developed here in China and we bring it to the car," said Oliver Zipse, chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG.
At the same time, the Volkswagen Group is presenting the first results of its "In China, For China" strategy, featuring its largest-ever lineup of new energy vehicles. This move underscores its commitment to China’s rapid technological and innovative progress.
"The market is progressing very fast in China, with a high innovation speed, especially in the automotive sector. With intelligent connected vehicles, cloud services and AI, they play big role on this, and Volkswagen Group is in the middle of this," said Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen Group.
Meanwhile, German automaker Audi, in collaboration with SAIC, has made significant strides, unveiling a chassis tailored for China's road conditions and co-developing an advanced intelligent platform to enhance vehicle technology.
"China is the epicenter of the automotive transformation worldwide, there is no other market which is more competitive than China in terms of technology, in terms of speed," said Fermín Soneira, CEO of the Audi-SAIC Cooperation Project.
In addition to automakers, German parts supplier Bosch Group has unveiled its latest innovations in China, solidifying partnerships through new cooperation agreements with domestic companies.
German automakers lead innovations at Auto Shanghai 2025, highlighting smart mobility
