After squeezing out the foam of traffic, the Shanghai International Auto Show in April presented a perfect scientific and technological feast for the world auto industry. The Shanghai International Auto Show, which coincided with the 40th anniversary, witnessed the beginning of the world auto industry in China, and the glory years when the Chinese auto industry turned from supporting role to leading role.

Unconsciously, the Shanghai Auto Show has become the "barometer" of the world's automotive industry: it not only gathers 1366 new cars, 163 debut new cars, but also nearly 1000 domestic and foreign automotive industry chain enterprises, who occupy one-third of the exhibition area. This is a stage for the debut of new technologies.

China is no longer the world's number one market where car brands simply compete for market share. It is also a source of innovation for technology research and development, and product definition. "In China, for China" is giving way to "in China, for the world".

Today, Zhijia Network reviewed the 2025 Shanghai International Auto Show and focused on the joint venture brand: Has BBA returned to the C-position?

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From a follower to a localized innovator

Returning to the 2023 Shanghai Auto Show, a media person said he felt the panic of BBA.

BBA is a unique term in the Chinese automotive market, which in a certain sense is a symbol of Chinese consumers' success in life, and even the ceiling of their imagination about automotive products.

But in the past three years, they have encountered unprecedented self doubt and repositioning: their market share has dropped significantly, and they have had to join in rounds of price competition. The once unshakable brand premium has become a historical memory, and Ideal, NIO, and HarmonyOS have all entered the hinterland of BBA.

In the past two years, it can be said that BBA has stabilized itself, observed calmly, and finally put aside all concerns, achieving a historic transformation of fully embracing Chinese local technology companies and defining the new generation of cars with the Chinese market trend.

At the 2025 Shanghai Auto Show, Mercedes Benz, BMW, and Audi showcased their intelligent products with a technology intensive product matrix: for the first time, the three major brands have fully implemented intelligent cockpit and advanced intelligent driving systems in their mass-produced models.

This transformation is more of a "Sinicization" than a shift from being a "technology follower" to a "localization innovator".

Although they have launched multiple products and even new brands with the profound label of "China exclusive", it is completely different from previous behaviors such as "L/lengthening".

Central computing, AI cockpit, and end-to-end architecture are redefining the car manufacturing model. Behind BBA's new generation of Chinese special supply models is the enhancement of the discourse power of China's local R&D team, which internally promotes the three major German luxury brands to achieve product iteration of intelligent cars.

Has BBA returned to position C? |Observation of Shanghai Auto Show

In Mercedes Benz's view, the all-new pure electric long wheelbase CLA is the "first shot" in the next stage of counterattack against the smart connected car market. It is known as the "smartest Mercedes Benz model in history" and can be said to be the child who carries the hope of the whole village.

The all-new pure electric long wheelbase CLA is the first domestically produced model on the MMA platform, with many cutting-edge technologies tailored for the Chinese market. This car is equipped with the luxury brand's first all scenario intelligent driving assistance system, which is fully developed by a Chinese R&D team. It adopts an end-to-end large model and has been optimized for different regional road conditions in China.

Behind it also stands China's star intelligent driving company Momenta.

Since the intelligent cockpit has Sibichi's voice technology, it also stands with an AI big model from "Doubao".

Has BBA returned to position C? |Observation of Shanghai Auto Show

The new pure electric long wheelbase CLA has a higher "Chinese content" behind it than any previous model, and is a product deeply integrated with Chinese genes.

The Vision V concept car, which made its debut, is positioned as a "private VIP lounge". Its rear seats feature two independent first-class class seats, with a crystal white Nappa leather decoration paired with white silk satin, as well as large perforated walnut trim, intelligent variable translucent glass, a 65 inch retractable cinema level giant screen, and luxurious cabin ceiling lights.

Has BBA returned to position C? |Observation of Shanghai Auto Show

Referring to the cockpit of previous German MPVs, pragmatic Europeans have never had such a demand for vehicles, which is clearly tailored to the consumer style of the Chinese market. At the same time, it has further deepened the market demand in China - since everyone likes refrigerators, televisions, and large sofas, as a luxury brand, we will make these even more extreme.

Has BBA returned to position C? |Observation of Shanghai Auto Show

Tong Oufu, a member of the board of directors of Mercedes Benz Group and responsible for business in Greater China, bluntly stated:

China is at the forefront of electrification and intelligence in the automotive industry. Our goal is to continue working with Chinese partners to create products that best meet the needs of Chinese users with 'Chinese speed' and 'Chinese standards'. We will continue to deeply cultivate the Chinese market and expand our investment in China

Has BBA returned to position C? |Observation of Shanghai Auto Show

Compared to Mercedes Benz, BMW has chosen to deeply integrate its driving genes with the Chinese AI ecosystem.

For BMW, there has been a saying that its new generation model, which will be launched in 2026, has arrived too late, one year later than the Mercedes Benz CLA.

However, BMW has quietly completed its AI ecosystem layout with local Chinese technology companies.

At this year's auto show, two BMW exclusive AI intelligent agents, "Car Expert" and "Travel Companion," deeply customized by BMW and Alibaba, made their global debut. The all-new BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant, powered by a customized AI engine, also made its debut at the BMW booth.

Has BBA returned to position C? |Observation of Shanghai Auto Show

Among them, "car experts" can provide BMW brand knowledge, model function analysis, and real-time function execution based on simple and straightforward vehicle situation descriptions; 'Travel Companion' can solve users' travel planning problems in multi task and multi demand situations, accurately capturing intentions and semantic understanding in continuous multiple instructions, and providing the best travel plan in complex needs.

This is the first landing result of BMW Group's collaboration with Alibaba to promote the integration of AI language models into vehicles, following the launch of a 360 degree full chain AI strategy in China last month.

Has BBA returned to position C? |Observation of Shanghai Auto Show

BMW officially stated that with the support of AI intelligent technology, BMW's new generation of super sensory intelligent cockpit will enter the first tier of mainstream intelligent cabins.

The BMW exclusive AI intelligent agent is developed based on Alibaba's billion level parameter big language model base, integrating the usage habits and preferences of over 6 million Chinese users, and will be implemented on the new generation of domestic BMW models.

Has BBA returned to position C? |Observation of Shanghai Auto Show

Audi's move is more direct, which is to directly embrace the Huawei ecosystem.

This also opens up a new product route, which is that gasoline vehicles can also integrate Huawei's smart cabin and driving solutions, which is also a significant challenge for Audi and Huawei's car BU.

FAW Audi and SAIC Audi respectively showcased new models based on PPC high-end luxury fuel platform and PPE luxury pure electric platform. Among them, the PPC platform includes the all-new Audi Q5L, FAW Audi A5L, and SAIC Audi A5L Sportback; The PPE platform includes FAW Audi A6L e-tron, FAW Audi Q6L e-tron, and FAW Audi Q6L Sportback e-tron.

Has BBA returned to position C? |Observation of Shanghai Auto Show

The landing models of these two new platforms will both be equipped with Huawei Qiankun intelligent driving system, using a radar fusion perception solution with dual LiDAR. The FAW Audi A5L and SAIC Audi A5L Sportback will be the first mass-produced models.

At the same time, the first mass-produced car of the new AUDI brand, the Audi E5 Sportback, was officially unveiled. This is a jointly developed model by Audi and SAIC Group, which also integrates the Chinese digital ecosystem.

Has BBA returned to position C? |Observation of Shanghai Auto Show

It can be said that after two years of hesitation, BBA's new cars showcased at the 2025 Shanghai Auto Show have aligned with Chinese local brands in terms of product form, intelligent configuration, and intelligent driving performance by embracing Chinese local suppliers. At the same time, it helps to reshape the discourse power of the smart car market by leveraging its inherent brand advantages and manufacturing quality.

The deep cooperation between BBA and Chinese technology companies is not only a response to market pressure, but also a pivot to promote its strategic transformation.

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Value reconstruction of localization strategy

The essential change in the cooperation between BBA and Chinese technology enterprises is the upgrade from single point technology procurement to deep ecological binding, which has triple strategic value for enhancing their global competitiveness.

Firstly, collaborating with Chinese forces can quickly fill the technological gap.

Currently, there is a lack of platform based technology companies in Europe, leading to BBA falling behind China's technological power in areas such as intelligent algorithms and data training. By collaborating with companies such as Huawei and Alibaba, car manufacturers can quickly access mature intelligent driving solutions and ecological resources.

Has BBA returned to position C? |Observation of Shanghai Auto Show

According to information, the algorithm iteration cycle of the Huawei ADS 2.0 system equipped on the Audi A5L only takes 7 days, while if supported by Audi's self-developed system, it may take 3 months, and the efficiency difference is very obvious. Momenta provides a Chinese road condition data training model for Mercedes Benz, while Alibaba's Tongyi big model helps BMW optimize Chinese semantic analysis, and also solves the pain point of German brands' unfamiliarity in the fields of intelligent driving and intelligent cabin.

Secondly, it can accurately capture the needs of Chinese users. The Chinese team's increased voice in research and development enables BBA's new models to better fit local consumer habits.

It is reported that 70% of the functions of the intelligent cockpit developed by BMW Shenyang R&D Center are customized for Chinese users, including dialect recognition, WeChat car version, etc. Mercedes Benz has optimized its advanced navigation assistance system for the road environment in China, greatly improving its ability to handle turning, roundabouts, and urban village roads. The success rate of automatic parking has also increased by 40% compared to the previous generation.

Has BBA returned to position C? |Observation of Shanghai Auto Show

Thirdly, it helps to optimize and restructure the cost structure. The deep integration with the Chinese supply chain has significantly reduced research and manufacturing costs.

The cylindrical battery developed in collaboration between BMW and CATL has increased energy density by 20% and reduced costs by 15% compared to the European supply chain; Audi's large-scale procurement through Huawei's intelligent driving system results in a single bike intelligent driving authorization fee that is only one-fifth of its self-developed cost.

This cost advantage means that BBA can maintain its luxury positioning while potentially impacting the market at more competitive prices.

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Using China's exclusive technology to support global products

BBA will achieve localization transformation in 2025, not only gaining recognition and positive feedback during the Shanghai Auto Show, but also driving the comprehensive intelligence and electrification of its overseas products in the context of globalization, bringing about changes in the driving habits of overseas consumers. Meanwhile, BBA's proactive transformation has also had a positive demonstration effect on other brands, influencing the reshaping of the global automotive industry landscape.

Among them, the most prominent change is that it has played a model role in the ecological reconstruction of the joint venture market. BBA's intelligent upgrade has accelerated the transformation of other joint venture brands, and BBA's "self-developed core+ecological openness" model may become a model for traditional car companies to transform.

Has BBA returned to position C? |Observation of Shanghai Auto Show

At this auto show, Toyota, Nissan, Volkswagen, and others have also launched new models: the GAC Toyota Platinum 7 and Dongfeng Nissan N7 both use the HarmonyOS cockpit and Momenta intelligent driving system. They will bring considerable pressure to companies that have not yet followed up, along with BBA.

In the next stage, choosing to bind with Chinese power will inevitably become a twice the result with half the effort.

The second impact is that the technology solutions verified by BBA in the Chinese market are likely to be exported to the global market.

Although the pursuit of the ultimate experience of intelligent cabin and driving is currently exclusive to the Chinese market, this trend will inevitably affect the global car market. It can be foreseen that soon this "Chinese research and development, global application" model will break the traditional technology output path of luxury brands.

In addition, a more important impact is the transfer of power in the intelligent automotive industry chain.

Chinese power is shifting from being a "supplier" to a "technology definer", and tech giants such as Huawei, CATL, and Alibaba will accelerate the output of intelligent automotive technology standards through BBA's global channels.

Has BBA returned to position C? |Observation of Shanghai Auto Show

Once China masters the power to formulate standards, its technology will also gain more say, which in turn will continue to promote market influence and sales growth.

This will create a virtuous cycle.

According to industry insiders' predictions, by 2030, China's leading intelligent vehicle technology solutions are expected to cover 30% of the global high-end market.

Although BBA's transformation has achieved phased results, there have also been some noises: BBA has heavily integrated Chinese technological strength and fully adapted to the needs of the Chinese market, which may lose its brand soul and even face the problem of difficult to maintain technological sovereignty and brand genes.

Some industry insiders also believe that BBA's direct application of Chinese technology is a shortcut and not conducive to its long-term development.

Has BBA returned to position C? |Observation of Shanghai Auto Show

In fact, from some of BBA's measures, they have also considered this aspect of the issue. For example, Audi insists on developing a separate bus system for Huawei's intelligent driving solution to "protect" its core architecture; BMW emphasizes "driving pleasure first" in V2X technology to ensure the continuity of its brand DNA.

However, regardless of the viewpoint, the deep binding between BBA and Chinese power has become a reality. Even if it considers long-term interests, it cannot give up its own research and development of core technologies. It cannot be denied that partnering with Chinese technology companies is currently the most efficient and thirst quenching choice.

Of course, you can say that this is' taking shortcuts', but taking shortcuts cannot be simply understood as' laziness', but rather as a way to pursue 'efficiency'. Market opportunities will not always wait for a brand to slowly catch up. If they cannot find a chance to counterattack for a period of time, they may be completely eliminated.

Has BBA returned to position C? |Observation of Shanghai Auto Show

From this perspective, joint venture brands have already lost enough market share in the past five years, and cannot rely solely on self cultivation to cope with market changes for a few more years.

After all, in order to turn defeat into victory at the table, one must at least ensure that they can stay at the table.