Dublin, May 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Chinese Independent OEMs' ADAS and Autonomous Driving Report, 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
From 2023 to 2025, the intelligent driving installation structure of passenger cars in China has shown a clear trend of stepped upgrading and structural substitution. Non-intelligent driving level (NL) and low-level intelligent driving (L1) have seen declining installation volume, and have gradually withdrawn from mainstream market, confirming that intelligent driving is fully becoming a standard configuration for passenger cars; basic high-level intelligent driving (L2) remains the absolute foundation of the industry.
Although its installation volume slightly declined in 2025, the basic market is stable, and the industry's growth focus has clearly shifted to higher-level assisted driving. Wherein, L2.5 highway NOA and L2.9 urban NOA have become the core growth engines, with their installation volumes achieving a substantial jump in 2025 respectively, and the penetration rate of high-level NOA functions rises rapidly. Yet the installation volume of L2+ has shrunk slightly, indicating that its functional value is being replaced by more complete high-level solutions such as L2.5/L2.9. The overall intelligent driving market presents a clear pattern of "low configuration clearance, stabile basic market, and high-level outbreak".
Independent brands have skipped low-level and vigorously developed high-level intelligent driving. The proportion of non-intelligent driving (NL) dropped sharply from 60.9% in 2022 to 36.0% in 2025, and low-level intelligent driving of L0-L1 was almost zero (1.3%). In the same period, the proportion of high-level intelligent driving such as L2 and above doubled to 62.7%. Among them, the installation rate of L2.9 urban NOA has risen from 2.1% in 2022 to 17.2% in 2025, realizing a leapfrog structural shift from "dominated by non-intelligent driving" to "dominated by high-level intelligent driving".
In contrast, joint venture/foreign brands have adopted a conservative route of steady substitution and hierarchical iteration. The proportion of non-intelligent driving has dropped from 40.0% to 14.5%, but low-level intelligent driving of L0-L1 still retains a considerable share of 16.4%. Although the proportion of high-level intelligent driving of L2 and above has risen to 69.0%, the overall market still maintains a decentralized pattern of coexistence of multiple levels including "non-intelligent driving + low-level + high-level", forming a sharp contrast with the radical route of independent OEM brands.
2026 will become a key inflection point for China's automotive industry to move from "quantitative change" to "qualitative change" in intelligent driving capabilities. By systematically sorting out intelligent driving strategies, strategic layout, technical routes and implementation progress of 15 Chinese independent OEMs from 2023 to 2026, the analyst has summarized four core insights.
Key Topics Covered:
1 Status Quo of Chinese Independent OEM ADAS Market
- ADAS Installation Volume by Intelligent Driving Level in Chinese Market, 2023-2025
- ADAS Installation Volume and Installation Rate of Independent + Joint Venture/Foreign Brands by Intelligent Driving Level, 2023-2025 (1)-(2)
- Three Major Development Trends of ADAS: Independent Brands VS. Joint Venture/foreign Brands
- ADAS Function Installation Volume & Installation Rate of Independent Brands, 2023-2025: By Function (1)-(2)
- L2 and Above ADAS Installation Volume and Installation Rate of Independent Brands, 2023-2025
- L2 and L2+ ADAS Installation Volume of Independent Brands: By Brand
- L2 and L2+ ADAS Installation Rate of Independent Brands: By Brand
- Sales Volume and Penetration Rate of L2.5 Models (by Price), 2023-2025
- Sales Volume and Penetration Rate of L2.5 Models (by Brand), 2023-2025
- L2/2.5/2.9 ADAS Installation Volume and ADAS Supplies List: By Brand (1)-(2)
- L2/2.5/2.9 ADAS Installation Volume of Independent Brands: By Model
- L2/L2+/2.5/2.9 ADAS Installation Volume of Independent Brands: By Price
- L2/L2+/2.5/2.9 ADAS Installation Rate of Independent Brands: By Price
- Market Share of L2 and L2+ ADAS Suppliers in Chinese Passenger Car Market
- Market Share of L2.5 and L2.9 ADAS Suppliers in Chinese Passenger Car Market
- Penetration Rate of Intelligent Driving by Level in Chinese Passenger Car Market, 2023-2030E
2 ADAS/Autonomous Driving Layout and Trends of Chinese Independent OEMs
2.1 ADAS Evolution Direction of OEMs in 2026
- ADAS Capabilities Evolution Direction of OEMs in 2026 (1)-(6)
- Insight 1: Paradigm Revolution of Underlying Technology, from 'Modular Rules' to 'Physical AI'
- Case: NIO World Model (NWM)
- Insight 2: In 2026, Urban NOA Will Be Popularized towards Lower-end Market, Becoming A Core Competitive Element in Mainstream Market
- Case: BYD Shifts from 'Optional Configuration for Single Model' to 'Standard Configuration for All Models'
- Insight 3: In Terms of Evolution Direction, Intelligent Driving Experience Shifts to Further Improving Experience Value of Safety, Human-like Smoothness and High Efficiency
- Insight 4: In Terms of Function Form, Evolve from 'HD Map-Free Urban NOA' to 'Standardization of Door-to-Door (D2D) + L3 Technology Readiness'
- Comparison between D2D Intelligent Driving Solutions
- Core Trends and Insights of D2D Intelligent Driving industry
- Insight 5: Cockpit-Driving Fusion Is Expected to Accelerate, and Automobiles Will Evolve into AI Super Agents
- In Terms of Evolution Strategy, Multi-Brand OEMs Adopt A Hierarchical Intelligent Driving Strategy (Dual Track of Independent R&D + Multiple Suppliers) to Match Brand Positioning
2.2 End-to-End Large Models
- Benchmarking Comparison between End-to-End Large Models Adopted by OEMs in 2026
- Comparison of End-to-End Large Models Upgrade Solutions between Representative Third-Party Intelligent Driving Suppliers
- End-to-End Has Become the Mainstream of Intelligent Driving Technology, and End-to-End Large Models Have Evolved into Multiple Routes during 2025- 2026
- Afari Technology: End-to-End Intelligent Driving Large Model
- Geely: Launched the World Action Model (WAM) in 2026
- Deeproute.ai: Hardcore Technical Innovation in 40B VLA Foundation Model
- VLA Route (1)-(2)
2.3 OEMs' L3/L4 Layout
- Comparison of Milestone Timeline of OEMs' L3/L4 Layout, 2023-2030E (1)-(2)
- Panoramic Insight into L3/L4 Autonomous Driving Layout of Chinese OEMs (1)-(2)
- OEMs' Strategic Choices in L3/L4 Intelligent Driving: Parallel Development and Skipping
- Multiple Considerations of Some Leading OEMs Adopting Dual-Route Layout of L3 and L4 in Terms of Technology, Capital and Strategy (1)-(2)
- Driven by Both Policy and Technology: China's L3/L4 Autonomous Driving Market Enters the Fast Lane of Large-Scale Commercialization from 2025 to 2030
- Simultaneous Upgrading of Four Major Technical Modules Promotes Stepped Implementation of Autonomous Driving from L3 to L5
- Industry Experts' Prediction on Development of L3 Conditionally Autonomous Driving (1)-(2)
- Five Major Challenges Facing the Large-Scale Implementation of L3
- Technical Challenges Facing L3 Implementation (1)-(3)
- Four Major Characteristics of Chinese OEMs' L3 Layout
- L3 Technical Path Presents A 'Tripod' Pattern: Independent R&D, Dual Track of Joint R&D + Independent R&D, External Suppliers (1)-(3)
3 ADAS/Autonomous Driving of Chinese Traditional Independent OEMs
3.1 Dongfeng
3.2 SAIC
3.3 BYD
3.4 GAC
3.5 Geely Auto
3.6 BAIC Group
3.7 Changan Automobile
3.8 Great Wall Motor
3.9 Chery
3.10 IM Motors
4 ADAS/Autonomous Driving of Emerging OEM Brands
4.1 Xiaomi
4.2 XPeng Motors
4.3 Li Auto
4.4 NIO
4.5 Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA)
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/56t8bn
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