Smart driving new front in China car wars despite fatal crash

INTELLIGENT driving features are the new battleground in China's merciless car market, with competition spurring brands to world-leading advances -- but a recent fatal crash has seen the government intervene to put the brakes on runaway enthusiasm.

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Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) help with tasks ranging from cruise control to parking and collision avoidance, with the ultimate aim being a fully self-driving car.

Automakers are pouring investment into their development, especially in the world's biggest car market China, which skews young and tech-savvy.

"Ten years ago, only 15 percent of customers said they would change car because of an intelligent cockpit -- today it's 54 percent," Giovanni Lanfranchi of EV firm Zeekr said.

Almost 60 percent of cars sold in China last year had level-two ADAS features -- where the driver is still in control but there is continuous assistance -- or above, according to an AlixPartners report released last week.

The features "are emerging as a key competitive tool", said the consultancy's Yvette Zhang.

Some firms use their own proprietary technology, like start-up Xpeng and consumer electronics-turned-car company Xiaomi, while others are cooperating with tech giants such as Huawei.

Such software is being developed in Europe and North America too.

But in a survey of hundreds of global auto executives surveyed by AlixPartners, two-thirds said they believed China led the world in the field.