During our AI expedition to China, we saw it with our own eyes: the future of mobility is being built here — not in Stuttgart, not in Wolfsburg, nor in Paris, but in cities like Shenzhen and Shanghai. We drove a fully self-driving car from AITO, Huawei's car brand. The car took us through the city flawlessly. No hand on the wheel. No surgery necessary. All without a demo, without a PR show — just practice. And then it became painfully clear: the European car industry was stuck in the Middle Ages while the Renaissance has long begun.
Tesla in the US is considered to be the epitome of self-driving technology with FSD13. In San Francisco, we also drove Waymo taxis for hours — no steering wheel, no driver, fully autonomous. But China's experience with AITO was just as good. The car navigated independently through heavy traffic, recognizing pedestrians, scooters, traffic lights, everything in real time. And although a backup driver was still present, there was no need for intervention. The conclusion? Autonomous driving is not a thing of the future in China, but an everyday reality.
China now has 250 car brands. Many of them have been created in the past 5 to 10 years, with a full focus on electric and autonomous mobility. From Xiaomi, Yangwang and NIO to BYD and AITO: these are no longer start-ups, these are mature companies with mass production, innovative power and software that stands like a rock. What we noticed: these brands combine AI, design and technology at a level that we rarely find in Europe. Rich interfaces, LIDAR, OTA updates, deep learning for traffic recognition, and dashboards that feel like an extension of your smartphone.
The AITO we drove? Costs between €70,000 and €80,000, and self-driving is simply included as standard. Compare that with European brands that try to push a subscription model for each software update. We are two steps behind — and there are rapidly increasing.
If the pace of innovation in China continues in the coming years, the conclusion is inevitable:
- The European car industry is heading for irrelevance.
- We produce cars that feel like yesterday's tech, at a higher price, with slower innovation and less vision.
- Meanwhile, new models are rolling off the production line in China every month that are ready for a self-driving future.
Without a radical change of direction — a shift to customer-first thinking, automation in the production process, acceleration in AI integration and an open attitude to global competition — Europe risks losing the race permanently.
That's why we're organizing another AI expedition in September. Not for fun. But because we believe that entrepreneurs, directors and tech teams should see this for themselves. Not to copy the Chinese model, but to understand what it takes to participate in the first place.
Among other things, we discuss:
Europe still has a chance. But now we have to make adjustments very hard. Otherwise, we will soon be looking at an industry that has overtaken — and left behind — itself.
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