Inside the motor show where AI, robots and fierce competition are redefining cars

Steve FowlerMon, April 27, 2026 at 3:42 PM UTC

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China Auto 26, held in Beijing's Capital International Exhibition Center, is the biggest car show of the year (Steve Fowler)

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There are themes to every motor show – themes that often revolve around the latest technology, geopolitical matters and the financial climate.

At this year’s China Auto show – held in the massive China International Exhibition Centre in Beijing (it alternates with Shanghai) – the talk was all about AI and robotics. And robotics, of course, also includes the tech that powers driverless cars.

This show is on another level in terms of scale. Its 380,000 square metres – using the international measurement of area – equate to around 53 full-size football pitches, making it difficult to cover in a day, but I gave it my best shot.

As well as looking at the cars, it’s a great time to catch up with the people running the car companies. I took the opportunity to ask them why China matters to you and me as car buyers, and what effect it has on established car makers.

Jose Munoz is the President and CEO of Hyundai and was announcing a huge push for his brand in China. Hyundai was once big in China – not anymore. Munoz’s plan is to make Hyundai big again. But does what he sees and learns, and what Hyundai does in China, benefit the wider business and customers around the world?

“When you come here to China and you just spend time, this is a different market,” Munoz told me. “It’s a market that has grown a lot, where young consumers get access to a lot of new technologies, then connect with the entire world, with a lot of the different ecosystems.

“Then there are technologies that are here that are not in other markets and behaviours that are here that are different than in other markets. Then you can develop autonomous driving systems that are very suitable for those markets – let’s call it US or Europe. Now you come to China and there are more people with different priorities, with different objectives in that particular day. Then you just walk around and you see people walking differently, and then you face people who are running, other people who are on bicycles, other people are in cars, and it’s way more complex.

“No doubt, when you have an autonomous driving system that operates successfully here, that system is productively easy to adapt to other markets, but not the other way around. This is very, very unique.

“Also, the Chinese consumer is very demanding on software and technology because what other people do in other countries in their homes, in this country a lot of people do in their cars.

“Cars are a space where people spend time and work, and where they want to have a good quality of video or, let’s say, online series or music, or relax or whatever. So then it makes that space so special – it’s not just a commuting space, it’s a living space.

“These are all elements that help us extrapolate.”

The speed of development in China is also changing how Hyundai and other car companies work. “When you utilise certain technologies in China, people are used to it being immediate,” said Munoz. “In other countries, people didn’t have the technology – now they have it. If you are slow, it’s okay. But in this market, you need to be fast.”

Chinese companies’ ability to keep costs down is also inspiring Munoz, as he explained. “So there are many, many elements that are exportable, but the most important element that is exportable is affordability. We want more for less as people, right? I want to get access to as much as possible with the least payment. Because China is so competitive, if you’re able to compete in China, you can export that to another market.”

After chatting with Munoz, I caught up with Mathias Geisen, sales and marketing boss for German giant Mercedes-Benz. He echoed many of Munoz’s views, but specifically mentioned how autonomous driving developments in China are shaping the rest of the car world.

“China has very demanding customers, especially when it comes to entertainment and when it comes to technology itself,” said Geisen. “The customers here in China are definitely younger than the ones we have in Europe, and what we learn here is something which will also be very present in Europe and the rest of the world, because there may be a demand here for Level Two+ [autonomous driving], which we are all aware of, but not yet in Europe.

“Of course it will happen in Europe as well, because as soon as people realise that there is a superior technology available, they also want to have it.

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“Basically, it speeds up a lot of things we do. This is why we also have an R&D hub here – to make sure that we stay on top of it and that we can keep innovating. This strong competition you have over here triggers an increasing speed of innovating what you’re doing. So I would say it’s beneficial.

“For example, Level Two+. We are now the only ones able to offer it in combustion engines because it was driven from here with our team here, with our local partner Momentum and with NVIDIA – now we do it for the rest of the world.

“So I would say if you’re competitive in China, you’re very well set up for the rest of the world. And when it comes to features like autonomous driving and digitisation, the customers here are the most demanding ones.”

To get a very different perspective, my next long-distance, cross-hall walk took me to one of China’s big players – a corporation called GAC, standing for Guangzhou Automobile Group. Of its many brands, Aion is the newest arrival in the UK, and leading the charge as general manager is experienced UK car (and dealer) boss Jon Wakefield.

I met with Avon's UK general manager, Jon Wakefield, who showed me some of the cars coming to the UK (Steve Fowler)

It’s always strange to travel over 5,000 miles to chat with someone who’s based 40 miles up the road (we have met more locally, too), but Jon was keen to show me around the Aion stand and highlight a couple of other cars likely to head to the UK wearing Aion badges, including the S7 plug-in hybrid SUV that’s set for the UK, and another SUV, the S600, which to my eyes has a whiff of Porsche Macan about it but would cost a fraction of the price.

I asked Wakefield for his view on China and its importance to UK consumers.

“This is where the innovation, the development and the ability to build cars to a price come from,” he said. “This is the centre of it all.”

Even on the GAC stand, the scale of the organisation – and the opportunity for cars to come to the UK – is huge, as Wakefield told me: “The array of product is quite a lot to take in for us. Yes, we do have to choose the right car for the UK market. And within this sweet shop there are some really good models that are absolutely appealing for the UK consumer.

“The Aion V is, of course, the first one that’s coming, and then there’s the S7 over there, which is a hybrid SUV that really suits the UK fascination for a proper high SUV. We’ll be bringing that into market next year.

“But it’s not just about the shape, the touch and the fit – it’s about the powertrains as well. I’m really interested in how we could bring range extender technology to the UK because I think there’s a real logic to that. Plug-in hybrid is more ICE and a bit of battery, while the range extender is more battery with a little bit of ICE. So it’s the next step – it still gives you that confidence to be able to go on a long journey.”

With the proliferation of new brands on show in Beijing, including more heading to the UK, Wakefield is mindful of the need for focus.

“I think one of the observations I would make now – and I think it’s becoming quite evident in the Chinese market – is there are too many brands, too many car lines, and the confusion that creates for the consumer is manifest. But also, in terms of how you build the trust and reputation of a brand, it’s very complex. There are lots of words being thrown around on size and trust and reliability and so on. People have to make their own minds up.

“For me, our direction is to stick to one brand and then pull the other car lines in to sit within that brand.”

What’s clear out here is that there are definite areas where China is working hard to lead. I’ve just had a conversation with Chery chairman Yin Tongyue about his brand’s AiMoga humanoid robots – designed to support us humans and with plenty of learnings to take from the AI and autonomous technologies his cars are already using. He’s clearly keeping a watchful eye on what Elon Musk and Tesla are doing with robots, too.

Whatever your views on Chinese cars, they’re helping to raise standards and bring useful technology to every car – and I reckon that’s a good thing. You may have your own views and, as usual, I’d be delighted to hear them. Please drop me a line by hitting the email button below.

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Source: “AOL Breaking”