AutoSens China - The Road to Hefei

I’m sitting on my delayed flight back to London Gatwick, gathering my thoughts on what was the most interesting and enjoyable business trip I’ve ever made.

Last week I was in China, travelling via Shanghai and spending 3 days in Hefei, the location of our forthcoming AutoSens China event taking place 19-21 November this year. It was my first visit to China, and I have to admit I was somewhat trepidatious. It’s a long way from home, I have zero chance of communicating with anyone who doesn’t speak a sprinkling of English, and of course it’s a different system of governance and I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect.

AutoSens China is taking place 19-21 November 2024

We were lucky to have guidance from our lead advisor, Juergen Hoellisch , who is a China veteran, and some connections on the ground there who did a fantastic job of organizing our schedule, travel, and activities. I can’t thank them enough, it really was an amazing way to experience China for the first time.

Travelling with Richard Powell , Commercial Director at Sense Media Group , we had three main business objectives -

1. To do a detailed inspection of the venue, and define details of the operational elements of the events.
2. To meet new companies, and plan the agenda, sponsor invitations and content with Juergen.
3. To visit and connect with the Hefei government and engage them in the event.

And one personal one – to get a feel for China, it’s culture, people and the way to do business there.

It was wet. Both in Shanghai and Hefei, the heavy rain didn’t really stop. But that doesn’t impede people in any way. Street sellers, moped riders, morning lake-swimmers and the rest of the city pushed on through the torrential rain without a thought. People get things done in China. Hefei was hardly a city ten years ago, now it’s a metropolis of over 7m people, with 4 train stations, an abundance of skyscrapers, and some very impressive industrial facilities.

People get things done in China - fast!

Volkswagen Anhui’s technology centre, and NIO’s Factory One (NIO F1) are among these, and we were lucky to take a guided tour of the latter. Far from a dirty, heavy industrial site, this is a highly modern development featuring extensive green spaces among the large production and assembly buildings and NIO family spaces for staff to use and entertain visitors. It was constructed in rapid fashion, and has a flexible approach to the production line, enabling different NIO models to be manufactured on the same line. This is in part due to NIO’s unique swappable battery platform (they have recently signed JVs to expand this with Geely), that provides the standard chassis around which the various models are built.

We are expecting the conference in November will feature a VIP site visit for NIO F1 for selected attendees, I would highly recommend signing up so please do let me know if you’d like to be considered for one of the limited places available.

Outside of NIO, I was overwhelmed by the wide array of Chinese brand vehicles on the roads. I like to think I know my cars, but this was another world. There are currently no fewer than127 Chinese OEMs, many of them small volume, but the industry is consolidating and the pace of technology development is rapid. Whether it’s NIO’s 4 core central processing unit powering their ADAS, level 3 autonomy and infotainment or another vehicle, the standard of technology in all the cars we travelled in was impressive to say the least. But not just the cars - hotels, restaurants and the train station all deployed voice control, mobile payment, ID checking, and automation at ‘advanced level’, in line or ahead of what I would expect in the most modern of global cities, not necessarily what I would have been led to believe to expect from a ‘developing country’. In Shanghai, perhaps that’s not surprising, but the same was true in Hefei, a city I expect all readers of this blog have not heard of aside from maybe our conference announcements.

As for our business objectives, the Intercontinental Hotel in Hefei is a brand new 5* venue that will work perfectly for our event, as well as giving plenty of opportunity for growth in 2025. It’s a highly modern building, with fantastic facilities and very reasonable room rates (around €100 night, and it really is a 5* experience). I have never seen a better breakfast, I counted at least 9 different international cuisines on offer!

It was great to spend time with Juergen (I think he must be the busiest man in the automotive industry!), his knowledge of China and the automotive business there really is second to none, and our agenda is taking shape very nicely indeed. You can expect senior level speakers from global companies with Chinese operations, owners and C-level speakers from major Chinese companies, and the usual level of technical content that has become synonymous with the AutoSens name.

Our meeting with the Hefei government was a new experience for me, but we presented the event details and objectives and experienced a positive response to our plans. We will continue to build on this relationship, and expect to welcome international government delegations from other important automotive regions of the world.

The core aim of AutoSens China is to showcase for the international audience the advanced level innovation that’s going on in China, while also supporting Chinese companies looking to grow their business activities outside China. It’s a win-win, and I would suggest that anyone who does not have a good handle on what the Chinese automotive sector is doing across ADAS, autonomy and in-cabin technology should pay close attention to AutoSens China.

As for our personal aims to learn about China itself, I can genuinely say that it was a wonderful experience. The people we met were to friendly, welcoming, and hospitable. The food was another level, I’ve always loved Chinese food, but never appreciated the variety and differences of food from the different regions and it felt like we sampled them all!! I enjoyed the train journey from Shanghai to Hefei, soaking up the landscape as the bullet train sped through the countryside, contrasting this advanced technology with the endless rice paddies and farmers hard at work (yes, in the rain!). Construction is everywhere, and when the Chinese build something, it goes up quickly. It's amazing to see how fast a whole cityscape can rise up from the ground.

All in all, I can’t wait to go back. We made some good friends, and there is so much more to see. I couldn’t be more excited about the conference, this first edition of AutoSens China is really going to make a big impact. Miss it, miss out!