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In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · 3 min · Sep 30, 2026

China launched more than 580 car models in six months

Kai Yu says more than 580 models launched in the first half of the year, as shoppers seek parking, driving and infotainment features. Competition and consumer demand both drive change.

KY

Kai Yu

Kai Yu is founder and CEO of Horizon Robotics.

About this segment

Kai Yu says more than 580 models launched in the first half of the year, as shoppers seek parking, driving and infotainment features. Competition and consumer demand both drive change.

From “Horizon Robotics CEO: Car Chips, Mind-Off Driving and China's Speed | Podcast | In Good Company”, Sep 30, 2026. Watch the full episode

“And for the first half of this year, more than 580 new car models launched.”
KYKai Yuat 9:45 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen9:45

Takeaways

  1. China has 60 to 70 car brands.
  2. More than 580 models launched in the first half of the year.
  3. Consumers also drive demand for smart features.

In this episode

Full episode
  1. 14:16Kai Yu’s roadmap to hands-off and mind-off driving4:58
  2. 11:47Long automotive cycles create a high barrier to entry2:43
  3. 31:21Car suppliers may have an edge in the robotics race4:52
  4. 7:13Horizon chose to enable carmakers instead of building cars2:17

  5. 9:15China launched more than 580 car models in six months2:48

  6. 24:41China's supplier network speeds up automotive innovation2:10Up next
  7. 26:35Horizon can partner with European chipmakers in complementary niches2:51
  8. 37:18Autonomous cars could make commutes and city layouts less restrictive4:17

Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

  1. 9:25

    Now, the Chinese car market is kind of brutally competitive. What is driving the Chinese car market just now? Is it price, intelligence? Just what is it? Well, the current Chinese car market is really crazy. I think you don't see any market like here. There are, you know, I don't know how many, probably 60 or 70 different car brands. And for the first half of this year, more than 580 new car models launched.

  2. 10:05

    And it's an extremely, you know, tough market. But I think the market is really driven by competition. But on the other hand, it's also driven by consumer demand. So consumers are really expecting, you know, more and more, you know, smart features, you know, automatic parking, you know, autonomous driving and the more fancy infotainment assistance. And I think all of those factors driving the market, not just the competitive, but also very innovative.

  3. 10:45

    What does it do to Chinese manufacturers when you have such strong competition at home? that when you got get out to let's say europe is it just like easy pc to compete relative i think uh uh we position ourselves first we are not competing with any uh car makers we are we are actually enabling them we are helping them we are building strong partnerships with all the car makers and all the ecosystem partners, including the automotive suppliers, for example, Bosch, Denzel, and many other global and local suppliers.

  4. 11:29

    And our philosophy is really make friends and make long-term trust with our customers and partners. Essentially, this is fundamentally in the gene of our company. So we don't have in the sense of we don't have too much culture from the competition perspective, but more from, you know, what kind of value we can we can create.