Chinese cars no longer compete against the West. Compete against the future itself

For years, the West was the goal. The mirror where Chinese brands were looked at. The standard that had to be achieved.

Today, that mirror is broken.

Byd, Xiaomi, Zeekr, Nio or Jaecoo and omoda —The new heads of the Chery group in Europe – no longer mimic Tesla, Mercedes, BMW or Jeep. They play on another board. One that did not even exist five years ago. A land where The car is no longer just engine, or prestige, or inheritance: it is a digital platform, it is integrated emotion, It is services fluidity.

While in Europe it is still discussed if the electric car can be profitable and in the United States automotive has become a political fight, In China the car has mutated something different: a living, sensitive, evolutionary object. A product in perpetual beta, as a software that learns, feels and redefines.

Each new model launched by Chinese brands is less one car and more a manifesto, a declaration of intentions.

Plus a commitment to the future than an answer to the present.

He Xiaomi Su7 Ultra It is not an improved alternative to Model 3. It is a complete reinvention of the Premium car idea: 800 km of autonomy, ultra -grape load of 370 kilometers in 10 minutes, indoor level, native digital ecosystem, emotional assistants. The car not only drives: he lives, he feels, he talks.

Byd, with all its brands, carries this transformation even further: models such as the Yangwang U8 or the denza Z do not offer luxury by themselves, but luxury as an emotional extension of technology, with an absolute domain of the software and an obsession with the user’s sensory experience. Each gesture, every texture, each lighting has an emotional purpose, not just functional.

Yangwang U8L. Image: Xataka.

Denza Z. Image: Xataka.

Nio and Zeekr, meanwhile, explore the car as extension of the vital ecosystem: interchangeable batteries in minutes, voice assistants that learn from you, environmental screens that transform the cabin into an intimate space. They do not sell cars. They sell life experiences.

And this phenomenon no longer remains in China. We are seeing it in Europe with omoda and jaecootwo brands that the Chery group has brought to Spain with a clear proposal: expressive design, advanced digital interfaces, full connectivity technology at a price that makes it difficult to ignore them.

Omoda 3. Image: omoda.

He Omoda 5 and the Jaecoo 7 They do not simply seek to replicate a German or Japanese SUV. They seek to build another car idea: more sensory, more digital, more emotional. He Omoda 3 He has consolidated that idea: it’s not just a car, it’s something else. And in their presentation they were insistent with the emotional aspect.

In the interview we have published in XatakaCharlie Zhang, vice president of Chery, told us in Wuhu: “The stereotype has deflated at the speed of our sales.” A phrase that summarizes how China no longer needs to imitate anyone: now define its own rules.

Because it is no longer just about electrification. Not even autonomy.
It’s about redefining what it means to possess and live a car. China no longer seeks to live up to it, but directly design the next level.

In Shanghai it was clear: the future of the car is no longer decided in Munich or Detroit. He is incubating in Beijing, in Shenzhen, in Wuhu.

And the West, this time, no longer carries the lead.

Outstanding image | Xataka

In Xataka | I have driven the Jaecoo 5 EV in China: the electric SUV that no longer asks for permission