Chinese electric vehicle (EV) leader BYD has reinforced its push to build and sell more cars fitted with level 3 (L3) autonomous driving systems after Beijing took its first step towards deregulating the technology.
The company collaborated with authorities in Shenzhen, where it was based, to test some of its cars ahead of mass production, according to China Business News. BYD confirmed the report, adding that it had completed more than 150,000 kilometres of real-world L3 testing.
The company did not elaborate on when production of its first L3 vehicles would start.
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The report came two days after the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) granted licences to the first two carmakers to build vehicles featuring L3 technology, considered “hands-off” self-driving.
L3 allows cars to navigate streets by themselves, but drivers are still required to be fully alert to ensure that they can intervene under any circumstances, according to criteria set by global standards organisation SAE International.
BYD is targeting to sell 4.6 million units this year. Photo: Xinhua alt=BYD is targeting to sell 4.6 million units this year. Photo: Xinhua>
L5, or fully autonomous driving, means a vehicle does not need human intervention under any circumstances.
At present, most driver-assistance systems used in intelligent cars are classified as either L2 or L2+, which require drivers to keep their hands on the wheel at all times.
At the beginning of 2025, BYD, the world’s largest EV assembler in terms of deliveries, pinned its hopes on preliminary self-driving technologies to bolster its sales in mainland China, the world’s largest automotive and EV market.
The carmaker drew up a plan to build cars priced below 100,000 yuan (US$14,200) with a preliminary advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS), which was expected to lure millions of young drivers across the country. Most Chinese-made cars with ADAS are priced above 150,000 yuan.
But mainland authorities tightened their oversight of early-stage autonomous driving technologies after three people died in an accident involving an SU7 in Tongling, central Anhui province, in March.
In April, the MIIT stepped in to police street tests of preliminary autonomous driving systems and marketing claims about such technologies. The ministry also cautioned companies not to overstate the role of their assistance systems.
In September, BYD lowered its sales target for this year by 16 per cent to 4.6 million units from a previous forecast of 5.5 million, according to Reuters, which cited unidentified sources.
“With authorities showing their intention to widely promote the technologies after the approvals to L3 cars, BYD has reasons to actively develop more L3 cars to increase its market share,” said Gao Shen, an independent analyst in Shanghai. “It is highly likely that the Chinese auto market will see intense competition in the field of self-driving.”
Cars fitted with preliminary self-driving systems saw a surge in sales on the mainland over the past few years, driven by Chinese consumers’ willingness to embrace new technologies.
Andrew Fan, chief financial officer of Hesai Group, the world’s largest maker of lidar sensors, told the Post last month that preparations were well under way in China’s vehicle industry for the next generation of autonomous-driving features, even before Beijing cleared the regulatory road ahead.
Top carmakers, particularly those focused on premium EVs such as Geely’s Zeekr and Huawei Technologies-backed Seres, had designed and developed intelligent vehicles that were deemed semi-autonomous and would comply with L3 rules, according to announcements they made earlier.
On Monday, the MIIT gave the go-ahead to Changan Automobile and BAIC to build their first L3 cars. But the cars, both pure EVs, could only navigate urban streets and highways in designated areas, the ministry said.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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