--- title: "Beijing Auto Show: Suppliers Move into the Complete Vehicle Pavilion" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/284385440.md" description: "At the 2026 Beijing Auto Show, suppliers entered the complete vehicle pavilion for the first time, exhibiting alongside vehicle brands and breaking the booth arrangement rules of the past two decades. The reallocation of booth space reflects changes in the industrial chain, with suppliers like CATL securing areas comparable to those of automakers to showcase new technologies such as batteries and chassis. This shift marks the intelligent transformation of the automotive industry and the restructuring of its supply chain" datetime: "2026-04-28T12:28:43.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/284385440.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284385440.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/284385440.md) --- # Beijing Auto Show: Suppliers Move into the Complete Vehicle Pavilion Author | Zhou Zhiyu The floor plan of an auto show has always been a document of power. Who is at the center, who is on the periphery, and who neighbors whom—these arrangements require no explanation; everyone in the industry understands them. Automakers occupy the main halls, while suppliers are relegated to independent exhibition areas. This has been the spatial grammar sustained for twenty years. Today, this grammar has become obsolete. The 2026 Beijing Auto Show. With an exhibition area of 380,000 square meters and 1,451 vehicles on display, one highlight of the "largest ever" Beijing Auto Show lies in the floor plan itself. Walking into Hall A2 of the Shunyi main venue, Bosch’s booth is adjacent to Audi and Cadillac on one side, with FAW Hongqi directly opposite. Moving toward Hall B3, Horizon Robotics and iFlytek are situated between Toyota and Changan. In Hall W4, CATL’s 1,500-square-meter booth is positioned directly at the entrance of the luxury brand hall, meaning visitors entering to see the German premium brands (BBA) must first pass by batteries and chassis displays. In Hall E2, Ouyi Semiconductor, a company specializing in SoC chips, stands shoulder-to-shoulder with NIO. Directly opposite the Xiaomi Auto booth, autonomous driving company Yuanrong Qixing set up a large-scale booth in the complete vehicle pavilion for the first time. In the past, the spatial language of auto shows was very clear: automakers were the protagonists, and suppliers were supporting actors, with each staying in their own lane. This year, that line has disappeared. Suppliers have not only entered the main exhibition halls but are also interspersed with vehicle brands, with booth sizes scaled to the same magnitude. The rearrangement of booths was not a whim of the organizing committee. Behind it lies a shifting hierarchy across the entire industrial chain, with the auto show merely projecting this instability into physical space. ## Suppliers' "Fiefdoms" The most intuitive impact comes from the area. CATL spread out a 1,500-square-meter booth at the entrance of Hall W4. As Hall W4 is where luxury brands gather, CATL has effectively blocked the traffic entrance to the entire hall. Visitors entering to see the German premium brands (BBA) see batteries and chassis first. In addition to a series of battery technologies announced before the auto show, CATL also displayed an eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) in its hall. Beside it was the "Panshi L4 Fully Redundant Chassis." This product was developed by CATL’s subsidiary, Times Intelligent, and is a chassis platform originally designed for L4-level autonomous driving. Yang Hanbing, Managing Director of Times Intelligent, told Wallstreetcn on April 25, "AI is reshaping automobiles. We see the intelligent 'brain' of cars becoming increasingly powerful—but few people care whether the chassis, as the carrier, is up to the task." What CATL displayed at the entrance of Hall W4 was not just its products, but the range of products it can now define. When a supplier begins to tell automakers "what the chassis should look like," the balance of power between integrators and component suppliers is already tilting. Bosch’s booth area in Hall A2 is on par with many vehicle brands. Bosch Smart Mobility Group achieved sales of RMB 122.3 billion in China in 2025, with approximately 70% coming from Chinese OEMs. The booth no longer displays individual components but rather full-stack solutions ranging from intelligent chassis to advanced autonomous driving. Wang Weiliang, President of Bosch China, stated on April 24 that safety is the baseline and cross-domain integration is key to advancing to L3 and higher levels of autonomous driving, "and this is precisely where Bosch's advantages lie." Wallstreetcn learned from Bosch that its Huayu steer-by-wire system will be mass-produced in the latest models of IM Motors and XPeng this year, while its hydraulic brake-by-wire solution will be equipped in several leading domestic Robotaxi models. The core new technologies of a German supplier are making their debut on products from Chinese automakers. More noteworthy than the area is "who is next to whom." In Hall B3, Horizon Robotics, WeRide, and iFlytek have become neighbors with Toyota and Changan. An exhibitor told Wallstreetcn on April 25 that previously, suppliers actively sought out automakers, but now automakers hope suppliers will be closer to facilitate communication at any time. In Hall E1, MAGNAUTO is right next to Luxeed, while in Hall E2, Ouyi Semiconductor stands shoulder-to-shoulder with NIO. Suppliers are actively entering the complete vehicle pavilions. But even more intriguing is the movement in the opposite direction: vehicle brands are actively moving closer to suppliers. Avatr is a brand created through the collaboration of Changan and Huawei, while Mengshi belongs to the Dongfeng system. By convention, they should have remained in the Changan Group pavilion and the Dongfeng Group pavilion, respectively. However, at this auto show, both broke away from their parent companies' camps and chose to share Hall W3 with Huawei Qiankun. The day before the auto show, Mengshi announced an upgrade in cooperation with Huawei Qiankun in the fields of products, channels, and ecosystems, planning to launch four new models within two years. This choice itself is a statement: between brand affiliation and technological affiliation, they chose the latter. In Hall W3, Huawei Qiankun Intelligent Driving and Huawei Digital Power occupied the core positions of half the hall, with Qijing, Yijing, and Avatr lined up on both sides. Moreover, Hall W3 is just the center; Hall E1 features Luxeed, Hall E2 features AITO, Hall A3 has the Dongfeng Huawei Qiankun exhibition area, and Hall B4 serves as a supplementary exhibition area for HIMA. This "one main, four auxiliary" cross-hall layout covers most of the major venues of the entire auto show. The total area of the HIMA and Huawei Technology exhibition zones exceeds 4,400 square meters, slightly larger than that of BYD. A company that does not manufacture cars occupies more space at the auto show than China's best-selling automaker. This is not a phenomenon unique to the Beijing Auto Show. Last year's Shanghai Auto Show had already laid the groundwork—the number of supply chain booths within the complete vehicle pavilion jumped from 12 in 2023 to 23, nearly doubling; the area of the independent automotive technology and supply chain exhibition zone expanded from 30,000 square meters to 100,000 square meters. The Beijing Auto Show has stepped on the accelerator in this trend. As a result, the visitor path has fundamentally changed: previously, people looked at cars first and then components; now, viewing the cars necessitates passing through the booths of core suppliers. ## Booth Arrangement Is Value Chain Arrangement Booth locations are never assigned randomly. They are the physical projection of industrial discourse power. For the past decade, automakers occupying core booths had an unspoken premise: they defined the products, and suppliers provided the parts. But the era of smart electric vehicles has rewritten this premise. Core components such as power batteries, autonomous driving chips, and domain controllers now account for more than half of the total vehicle cost, and the technologies behind these are mostly held by independent supply chain enterprises, not the automakers themselves. The power of definition is shifting, and the power of discourse follows. CATL captured 38.1% of the global power battery market in 2025. Cai Jianyong, Chief Technology Officer of Times Intelligent, pointed out to Wallstreetcn on April 25 that L4 is a completely new species. The safety logic has shifted from "human backup" to "system backup," turning vehicles from consumer goods into production tools operating 24/7. The chassis must be developed from the ground up for this purpose and cannot rely on modified passenger car platforms. When a supplier begins to tell automakers "what the chassis should look like," its scale and influence can no longer be contained within a "components exhibition area." Huawei Qiankun has established collaborations with over 25 vehicle brands and more than 50 models, covering a range from new forces to Audi. Qijing is a brand jointly created by Huawei Qiankun and GAC Group. In its booth promotions, it placed "Huawei Qiankun" before "Qijing," defining a new height of "Huawei content." When a consumer buys an Avatr, are they buying Changan or Huawei? The answer is becoming blurred. Huawei's partner automakers are classified into three levels based on the depth of cooperation: full-stack, three-intelligence/dual-intelligence, and components. In the past, automakers selected suppliers; now, suppliers are grading the automakers. Changes on the consumer side are equally profound. Names like Huawei Qiankun Intelligent Driving and CATL's Qilin Battery are becoming independent variables in purchasing decisions. Some consumers have already started paying for the "technology brands" of suppliers, not just for the logo on the front of the car. When supplier brands possess recognizability among end-users, their positions at auto shows naturally move to the forefront. Several exhibitors told Wallstreetcn that over the past two years, Huawei and CATL have occupied consumers' minds through communication in fields such as intelligent driving and batteries, causing consumers to prioritize these brands when making purchasing decisions. This strategy is akin to "Intel Inside" in the computer era; for suppliers, breaking out of the B2B circle can also garner more attention from the B-side. The auto show is no longer just a trade fair. It is increasingly becoming a marketplace for technical ecosystems, and in this marketplace, suppliers hold the scarcest commodities. ## From Supply to Definition Suppliers moving into the main hall is superficially an upgrade in status. But status is the result, not the cause. What is truly changing is the power relationship between integrators and component suppliers—and this change is progressing along a clear path. The first step is suppliers starting to help automakers do core tasks. Bosch's steer-by-wire system landing in IM Motors and XPeng, and CATL's batteries being installed in almost all mainstream models, are things that have happened over the past decade. Suppliers provide key components, but automakers retain the power of definition and integration. The chain remains linear: suppliers produce, automakers purchase, and consumers buy cars. The second step is suppliers starting to make decisions for automakers. Hall W3 showcases this step. In Huawei Qiankun's HI PLUS model, the supplier does not just provide parts but directly participates in product definition—the intelligent driving solution, cockpit experience, and even brand narrative are determined by the supplier's technical solutions. Qijing placing "Huawei Qiankun" before the brand name, and Avatr and Mengshi breaking away from their parent group pavilions, are externalizations of technological power. In this model, the role of automakers has retreated from "product definers" to "brand operators" and "manufacturing executors." They still possess brands and channels, but the technical core of the products is increasingly written by suppliers. But the most noteworthy aspect of this auto show is that the third step has begun to emerge. Suppliers are starting to build their own stages and perform, no longer waiting for automakers to place orders. CATL's Panshi chassis is a landmark example. During the auto show, Times Intelligent announced strategic ecological cooperation with Horizon Robotics and MAGNAUTO, focusing on deep technical synergy in intelligent driving and intelligent chassis. The composition of this chain is: a battery company builds the chassis platform, a chip company provides computing power, and an intelligent driving company provides algorithms. The "brain" and "body" are directly paired among suppliers. There is no name of any automaker in this entire chain. This means the supply chain is no longer a chain waiting to be pulled by automakers but is growing into a platform on its own. Following this logic, vehicles in the L4 era are not defined by automakers who then ask suppliers to fill in the parts. Instead, suppliers first build the platform—with chassis, battery, intelligent driving, and computing power all ready—and then automakers choose which platform to access and what kind of vehicle body to build on top of it. Interestingly, Horizon Robotics and MAGNAUTO are also suppliers that moved from the components exhibition area into the main vehicle pavilion at this auto show. Horizon Robotics is neighbors with Toyota and Changan in Hall B3, while MAGNAUTO is right next to Luxeed in Hall E1. They stand together with automakers in physical space, yet in business relationships, they are allying with other suppliers. What is not visible on the floor plan is often more important than what is. From helping automakers do tasks, to making decisions for automakers, to building their own stages, these three steps are not three parallel models but a progressive chain currently unfolding. The endgame it points to is that the role of automakers in the industrial chain may shift from system integrators to platform accessors. This does not mean automakers will disappear; brands, channels, and manufacturing remain their barriers. But the power to define "what a car should be" is, to some extent, shifting from automakers to suppliers. Lian Yubo, Chief Scientist at BYD, also described the current relationship between complete vehicles and components as "mesh symbiosis" at the High-Level Forum on the Development of Smart Electric Vehicles on April 11. The value of the industrial chain is no longer flowing unidirectionally along the chain between complete vehicles and components as in the past. Instead, it flows bidirectionally between different nodes—from technology and products to users—and continues to amplify within this mesh structure. Smart electric vehicles are reshaping the original supply chain value system, giving birth to many large industrial chain companies that were previously unimaginable. This is also a snapshot of how China's new energy vehicle industrial chain is reshaping the automotive landscape. In the future global industrial stage, there will be more than just one CATL. 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