MPV warfare reignites, multiple automakers showcase intelligent driving technology

Author | Zhou Zhiyu

In March, the new energy MPV market ushered in a “Super Listing Month.”

Xpeng X9 pure electric version, Lantu Dreamer Champion Edition, Mercedes-Benz VLE made frequent appearances, while Zhijie V9, Jihu问道V9, and Leapmotor D99 are gearing up. The 300,000-yuan level family MPV market is once again heating up.

Over the past three years, domestic brands have launched fierce attacks on joint venture fuel-powered MPVs with new energy as their spear and intelligence as their shield. The 2025 sales rankings of new energy MPVs show that Denza D9, Lantu Dreamer, and WeiPai Gaoshan occupy the top three spots. The high-end MPV market once dominated by GL8, Odyssey, and Sienna has undergone a fundamental change in its landscape.

Now, joint venture brands are beginning to fight back, and intelligent driving is becoming the key to victory in this fierce battle.

Wall Street Insights has learned that several automakers, including Lantu, Xpeng, and GAC, are accelerating the mass production and deployment of L3-level intelligent driving. Lu Fang, chairman of Lantu Auto, told Wall Street Insights that Lantu’s L3 test vehicles have accumulated over 110,000 kilometers of real-road testing, and “they will soon launch vehicles equipped with L3 architecture.”

From space competition to an arms race in intelligent driving, the competition dimensions in the MPV market are undergoing a fundamental transformation. In the second half of the red ocean elimination race, reshuffling is far from over.

Autonomous and joint venture strategies are shifting

The Chinese MPV market is experiencing a profound power shift.

In 2000, SAIC-GM introduced the Buick GL8, marking the beginning of China’s MPV 1.0 era. Over the next two decades, the GL8 almost became synonymous with “business MPV,” with joint venture brands firmly controlling the pricing power and discourse in the high-end MPV segment.

The turning point came in 2022. That year, domestic brands leveraged new energy to launch a direct challenge to joint venture fuel-powered MPVs. According to the “New Energy MPV Market Insight Report” released by China Automotive Evaluation (CCRT), the penetration rate of new energy in the MPV market jumped from 9% in 2022 to 49% in 2025. In just three years, new energy MPVs have grown from a marginal category to the mainstream market.

The once-dominant Buick GL8, although still maintaining a volume of over 110,000 units with models like Lu Zun PHEV and Lu Shang, has seen sales decline for two consecutive years.

“When we developed Lantu Dreamer, we believed that China’s new energy vehicle market lacked a high-end MPV. We wanted to use a domestically自主的 high-end new energy MPV to carve out a place, rather than users only being able to choose joint venture fuel MPVs,” Lu Fang recalled to Wall Street Insights.

Today, this goal has been partially achieved. Lu Fang offered a broader macro perspective: “‘The 14th Five-Year Plan’ is a year of profound change in the ratio of new energy vehicles to traditional fuel vehicles, and also a year of major shifts in the positioning of domestic brands versus foreign luxury brands.”

In his view, foreign luxury brands lag behind domestic top models in both product quality and features. “We can compare our cars with foreign brands, and we need to seize this opportunity.”

However, joint venture brands will not be passive.

According to the China Passenger Car Association, sales of fuel MPVs declined by 13.9% year-on-year during the same period. In response, joint venture camps are accelerating their electrification transformation. Buick Zhijing Shijia was launched at the end of last year, starting at 439,900 yuan, directly competing with the high-end Denza D9 and Lantu Dreamer. The pure electric version of Buick Zhijing Shijia also began pre-sale in early March, equipped with a 900V architecture. Mercedes-Benz’s all-new pure electric VLE debuted globally on March 10, and Toyota Sienna extended-range version is also in preparation.

Meanwhile, Huawei’s ecosystem entry is reshaping the competitive landscape. Hongmeng Zhixing’s first MPV, Zhijie V9, positioned as a 500,000-yuan-level mid-to-large luxury new energy MPV, will be launched this spring.

By 2026, the high-end new energy MPV market will face unprecedented internal competition. “A new market pattern will emerge: high-spec models at 300,000 yuan, no compromises at 350,000 yuan, and flagship models at 400,000 yuan with comprehensive product upgrades,” said Lu Fang.

He is aware of this shift. “Our strategy at Lantu is to ‘be the painter of the track’—because only those who understand the track can turn faster at the right moments.”

This battle of攻守易势 is entering its most intense phase.

L3 Competition Begins

As space, comfort, and features gradually converge, intelligent driving is becoming a new variable in MPV competition.

Lu Fang summarized the core logic of this round of competition: “In the past, MPVs were driven by the driver with the boss sitting in the back; now, more families are driven by dad with the whole family onboard. We need to achieve comfort and technology equality, so that dads no longer have to sacrifice themselves.”

This means that the product definition of MPVs is extending from the “passenger’s perspective” to the “driver’s perspective.” Advanced intelligent driving is no longer an optional feature but a necessity to combat long-distance driving fatigue. Lu Fang shared his personal experience: “During the Chinese New Year, I drove 1,400 kilometers round trip, about 16 hours. Driving alone, I really didn’t feel tired.”

Under this logic, automakers are racing to showcase their intelligent driving capabilities. The 2026 model of Xpeng X9 pure electric version is equipped as standard with the Turing chip, with a maximum effective computing power of 2250 TOPS, and the AEB top speed increased to 130 km/h. Lantu Dreamer Champion Edition is the only MPV in the 300,000-yuan range equipped with Huawei’s Qiankun Zhijia ADS4. Zhijie V9 is equipped with four laser radars, including a 500-line high-precision main radar.

But the bigger variable is L3.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has approved the commercial operation of L3-level autonomous driving for the first time, with two models approved for access: Changan Deep Blue SL03 and Jihu Alpha S6, marking China’s first permission for vehicles to undertake driving tasks under specific conditions. 2026 will truly be the “mass production year” for L3 autonomous driving.

Xpeng has obtained L3 road test licenses in Guangzhou and announced plans to launch mass-produced models with hardware and software reaching L4 level by 2026. Li Auto released its new generation autonomous driving architecture, MindVLA, last year, with plans for mass production this year.

Wall Street Insights learned from Lantu that last April, Lantu released its first vehicle designed for conditional L3 autonomous driving architecture. Currently, Lantu’s L3 test vehicles are extensively operating on Wuhan roads, with over 110,000 kilometers of real-road testing and more than 900,000 kilometers of simulated testing.

Lu Fang described his experience testing the L3 vehicle: “I was testing this car, but I felt like I wasn’t really driving. I just told it where to go, and it could go from parking to the next spot and even come back—it’s that capable.”

He revealed that Lantu will soon launch models with L3 architecture, including the upcoming Tianshan Ultra and a future vehicle codenamed “Zhumfeng.” “Its software, hardware, including five major safety redundancies, already support this architecture.”

Huawei’s ADS 4.0 will also expand further into high-speed and urban L3 mass commercial use, meaning MPV models equipped with Huawei Zhijia will be among the first to gain L3 capabilities.

“Industry competition truly begins at the L3 stage,” emphasized Zhang Yongwei, chairman of the China EV 100. “Whoever can dominate L3 intelligence will hold the future competitive advantage in the automotive industry.”

The MPV intelligent driving war has just begun. According to industry analysts, 2026 will be a critical year for the realization of L3 conditional autonomous driving from concept to mass production. Dongxing Securities predicts that the penetration rate of L3 and above assisted driving will reach 11%. As L3 moves from concept to mass production and high-level intelligent driving becomes standard rather than optional, players lacking intelligent driving deployment will be rapidly eliminated.

In this arms race of intelligent driving, no one can afford to stop.

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