China’s automotive industry is reshaping global competition through faster product development, greater manufacturing scale, rapid technology deployment, and a digital-first approach to the vehicle experience.
During CAR MBS 2026, the Center for Automotive Research convened automotive leaders from the United States and Canada for a roundtable discussion on China Speed: Mapping the Product Development Race and North America’s Response.
The discussion emphasized that “China Speed” is not simply the result of shorter development cycles. It reflects a broader system built around coordinated industrial policy, access to capital, streamlined decision-making, localized sourcing, vertical integration, common components, rapid iteration, and continuous software development.
Key takeaways from the discussion include:
China’s competitive position is supported by long-term coordination among government, industry, infrastructure, and capital.
Operational agility, shared components, and simplified decision-making are helping manufacturers move products to market more quickly.
Chinese automakers are increasingly treating vehicles as evolving technology platforms, with software and features updated after purchase.
North America should not attempt to replicate China’s model, but it can adapt practices that reduce complexity and accelerate execution.
Collaborative, pre-competitive research can help companies share risk and advance technologies such as batteries, connectivity, automation, and software.
Clear standards for cybersecurity, connected-vehicle data, safety, and supply-chain transparency will be important to creating fair rules of market engagement.
The roundtable made clear that tariffs and other protective measures alone will not close the competitive gap. North America must pair effective policy with faster product development, greater collaboration, continuous benchmarking, and investment in its existing strengths—including engineering, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, automation, and software.
CAR will use the perspectives gathered during the discussion to help inform future research and industry engagement focused on China’s automotive growth and North American competitiveness.
Read the executive summary: https://www.cargroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/CAR-China-Speed-Roundtable-White-Paper.pdf
CAR remains committed to bringing industry and policy leaders together to turn dialogue into actionable strategy for a stronger North American automotive ecosystem.
