China News Service, Wuhan, November 11 (Reporter Zhang Qin) The 2026 China Commercial Vehicle Industry Development and Technology Innovation Conference was held in Wuhan Economic Development Zone on the 11th. The reporter learned from the meeting that in the face of escalating demand and global competition, China's commercial vehicle market is shifting from "selling a vehicle" to "selling a transportation solution", and the focus of competition has shifted from vehicle price to full life cycle value.
Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that in the first three quarters of this year, China's commercial vehicle sales were 3.311 million units, a year-on-year increase of 6.2%; exports were 1.039 million units, a year-on-year increase of 38.8%; domestic sales of new energy commercial vehicles were more than 800,000 units, a year-on-year increase of more than 40%.
Gong Jinfeng, general manager of China Automotive Technology and Research Center Co., Ltd., summarized the current tasks of the industry as "consolidating the foundation, innovating, and sailing far": improving the quality control of the entire life cycle, guiding the industry to get rid of low-price "involution" and return to value competition; promoting the diversified collaboration of pure electric, hydrogen energy and battery replacement; promoting the mutual recognition of Chinese standards and international standards.
On November 5, the 2026 Kunming International Auto Show opened in Kunming, with many car companies making an appearance. The picture shows the Great Wall Motors booth attracting people to visit. Photo by China News Service reporter Liu Ranyang
Zhang Junkuo, chairman of the China Development Research Foundation, believes that the "15th Five-Year Plan" for China's commercial vehicle industry is not a five-year period of simple recovery, but a five-year period of reshaping competitiveness. The total market volume may no longer be growing rapidly, but structural upgrades, technological breakthroughs, green transformation and globalization will open up new growth space.
According to Zhang Junkuo, as the proportion of producer services increases, companies have higher and higher requirements for transportation efficiency, vehicle reliability, energy costs and transportation services. Facing overseas, more and more companies are moving from product exports to overseas brands, ecology, and standards. "Providing full life cycle solutions" has become a core competitiveness.
The direction of technical research has also become clear. Chen Tao, chief expert of China Automotive Technology and Research Center Co., Ltd., said that high-voltage integration and intelligent collaborative electric drive systems, battery and body integrated chassis, predictive cruise and end-to-end decision-making integration are the current main focus. He believes that as companies gradually adapt to different overseas regional access regulations, transportation conditions and customer needs, the full life cycle service capabilities of Chinese commercial vehicles overseas will be gradually established.
As the venue for the conference, Wuhan Economic Development Zone gathers vehicle manufacturing, parts matching and R&D testing resources, and can provide complete application scenarios for commercial vehicle technology verification and industrialization. Currently, the Commercial Vehicle New Energy and Intelligent Network Innovation Base, China's first comprehensive technology innovation platform covering the entire value chain in the commercial vehicle field located in Wuhan Economic Development Zone, has been capped and is expected to be put into operation in June 2027. (over)
