CARIAD China’s Perspective on Autonomous Driving:

V2X greatly expands the potential of driver assistance systems. More than two million Volkswagen vehicles already carry this technology today. It acts as a “virtual sensor” that complements onboard sensors. By receiving real-time traffic information, Travel Assist with ACC can slow down well in advance—long before the driver sees a traffic jam ahead. During highway lane changes, V2X data enables smoother and more efficient acceleration. Volkswagen plans to extend this network to bicycles, motorcycles, trucks, and buses in the future.

The true challenge of autonomous driving may not lie in technology but in “society” itself.
Lui Liang, ICV Product Specialist at CARIAD China, Volkswagen Group’s software arm, took the stage at the Automechanika Shanghai summit and struck directly at an essential point we often overlook. We frequently hear phrases like “the technology is ready, but trust is not,” yet the nuance shifts when we consider his argument: no matter how intelligent a single car becomes, autonomous driving can never scale if vehicles fail to communicate with their surroundings. This is the reality facing global OEMs, including those in China—and it is precisely where C-V2X emerges not as an option, but as a necessity.

By Han Sang Min _  han@autoelectronics.co.kr
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“Once we try to scale autonomous driving to mass production, we face a completely different set of challenges. Will the public accept a system that appears indifferent, passive, or even selfish? If people learn that autonomous vehicles do not cooperate with or assist one another, social trust will collapse instantly. This is why I believe C-V2X is one of the essential answers to the mass adoption of autonomous driving.”

With these words, Lui Liang of CARIAD China unpacked both the technical and societal hurdles that China—and the rest of the world—must confront. Rather than fall into the trap of a superficial “speed race,” he broke down what must truly happen for autonomous driving to gain societal acceptance, step by step.


 

“We are still waiting for approvals and certifications from various government authorities. Technologists cannot wait. We need clear policies and guidance.”

Lui emphasized that autonomous driving commercialization remains firmly in the pilot stage. Approval systems are incomplete, certification processes remain complex, and the procedures required for real-road deployment are far from streamlined. Yet the core message he wanted to deliver lay elsewhere: the missing piece is societal trust. The most striking insight he offered was not about functional safety, but about what he called “relational safety.” In his view, it is not enough for “my car” to stop safely.
He referenced a recent incident shown in a video clip—an elderly pedestrian crossing a highway, and an autonomous vehicle detecting the person and stopping instantly. He then revealed the deeper question: “My car stopped. But what about the vehicle behind me? What about the car in the adjacent lane? Was that elderly person truly safe? I believe autonomous vehicles must take more responsibility in such moments. Beyond stopping, they must actively alert surrounding vehicles and pedestrians.”
This distinction between passive and active obligation highlights the gap between conventional accident analysis and the broader responsibilities autonomous vehicles will eventually shoulder. Passive obligation refers simply to avoiding danger, whereas active obligation is akin to a human driver warning others—protecting not just oneself but helping other road users avoid harm. This perspective has been almost entirely absent in traditional discussions of ADAS and autonomous driving incidents.

“When we walk on the street and see an open manhole, we tell others, ‘Watch out!’ Cars should do the same. Today’s autonomous vehicles only do their own jobs—they show no interest in the overall flow of traffic.”

Expanding the responsibility of autonomous vehicles from “one car” to “the entire road environment” is a progressive step and aligns with the strategic direction emphasized by several leading Western OEMs. From this critique, Lui advanced to what he sees as the necessary paradigm shift: swarm intelligence. The essence of this concept lies in shared perception that goes beyond individual sensor limits, predicting the intentions and behavior of surrounding vehicles, optimizing urban traffic based on inter-vehicle communication, and enabling a redundancy structure in which the network continues to function even if some vehicles fail. To Lui, C-V2X is the foundation of such a system—a means of ensuring that even when individual vehicles malfunction, the collective remains capable of making intelligent decisions.


 
Ultimately, scaling autonomous driving to mass production requires C-V2X.
Today’s autonomous driving HMI alerts typically occur too late. When alerts are delayed, drivers have insufficient time to respond, increasing the risk of accidents. But when information from road infrastructure sensors—or from other vehicles—can be shared through the cloud, users can prepare several kilometers in advance. C-V2X enables vehicles to “speak a common language” with surrounding vehicles, pedestrians, and road infrastructure.
Lui illustrated this with a recent fatal accident in which a vehicle with brake failure crashed into the car ahead, killing two people. He noted that if C-V2X had been in place, the tragedy could have been avoided. The ability for the following vehicle to learn even a few seconds earlier about the danger would have been sufficient to prevent the collision.


 
There are clear, realistic constraints in the automotive industry with respect to C-V2X. The difficulty lies not so much in the technology as in the standards, because inter-vehicle communication is only possible when all vehicles use the same language. Standards and guidelines for C-V2X change rapidly, leaving OEMs struggling to keep pace. Pre-installation rates remain uneven, creating inconsistencies in user experience. Infrastructure and data quality differ widely across regions, making mass production deployment a challenge. Sustainable business models are still missing, and significant issues persist in security and certification.

Lui pointed out that the recent revision of China’s national standard GB/T marks an important turning point for resolving these “language unification” issues.
Meanwhile, China’s penetration rate of connected vehicles has already surpassed 84 percent of newly produced vehicles and continues to grow. Volkswagen, for instance, has equipped about 500,000 vehicles in China with C-V2X as of October 2025. In Europe, more than 2.3 million vehicles already use this technology as of November—though there the dominant technology is DSRC (Wi-Fi p), due to historical reasons.
He stressed that major OEMs in both Europe and China recognize the importance of C-V2X and are expanding adoption in ways similar to Volkswagen. Brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Toyota, NIO, FAW, Changan Auto, Huawei (HIMA), Ford, and Lexus are all moving in the same direction.


 


Lui then elaborated on what he sees as the remaining challenges for C-V2X:
the need to expand application scenarios beyond the approximately 150 currently in use, the importance of widening coverage to tour buses, hazardous-material transport vehicles, and various special-purpose vehicles, and the necessity of policy incentives that encourage OEMs to increase factory-installed C-V2X penetration. He emphasized the need to accelerate the ongoing enhancement of NR-C2X—the 5G NR–based evolution of C-V2X short-range communication—to secure faster warnings and shorter reaction times. He also called attention to the need for collaboration among multiple ministries to refine industrial and technical standards more quickly. Finally, he stressed that both government and media must help raise public understanding of C-V2X, because without public comprehension, no technology can scale.

Although his presentation began with technical discussions, it ultimately circled back to society. “If the public does not understand C-V2X, no technology can scale. Policies, industry players, and public awareness must move together,” he said.

AEM(오토모티브일렉트로닉스매거진)

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