As the U.S. export restrictions on China continue to ramp up, Chinese automakers and chip companies are accelerating their efforts to replace products from foreign chip leaders such as Nvidia. This trend is becoming increasingly apparent in the Chinese automobile industry, with many companies beginning to focus on independently developing chips to ensure continuous development in self-driving technology and other innovative fields.
For example, the ET9 car of Nio has adopted the company's own NX9031 chip, which is used in the core control system of ET9, supports self-driving and smart network functions, and has higher computing capabilities and safety standards. This measure is not only a response to external supply chain risks, but also an important step in improving domestic technical capabilities.
In addition, Chinese automobile manufacturers such as SAIC Group, Changan Automobile, Changcheng Automobile, Biadi, Ideal Automobile and Geely are all planning to launch new models equipped with 100% domestic chips from 2026 to 2027. The Chinese government's policy goal is to realize 100% independent research and development and manufacturing of automobile chips by 2027, which is a significant increase in the utilization rate of domestic chips compared with the previous 25%.
In the context of US-China technology tightening, this measure aims to reduce dependence on US chip suppliers (such as Nvidia and Qualcomm), especially in the field of core chips in self-driving systems, and will still face technological gaps and alternative challenges in the short term. In order to promote chip design and mass production to meet automobile grade standards, domestic crystal circular factories such as SMIC (SMIC) have established deeper cooperation with automobile manufacturers, and are expected to use domestic chip models in 2026.
Chinese manufacturers also adopt a stage-based strategy, first using lower-level chips to apply them to non-core functions such as car loading entertainment systems to shorten the development and verification cycles, and enhance production capacity and cost-effectiveness. With the advancement of chip domestication, China's automotive semiconductor market is expected to grow rapidly. From the second half of 2025, the relevant crystal circular factories will be able to invest in chips and enter the increase in volume in 2026, which will effectively increase China's automotive semiconductor self-sufficiency ratio.
China’s automakers speed up efforts to replace Nvidia chips China's domestic automotive chip industry accelerates, and is hindering the global supply chain and price system Extended reading: Japanese: Chinese car companies can realize chips in 2026 100% domestic targets