Reuters — 2025-10-06
Automotive Industry
Blocked from the U.S. market, Chinese self-driving technology firms are accelerating their push into Europe, setting up headquarters, striking data deals, and road-testing - prompting alarm from local rivals over competition concerns.
In China, the world's largest car market, more than half of cars sold - including many entry-level models - now offer autonomous driving technology, sometimes as standard.
Beijing is pushing its companies to dominate autonomous-vehicle development globally while crafting national regulations to provide a clear roadmap at home.
That expansion is already underway. Reuters spoke to a dozen company executives who described how Chinese firms are using Europe as a beachhead for global expansion, mirroring the push with electric vehicles.
"We're focusing on Europe for our global future," said Dong Li, chief technology officer of QCraft, which announced plans for a new German headquarters at last month's Munich auto show, citing a more open environment than in the United States.
"There are barriers in the U.S. market," he said, referring to U.S. national security concerns over the data that autonomous driving systems collect.
Europe offers a more open regulatory environment, the companies said, although driver-assistance systems there are currently limited to a few luxury models and developers complain about patchwork regulation.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Friday for a continent-wide push to develop self-driving cars, acknowledging they were already a reality in the United States and China.
"The same should be true here in Europe," she said.
Chinese firms target Europe for growth
QCraft, a Beijing-based startup that supplies driver-assistance systems, is working with Chinese and European automakers and expects to sell its technology in Europe within two years.
Buses in 26 Chinese cities operate QCraft's Level-4 autonomous technology, meaning they can drive for extended periods without human intervention.
Deeproute.ai, another Chinese firm focused on supplying Level-4 technology to automakers, plans to build a European data center once it secures deals now under discussion with European and Chinese automakers.
Leading Chinese autonomous-tech developer Momenta, which supplies systems to automakers including Toyota and General Motors, has partnered with Uber to start testing Level-4 technology in Germany next year.
Momenta announced in September it will supply driver-assistance technology for Mercedes-Benz in China, starting with the electric CLA sedan. Mercedes has started testing the same technology in Europe, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Momenta "has its eye on that prize: Europe", one of the sources said.
European startups want fair competition
Other leading Chinese self-driving players including WeRide, Baidu and Pony.ai are also expanding in Europe, said Yvette Zhang, automotive consultant with research firm AlixPartners.