Electrification and Swarm Intelligence: The Emergent Growth of China's Automotive Industry and the Transformation of Global Competition

Résumé:

This paper aims to elucidate the dynamics behind the competitive advantage demonstrated by Chinese indigenous automakers in the intensifying electrification race of the 2010s, while taking a long-term perspective on technological evolution and structural transformation in the global automotive industry.

Traditionally, product architecture of vehicle has converged on the principle of transmitting a single source of power across various components. However, recent innovations by Chinese firms are beginning to overcome this structural constraint. Notably, the diversification of drive systems through varied applications of electric motors, along with the implementation of centralized control systems that coordinate the entire vehicle via onboard operating systems, has enabled more integrated vehicle optimization.

Moreover, China’s unique path of rapid urbanization has given rise to a distinct consumer structure. The latent psychological demands of consumers have not surfaced clearly, posing a highly complex challenge for both domestic and foreign firms seeking to adapt. In this context, a form of "Swarm Strategy" has played a critical role in supporting the rise of indigenous automakers. These firms have skillfully captured latent demand embedded in changing circumstances by strategically combining imitation with differentiation. Their collective behavior resembles swarm intelligence, allowing for emergent innovation even under structural constraints.

This paper interprets the strategic responses of Chinese automakers as a temporary amplification of competitive heterogeneity, followed by a process of re-homogenization. It further analyzes how the transformation of product architecture design strategy —driven by the decoupling of hardware architecture and software architecture —has reshaped the international competitive structure through a chain of causal mechanisms centered around electrification.