Amazing things are happening in China right now, with the world’s
largest country looking to create sustainable growth that supports its
population while improving energy efficiency and protecting the environment.
China’s automotive industry is a great illustration of how the country
is meeting this challenge. NXP is playing an important role by working with
local partners to bring global insight and experience into the Chinese market.
One such initiative is the Automotive In-Vehicle Networking (IVN) Club.
Established in 2010, the NXP IVN Club aims to promote the development of
automotive networking technology in China by sharing state-of-the-art
technology developments and discussing options for joint initiatives in an
open dialog with regional opinion leaders.
The third IVN Club meeting recently took place in Chongqing, a mega-city in
Southwest China which is part of the densely populated Sichuan province. With
almost 29 million people and 16.4%
GDP, it is one of the world’s fastest growing cities. It is also a
growing automotive hub with a 10-kilometer “Auto Town”
integrating automobile production, research and development, trade and tourism
functions.
Key topics covered in this year’s agenda included current global
automotive market trends, the latest IVN technologies such as CAN Flexible
Data-Rate, Partial Networking, Ethernet, FlexRay and how OEMs could further
cooperate to apply technology in China.
Twelve leading Chinese-based car manufacturers including – SAIC
(Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation), FAW Research and Development
Center, FAW Car, ChangAn, ChangAn New Energy, BYD, BAIC (Beijing Automotive
Industry Corporation), CATARC (China Automotive Technology and Research
Center), PATAC (PAN Asia Technical Automotive Center), Geely, Foton and Chery
– participated in with international automotive experts to discuss the
latest trends in networking system design and diagnostics.
Results of the IVN Club seminar were extremely positive, with the OEMs
expressing lots of interest in raising the bar in networking ICs and
optimizing their networking solutions. NXP also learned more about Chinese
OEMs’ technology challenges, which will help us to optimize regional
support and improve customer experience.
Ultimately, the event brought global automotive expertise and Chinese OEMs
closer together to establish networking standards in a very strategic growth
area for the industry.