At the 2026 Future Automotive Pioneers Conference held in Shenzhen from May 29 to 30, Luo Zhongliang, Vice President of Byd Company Limited Group, delivered a speech.
Luo Zhongliang noted that while passenger vehicles focus more on basic user experience, commercial vehicles, serving as production tools for businesses and families, are often evaluated primarily for their economic attributes. However, investment in safety is currently insufficient, as evidenced by the low adoption rate of intelligent driving systems. Statistics show that although commercial vehicles account for a small proportion of vehicles on Chinese roads, they are involved in a disproportionately high number of accidents, resulting in significantly greater losses compared to passenger vehicles.
He outlined three major pain points in the commercial vehicle sector. First, there are substantial safety risks. Commercial vehicles are heavier, larger, and have more blind spots. More than half of drivers operate these vehicles for over ten hours daily, leading to pronounced issues with fatigue driving. Second, operational costs are extremely high. In sectors like public transportation and sanitation, driver-related expenses can constitute 60% or more of total costs. High accident rates also lead to heavy insurance premiums; for example, annual insurance for a new energy tractor can exceed 40,000 yuan. Finally, the driver workforce is aging severely, as young people are reluctant to enter the profession, making recruitment increasingly difficult.
To address these challenges, Luo Zhongliang believes that intelligent solutions offer an effective pathway. In the smart bus sector, advanced driver-assistance systems and intelligent dispatching can fully resolve the aforementioned issues. In closed environments such as ports, unmanned operations are already being implemented on a large scale. For the vast long-haul logistics sector, besides enhancing safety and efficiency, intelligent technology can also effectively alleviate concerns regarding energy replenishment.
In conclusion, Luo Zhongliang called for collective effort across all related industries. He noted that Shenzhen has already established an excellent environment for intelligent development and expressed hope that collaborative efforts would make "zero road traffic accidents" a reality, ensuring greater safety for all travelers.