SHANGHAI, Dec 12 (Reuters) – China’s Geely Auto on Friday launched a $284 million facility to provide safety testing for the entire auto industry, anticipating growing demand from domestic and foreign regulators and consumers to improve vehicle quality and reliability.
Geely’s focus on safety comes as China’s auto industry is locked in a protracted price war, prompting manufacturers to prioritize cutting costs and speeding up development, raising concerns about product quality.
Geely’s safety center in the eastern city of Ningbo will conduct 27 types of tests. Li Chuanhai, vice president of Geely Automobile, said this will make Geely a global leader in safety standards for key technologies for smart and electric vehicles.
Li told Reuters that battery safety and the reliability of smart features such as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) remain top priorities for consumers, and the new facility will help address this issue.
Chinese automakers’ overseas expansion could expose them to different types of regulatory scrutiny.
“With some high-profile events and stricter national regulations (in China), I believe consumers are becoming more aware of safety, which will influence their purchasing decisions and guide the development of the industry,” Li said.
Media reports about a fatal accident involving Xiaomi’s SU7 electric sedan in March went viral on Chinese social media, raising widespread questions about the safety of electric vehicles and smart driving.
Chinese regulators have since stepped up oversight of electric vehicles, leading to an increase in recalls for local brands this year.
After a regulatory investigation, Xiaomi fixed the security flaw in the ADAS system through remote software updates in September. BYD has also recalled more than 210,000 vehicles this year, including nearly 7,000 plug-in hybrid off-road SUVs, after regulators discovered safety flaws.
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(Reporting by Zhang Yan, Casey Hall. Editing by Jane Merriman)
