"God's eye"

BYD brings automated driving under €10,000

(Bild: Stephan Schätzl)

Genuine self-driving functions in cars are still a dream of the future on our roads. Chinese manufacturer BYD is now bringing a new, intelligent system even to subcompact cars that cost less than €10,000. But only on the domestic market.

If you look at the operating systems in current Chinese cars, you have to wonder how the manufacturers in the Middle Kingdom got their reputation for being ahead in terms of software. However, the sometimes bumpy translation, sometimes complicated and not very user-friendly structure of the facades obviously belies the deeper capabilities. Above all, the fact that the Chinese can virtually give away highly developed functions on a grand scale.

On our roads, we are familiar with automated driving functions that always require the driver's hand on the steering wheel. Some manufacturers already offer more, but not yet in Austria (except Ford).

China's largest electric car manufacturer BYD will also be equipping affordable, small models with an automated driving system in future. As the company announced on Monday, the "God's Eye" assistance system will be installed in three models that cost less than 100,000 yuan (just over 13,000 euros), including the Seagull small car, which costs the equivalent of 9,300 euros in China. BYD is thus increasing the pressure on competitors such as Tesla. Analysts are expecting a new price war.

Hardly a BYD without "God's eye"
All models above a price of 100,000 yuan have "God's Eye" on board, as BYD founder Wang Chuanfu explained via livestream from Shenzhen. The system enables autonomous driving on the highway under the supervision of the driver. Until now, it was only integrated in BYD models with a price tag of the equivalent of 29,000 euros or more.

Tesla offers these functions in its electric vehicles in China from 32,000 US dollars. Chinese e-car brands such as Xpeng and Leapmotor also offer more affordable new cars with intelligent driving functions. German premium manufacturers BMW or Mercedes-Benz only use it from the luxury class upwards due to the cost.

Wang predicted in his presentation that intelligent driving functions would become an indispensable feature of cars, similar to seat belts and airbags. "I believe that intelligent driving will become the new hallmark of Chinese cars." BYD's message is to make the latest technology accessible to the masses, said industry expert Yale Zhang, managing director of Automotive Foresight. "The technology doesn't have to be high-end, and they can fight a price war here." This is similar in significance to "DeepSeek", the new artificial intelligence from a Chinese provider that is causing quite a stir as an efficient competitor to "ChatGPT" from the USA. BYD already uses AI models from DeepSeek in its software architecture.

According to John Zeng, Head of Market Forecasting for China at London-based consultancy GlobalData, the move could provide BYD with new growth impetus for sales. This is necessary because with annual sales of four million cars, the air is getting thinner. The competition will find it difficult to catch up. Over the past two years, BYD has played a key role in the fierce price war in China, the world's largest car market, by sharply reducing the prices of best-selling model series such as Dynasty and Ocean.