Visitors inspect a BYD Seagull at the Changchun auto show, Jilin province, in July. (TANG KE/FOR CHINA DAILY)

Smart driving, which has until recently been reserved for premium brands, will soon become as standard as safety belts: BYD is making the feature available in cars priced less than $10,000.

China's largest electric vehicle manufacturer announced last week that it is equipping its entire lineup with advanced intelligent driving systems. Among other things, it enables vehicles to drive on expressways and park automatically.

The most affordable of its first 21 models with the feature on the market is the Seagull, priced at 69,800 yuan ($9,551). Models with similar functions in the Chinese market are usually priced from 150,000 yuan, according to consulting firm McKinsey.

BYD's move, considering its sales of more than 4 million units in 2024, is expected to accelerate the adoption of high-level assisted driving in the mass market.

One day ahead of BYD's announcement, State-owned Changan, which is a partner of Ford and Mazda, unveiled its smart strategy.

Chairman Zhu Huarong said it will equip vehicles priced around 100,000 yuan with LiDAR technology this year.

BYD and Changan are expected to be joined by Geely, which is scheduled to announce its smart strategy in early March.

BYD said its move aims to offer volume car owners access to intelligent driving features to increase safety. It said 21 percent of traffic accidents in China are attributable to fatigued drivers, which can be prevented by automatic emergency braking or steering.

"We believe that intelligent driving should not be a luxury but a standard feature for all consumers," said Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of BYD.

"By making high-level driver assistance available across our range, we are accelerating the transition toward smarter, safer mobility," said Wang.

The move is widely seen as a strategic bet on the future of software-defined vehicles, in which intelligent driving capabilities play a central role.

Analysts argue that BYD's decision will force competitors to reconsider their positioning, potentially triggering a wave of industry-wide adoption of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems as standard equipment.

BYD's scale gives it an enormous advantage in data collection and real-world driving feedback, which are crucial for refining intelligent driving systems, they said.

This will put pressure on both domestic startups and international automakers operating in China to accelerate their own ADAS deployment.

Traditionally, advanced features such as lane-keeping assistance, adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking have been reserved for premium vehicles.

Tesla, Xpeng and Nio have offered high-level ADAS as part of their differentiation strategy, with some, like Tesla, charging thousands of dollars for its Full Self-Driving package.

Automotive executives are divided on the trend of smart driving's availability in volume cars.

Yu Chengdong, head of Huawei's smart driving solutions, said there is a big difference between 'it manages to work' and 'it works well', in a thinly veiled jab at BYD, which develops its own smart driving system.

Huawei is widely accepted as a top-level smart driving solution provider in China, which has attracted partners including traditional carmakers BAIC and JAC.

But Xpeng Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng has applauded carmakers including BYD on Sina Weibo, saying that they are helping to popularize smart driving in China and across the world.

He was echoed by Zhu Jiangming, chairman of startup Leapmotor, which has partnered with Stellantis. He said Leapmotor is set to benefit from the moves by BYD and Changan, as they make more aware about the features.

The strategic shift of those carmakers is expected to have broad implications for China's automotive supply chain. ADAS relies on a complex ecosystem of sensors, chips and computing power. Their mass adoption will likely drive demand for domestic suppliers.

Companies like Horizon Robotics, Black Sesame and Huawei, which develop AI chips and autonomous driving solutions, are poised to benefit.

"BYD's scale will create a domino effect, accelerating the entire intelligent driving supply chain in China," said an executive at a leading automotive semiconductor firm. "This will not only make ADAS more affordable but will also push the industry toward deeper software and hardware integration."

At the same time, regulatory discussions surrounding high-level autonomous driving could gain momentum.

While China has been cautious in approving Level 3 and 4 autonomous driving regulations, a large-scale rollout of ADAS could encourage policymakers to accelerate the development of legal frameworks for more advanced self-driving features.

Xpeng said it is to launch quasi-L3 software in mid-2025, and full L3 capabilities are to be revealed at the end of the year.

Changan said it aims to achieve full-scenario L3 autonomous driving in 2026, with aspirations to reach L4 capabilities by 2028.