Chinese carmaker BYD has for the first time topped the ranking in a global automaker innovation index, according to a survey by a Germany industry advisory body. The Germany-based Center of Automotive Management (CAM) released the Automotive-INNOVATIONS Report 2026. Chinese manufacturer BYD topped the global automotive innovation ranking for the first time with 157 points, surpassing last year's champion Volkswagen, with 143 points. German automaker Mercedes-Benz ranked third with 134 points. Chinese electric vehicle (EV) producer XPeng came in with 128 points. Together with German automaker BMW, and Chinese carmaker Geely Group, the three companies ranked fourth to sixth. Renault, Toyota, General Motors, and Hyundai followed, rounding out the top 10. It's the first time that a Chinese carmaker has claimed the top spot since the AutomotiveINNOVATIONS study was launched in 2005, according to the CAM report.
“Chinese automotive groups have steadily gained in innovation strength in recent years and have consistently ranked among the world's leading companies. However, for the first time since the study premiered in 2005, a single Chinese manufacturer, BYD, has now been named the world's most innovative automotive group, ahead of the Volkswagen Group and Mercedes-Benz. BYD will also be the most innovative volume brand,” Stefan Bratzel, Director of the CAM, said in an emailed statement to the Global Times. “BYD's current dominance illustrates the upheaval in the automotive industry and the technological leadership of Chinese corporations and volume brands,” Bratzel wrote.
The survey was based on more than 867 innovations for 2025/2026, including approximately 660 series innovations from 36 automotive groups, according to the CAM. “Three Chinese companies rank among the top six most innovative automotive manufacturers of the year, taking the tectonic shift in the automotive industry to a new level. The formula for success is based largely on the combination of broad expertise in future technologies, high innovation speed, and low development and manufacturing costs,” Bratzel said. Notably, three Chinese companies made it into the top 10, highlighting Chinese automakers' progress in innovation as a whole, rather than the feats of a singular company, experts said.
The improvement in the innovation rankings demonstrated distinctive resources and capabilities in electrification, intelligent industrial scenarios, and China's large-scale supply chains, Luke Hu, Co-founder of Electroder, an industry insider familiar with the landscape of the Chinese and German auto industries, told the Global Times. In one recent example, Chinese battery giant CATL showcased numerous technological advancements in EV batteries, including an upgraded product that is capable of charging a battery from 10% to 98% in less than seven minutes. The findings by the CAM are similar to those of other research institutions in Germany.
Over the past 15 years, China has emerged as a technological leader in key systems and core components of modern automobiles, Ferdinand Dudenhoffer, Director of the Bochum-based Center Automotive Research (CAR), a German automotive research institute, said in an industry report. Dudenhoffer added that China's auto industry will continue to strengthen, with value creation shifting upward. “China is no longer just a manufacturing base, but increasingly a center for automotive engineering and concept development, with Chinese and German firms already collaborating in areas such as autonomous driving and battery technologies,” he said, as reported by the Global Times.
