Amid intense competition, the pace of new car launches has accelerated significantly, with some automakers' development cycles being compressed from the traditional 36 months or more to around 18 months, raising concerns about whether the testing and validation process is being similarly compressed.
Recently, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have made consecutive statements on automotive research and development validation, pushing the concept of "rapidly developed cars" to the forefront of public opinion. BMW China emphasized the importance of validation through real-world testing scenarios, such as crash test laboratories and wind tunnels. Mercedes-Benz subsequently released a short film, responding to industry controversy over compressed research and development testing cycles with the phrase "what's framed is a car; what's tested is true strength." The industry debate over how quickly a new car should be developed and to what extent it should be tested continues to heat up.
"Rushed cars" is a term used in the automotive industry to describe immature vehicle models launched by some companies in a bid to seize market share by overly compressing research and development testing cycles. Amid intense competition, the pace of new car launches has accelerated significantly, with some companies' vehicle development cycles being shortened from the traditional 36 months or more to around 18 months, sparking concerns that the testing and validation process may also be being compressed simultaneously.
In this round of the "rapid new product launch" trend, quality issues such as car screen blackouts, abnormal suspension noises, and charging failures have continuously entered the public eye, with consumers buying cars being jokingly compared to "opening a blind box".
Regarding the chaos in this industry, on August 26, Xin Guobin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at the "Opening of the 15th Five-Year Plan" series of thematic press conferences that the problem of irrational competition in the automotive industry has not been completely solved, and some companies have "radical" innovation behaviors, putting new designs into production without sufficient experimental verification, which has led to a series of social hotspots such as product quality and autonomous driving safety issues. Xin Guobin emphasized the need to strengthen the review and testing management of product innovation design, and strictly prohibit products that have not undergone sufficient testing and verification from entering the market.
Rapid Growth Strategy
How Fast is the "Rapid Vehicle"?
Industry data shows that in the first half of 2026, roughly 630 new models hit the domestic market, averaging 3.5 launches per day. Some automakers have compressed new-vehicle development cycles from more than 40 months in the fuel-vehicle era to under 20 months, with select programs coming in at less than 18 months.
Although many industry experts have refuted the claim, more than 600 new cars were launched in the domestic market in the first half of this year, but after factoring in various situations such as configuration derivatives, the actual number is not that high. However, even based on conservative estimates after adjusting for different statistical calibers, there are still around 165 new cars, a number that is at a historical high, with almost one new car being launched every day.
As the speed increased, problems began to emerge: the car's screen went black, the suspension made abnormal noises, and charging malfunctions occurred, with the pace of owner complaints also accelerating.
Data from the State Administration for Market Regulation shows that in the first half of 2026, 50 recall announcements were issued for automobiles, involving approximately 1.65 million vehicles in total. Among these, recalls of domestic-brand vehicles reached 308,000 units, a surge of 681.2% compared with the same period in 2025. The frequency of recalls for new-energy vehicles rose, with defects concentrated in two areas: software logic and power batteries.
Some product issues have shifted from pre-launch to post-launch, with recalls, repairs, and over-the-air updates becoming remedial measures, resulting in consumers bearing more trial-and-error costs, while automakers also pay the price for after-sales and brand reputation.
Heated Debate Over 'Quick Success Cars'
Geely Holding Group Chairman Li Shufu stated that automobiles are related to human life, and cannot be produced with a mindset of being quick and sloppy. The birth of any new automotive product must adhere to the objective laws of automotive product research and development, rather than reducing testing phases, compressing testing and verification time, and taking shortcuts. He said straightforwardly that car manufacturing has its own objective rules, and the traditional 3 to 5 year development cycle is not excessive. An overly rapid development pace will inevitably result in the omission of crucial procedures.
Li Fenggang, general manager of Beijing Hyundai, pointed out that some automakers, in a rush to capture market momentum and compress launch timelines, are deliberately cutting core testing phases such as design validation and production validation, skipping necessary procedures like durability, aging, and extreme-condition testing. This effectively turns consumers into unpaid road testers and creates serious hidden risks for vehicle safety. Great Wall Motor has also emphasized the importance of long-term validation, citing data from extreme-condition testing and battery cycle tests.
As August drew to a close, companies such as FAW Toyota, Hongqi, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW continued to join the discussion. Although the parties expressed differing views, a consensus gradually emerged: digital simulation, platform reuse, and simultaneous engineering can improve research and development efficiency, but cannot replace validation in real-world environments, reliability, durability, and mass production consistency.
Technological advancements can shorten the research and development process, but it's difficult to compress the time needed for material aging, mechanical fatigue, and long-term durability verification. Digital simulation can help automakers identify design issues during the development phase and simulate numerous extreme conditions, but vehicles ultimately need to be driven on real roads. Whether seals will degrade after prolonged exposure to sunlight, whether the chassis will corrode in rainy, snowy, and salty environments, whether components will remain reliable after continuous bumps, and whether battery performance will remain stable after repeated charging and discharging - these issues often require sufficient time and mileage of actual vehicle testing to be gradually revealed.
More importantly, issues such as battery thermal runaway, intelligent driving system failures, abnormal braking, and whether doors can be unlocked normally after a collision are all directly related to the safety of drivers and passengers.
The necessary roads must be driven and the required tests must be conducted. On-vehicle verification is not a burden that slows down research and development, but a crucial safety line that must be upheld before a new car is launched.
Regulators Take Action
In response to such market disorder, regulators have taken successive measures.
In January, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the revised "Requirements for Access to Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturers" and "Requirements for Access to Road Motor Vehicle Products", which will come into effect on January 1, 2027. The new requirements further strengthen the research and development production capabilities and product reliability requirements of enterprises, and enhance the safety and reliability testing and operation monitoring of products that adopt new technologies, new materials, and new processes.
In July, the National Automotive Standardization Technical Committee solicited opinions on a proposal to unify the reliability test drive distance for pure electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles to no less than 30,000 kilometers, aligning with fuel-powered vehicles, with the proportion of direct current fast charging test conditions for pure electric models not being less than 90%. The safety assessment of intelligent driving functions and OTA upgrade record-keeping will also be incorporated into management simultaneously.
As a means of transportation, cars have complex usage scenarios, and product quality is not only related to the safety of drivers and passengers, but also to user experience. The shortening of the automotive development cycle is becoming an irreversible industry trend, and finding the optimal solution between rapid technological iteration and the safety baseline of products requires not only self-regulation by automakers, but also coordinated regulatory efforts.
For automakers, accelerating research and development should start by improving efficiency in organizational methods and technical tools, rather than cutting corners on safety validation. Platform reuse, parallel development, and digital simulation can all continue to increase efficiency, but key testing projects cannot be omitted just because the launch deadline is approaching. More importantly, problems should be solved in laboratories and testing grounds as much as possible, rather than relying on consumers to help companies discover issues through complaints, repairs, recalls, and over-the-air updates after vehicles have been delivered. Speed reflects efficiency, but stability and safety determine how far a vehicle can go.
Secondly, the company needs to synchronize the advancement of production consistency and supply chain quality management with research and development, strengthening control over key components, suppliers, production processes, and change management to avoid passing design inspections but failing in mass production.
Once again, it is necessary to strengthen the quality loop after listing, continuously track major failures, defects, recalls, software upgrades, and user complaints, and fulfill recall responsibilities in a timely manner when defects are found. Over-the-air (OTA) updates can resolve some software issues, but should not become a routine means of making up for insufficient pre-market validation.