Foreign Tier 1 ADAS Suppliers in China 2025 | Strategies to Transition Toward NOA
The Chinese market for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and navigation-on-autopilot (NOA) technologies has grown at breakneck speed over the past few years, led primarily by domestic players who have been able to localize solutions for complex road conditions, unique traffic scenarios, and fast-changing consumer demands. By contrast, foreign Tier 1 suppliers—traditionally strong in the global ADAS field—are clearly falling behind when it comes to next-generation NOA deployment in China.
Foreign Suppliers Struggling to Gain Share
Market data from 2024 illustrates this competitive gap. Aptiv held just 2.6% of the Chinese L2-and-above market, while ZF maintained only 2.1%. Other global giants such as Bosch, Continental, and Denso accounted for less than 1% market share each. This is a striking departure from their traditional dominance in Europe and North America, where these suppliers remain deeply embedded in OEM supply chains.
In China, the ADAS landscape is increasingly shaped by agile local technology companies, startups, and data-driven firms that are able to quickly iterate and tailor solutions for China’s highly dynamic driving environments. Against this backdrop, foreign Tier 1 suppliers are seeking ways to catch up.
According to the latest China ADAS Industry Research Report (2025), three strategic pathways are emerging as the most viable routes for foreign Tier 1 suppliers to reposition themselves in the NOA market:
- Strengthening local research and development in China
- Establishing joint ventures with local Chinese companies
- Investing in or acquiring technologies from domestic ADAS firms
Core Path 1: Strengthening Local R&D in China
The first and most ambitious pathway is to deepen local research capabilities under the principle of “In China, for China.” Instead of relying on technology roadmaps dictated by overseas headquarters, global Tier 1s are increasingly empowering local teams with greater autonomy, budgets, and engineering resources to develop NOA systems specifically designed for Chinese traffic scenarios.
Bosch and Aptiv: Pursuing Independent Localization
Bosch has been particularly proactive. Bosch China has already launched an urban NOA solution and aims to achieve global export of its mapless NOA technology by 2026. Its strategy, branded as “phased mass production + localized adaptation + continuous iteration,” demonstrates the company’s determination to balance technological ambition with market readiness.
Bosch’s ADAS Solution – Premium Edition represents its latest breakthrough. Equipped with dual NVIDIA Orin-X chips offering 508 TOPS of computing power, the system leverages a perception suite of five radars, eleven 8-megapixel cameras, forward lidar, and twelve ultrasonic sensors—delivering accurate detection up to 300 meters. The solution is designed to cover 20 major Chinese cities, handling complex conditions across highways, viaducts, and dense urban roads. Its functions include point-to-point navigation assistance, automated lane changing (ALC), automatic overtaking (AOT), and automated parking assistance (APA).
Importantly, Bosch has engineered multiple redundancies across perception, decision-making, and actuation—such as dual controllers, multi-sensor fusion, and redundant braking and steering systems—to guarantee safety even in extreme conditions.
Aptiv, meanwhile, has doubled down on what it calls “thorough localization.” The company has invested in Chinese data centers, testing facilities, and a more robust local supply chain to ensure that its NOA solutions align closely with regional needs. This approach positions Aptiv to build long-term resilience and independence from its Western headquarters.
While the R&D-heavy approach requires significant investment and longer cycles, it offers the greatest potential rewards: complete technological independence in China and the ability to compete head-to-head with local ADAS innovators.
Core Path 2: Developing NOA Solutions with Local Companie
For foreign suppliers who wish to accelerate time-to-market, forming joint ventures with domestic technology leaders represents the second pathway. This model allows global Tier 1s to leverage their hardware expertise while benefiting from local partners’ data, algorithms, and ecosystem resources.
Continental + Horizon Robotics: The Astra System
A leading example is Continental’s joint venture with Horizon Robotics. The partnership, named Horizon Continental Technology, recently launched Astra, an all-scenario assisted driving system. Astra is designed to democratize NOA by bringing advanced functionality—once limited to luxury vehicles—into the mainstream EV segment priced between RMB 150,000 and 200,000.
At the hardware level, Astra integrates 11 cameras and 1 radar (with optional lidar) and runs on dual Horizon Journey 6M platforms, delivering sufficient computing power for L2+ systems while keeping costs competitive.
Functional coverage includes urban NOA, highway NOA, autonomous ramp entry/exit, all-scenario parking (HPA, APA), and active safety features such as automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane departure warning (LDW), and traffic light recognition (TLR).
This joint-venture approach highlights a key advantage: localization at scale. By pooling resources, Continental can adapt quickly to Chinese driving scenarios while Horizon Robotics benefits from Continental’s global manufacturing expertise and supply chain reach.
Core Path 3: Investing in and Integrating Local Technologies
The third pathway for foreign Tier 1 suppliers involves direct investment in or acquisition of domestic ADAS companies to rapidly absorb advanced capabilities.
ZF and CalmCar
ZF provides a clear example. In 2021, it invested heavily in CalmCar, a Chinese startup specializing in visual perception. By 2025, CalmCar had developed a BEV (bird’s-eye-view) + Transformer perception system and an end-to-end urban NOA system, alongside a product portfolio spanning APA, highway NOA, and integrated hardware-software platforms. These assets now serve as critical building blocks for ZF’s NOA roadmap.
Looking ahead, ZF—as well as other global suppliers such as Denso and Hyundai Mobis—could accelerate progress by acquiring promising Chinese ADAS players like Deeproute.ai, PhiGent Robotics, or Minieye. With robust financial strength and wide OEM relationships, foreign Tier 1s are well-positioned to consolidate local innovation and close the competitive gap.
Broader Industry Context
The report also provides detailed analysis of global traffic regulations shaping assisted driving adoption, from UNECE’s ALKS regulations in Europe to Japan’s “RoAD to L4 Project” and the U.S. NCAP updates. It emphasizes how regulations are becoming more stringent, requiring higher safety validation, data storage compliance, and human-machine interface standards.
In addition, the report outlines:
- Global ADAS market size and growth trends
- Financial performance comparisons of major Tier 1 suppliers
- Product roadmaps for front-view cameras, radars, ultrasonic sensors, and domain controllers
- Strategic difficulties foreign Tier 1 suppliers face in China, such as lack of localized algorithms, weaker data ecosystems, and slower response cycles compared to Chinese startups
