The key change for C-V2X is that vehicles may become subject to a mandatory installation requirement. The pace at which demand for equipment materializes depends on the scope, publication date and transitional arrangements of the final standard.
Why could mandatory installation change demand more than additional pilots?
Citing media reports from 26 October and industry sources, the material says the relevant authorities have begun drafting a mandatory standard for installing C-V2X in vehicles and have established a working group. Compared with adding demonstration projects, this change directly addresses whether automakers must install the equipment.
The previous bottleneck was on the vehicle side: the first 20 vehicle-road-cloud pilot cities were already in place in July 2024, but the relevant national standards were voluntary and were not included in new-vehicle type approval requirements, leaving automakers with little incentive to install the equipment at the factory. Existing roadside equipment does not automatically translate into vehicle-side purchases.
C-V2X uses direct communication between vehicles and between vehicles and road infrastructure to support collision warnings, blind-spot alerts and traffic-light coordination. Its direct link does not rely on base stations and connects roadside infrastructure to in-vehicle safety functions.
Which vehicles could generate demand first, and how long will it take to materialize?
The more explicit requirement initially targets commercial vehicles. According to the July consultation draft described in the material, new commercial passenger vehicles, trucks and tractors must leave the factory equipped with LTE-V2X direct-communication terminals 25 months after the standard takes effect. Consultation, formal publication and the post-implementation transition period are distinct stages.
Passenger vehicles remain a low-penetration market: in the first half of 2026, domestic deliveries of passenger vehicles with C-V2X installed as standard at the factory reached 344 thousand vehicles, up 13.63% year on year, with a factory-installation rate of just 4.03%. This indicates a low existing installation base, but the rate cannot be used directly as the installation rate for commercial vehicles.
If the mandatory requirement takes effect, installation demand for new vehicles within its scope will shift from automakers’ voluntary choices to a standard-driven requirement. However, the material provides neither a terminal unit price nor the number of applicable vehicles for calculations; the value of demand and the years in which it materializes depend primarily on the final terms and publication date.
How can suppliers capture the additional procurement?
Factory-installation requirements on vehicles are most directly linked to purchases of onboard communication terminals. The material lists Wanji Technology as having V2X onboard communication products and dual-mode V2X and ETC units; Genvict Technology has 4G and 5G C-V2X onboard units (OBUs), with solutions aimed at factory installation by automakers.
There are also plans for supporting roadside infrastructure: plans in August and September address intersection and expressway-ramp coverage and the construction of roadside direct-communication equipment, respectively. Both companies cover roadside equipment and platforms, but the size of additional orders still depends on specific procurement and suppliers’ shares, beyond their existing product coverage and project participation.
