As global OEMs and suppliers race to master the intelligent vehicle era, two themes dominate the global conversation: how we keep people safe, and how we redefine the experience of being inside a vehicle. Both will take centre stage this November as AutoSens returns to Hefei for its second year, joined for the first time by InCabin China, the new conference dedicated to in-vehicle intelligence, comfort, and human-machine interaction.
From 18–20 November 2025, the InterContinental Hotel Hefei will welcome engineers, researchers, and senior leaders from the world’s top OEMs, Tier 1s, and technology innovators. Across three days of technical sessions, keynote discussions, and live networking, delegates will explore how sensors, software, and systems are reshaping the future of driving — from perception and positioning to cockpit cognition.
A Moment for Alignment
The timing could not be more significant. Just weeks before AutoSens & InCabin China open their doors, the global road safety community gathered in Shanghai for the Global NCAP World Congress 2025. In their joint declaration, the world’s New Car Assessment Programmes reaffirmed their shared mission:
“To continuously strengthen and align testing protocols, guided by scientific evidence and technological progress, in order to promote the highest levels of occupant and vulnerable road user protection.”
The Congress also emphasised transparency in how safety performance is communicated, and collaboration across borders to accelerate the adoption of life-saving technologies.
These principles resonate strongly within the AutoSens and InCabin communities — where the world’s sensor and software engineers meet to turn policy ambition into practical design and deployment. As Euro NCAP, C-NCAP, and other regional programmes converge on future test procedures, the need for globally harmonised validation, simulation, and perception systems has never been greater.
We have just returned from AutoSens and InCabin Europe in Barcelona, where Euro NCAP’s Adriano Palao delivered the closing keynote. He highlighted that vehicles designed purely to pass regulatory tests can unintentionally create a poor user experience by triggering excessive false positives. By incorporating contextual factors such as infrastructure data and driver awareness, he explained, these false alerts can be greatly reduced. User experience and driver acceptance are crucial to ensuring that safety systems are genuinely used and trusted — adding real value to the end user rather than becoming a collection of distracting beeps and warnings.
From Capture to Cognition
The 2025 agenda reads like a map of the technologies shaping this transformation.
In the plenary sessions, BMW’s Mark Zellerhoff will explore the “assurance paradox” — why greater autonomy demands even greater attention to safety fundamentals — while Great Wall Motors’ Jared Yang and Volkswagen China’s Yinyue Feng will outline how AI, software-defined architecture, and scalable ADAS platforms are redefining automotive design philosophy.
From there, the conference branches into three tracks: In the Ballroom, presentations will cover both ADAS and in-cabin themes, with topics such as Architectures, Validation and Testing, and Homologation. In the Baili Room 1 AutoSens will be the focus, with a primary focus on sensing hardware and technology, where the Baili room 3 will cover InCabin topics such as Driver Monitoring, Infotainment, and User Experience.
Following the keynotes, speakers from Horizon Robotics, ECARX, Asensing, RoboSense, Wind River, and Semidrive will share insights into how China’s digital ecosystems are accelerating development cycles — while global players like Bosch, Infineon, and Sensirion bring lessons from Europe’s mature testing landscape. AutoLiv and ABUP will share advanced cockpit technologies ranging from safety to comfort. See all the speakers here >>
What emerges is a picture of a truly integrated industry: one where safety and comfort are not separate disciplines, but parts of a single, intelligent system.
Deep Dives and Data-Driven Design
Day three continues that journey from concept to validation. In sessions spanning simulation, radar innovation, and in-cabin systems, experts will unpack how virtual testing environments, sensor twins, and AI-assisted scenario generation are transforming the way we prove safety.
Contributions from IAV, Ansys, and cogniBIT illustrate how simulation fidelity is catching up with reality, while Bosch, GlobalFoundries, Calterah, and Seyond reveal how radar and semiconductor advances are unlocking new possibilities for 4D sensing and environment perception. HIWAY and Lianchuang Electronic Technology will be among those covering display technologies, while Goodyear, BlueSmart, and iMotion will discuss the trend towards the CIV – Connected and Intelligent Vehicle.
Meanwhile, Anyverse, Image Engineering, and Sleep Advice Technologies will focus on the human side of sensing — from image quality assessment and vital sign detection to predictive safety built around the driver and occupants.
The event closes with keynote reflections from Momenta.AI and NIO, both at the forefront of China’s autonomous and digital cockpit revolutions. Their presence underlines a core truth: safety and intelligence are converging, and collaboration between East and West is essential to make that convergence real.
A Platform for Progress
AutoSens and InCabin China are not just conferences — they are part of a wider movement toward standardisation, shared data, and engineering excellence. They embody the same spirit of cooperation voiced at the NCAP World Congress : to build safer, smarter vehicles through openness, evidence, and collaboration.
In an era where AI defines cars and software defines mobility, Hefei will once again become the meeting point for those determined to define the standards of the future.
Join the Conversation
AutoSens & InCabin China 2025
📅 18–20 November 2025
📍 InterContinental Hotel, Hefei
Registration is now open. Join the international engineering community shaping the future of automotive safety, perception, and in-cabin experience.
Secure your place today and be part of the dialogue that’s driving the industry forward.
Find out what to expect at AutoSens China this November in Hefei, near Shanghai ⬇
