This year at the auto show, Zhou Hongyi is sitting on the roof of the car.

The Beijing Auto Show, which has been suspended for 4 years, finally returned this year. 1500 exhibitors brought 117 global debut models, 41 concept cars, and 278 new energy vehicle models to the 220,000 square meter exhibition site.

In the past few months, the highly publicized "fierce battle" in the Chinese auto industry has now found a more concrete expression, condensed in the cars displayed at each booth, continuous live broadcasts from car companies, and the crowded crowds on site.

Almost all the CEOs of the exhibiting car companies appeared at the event today. They were busy launching new cars, experiencing the latest products of their competitors, and demonstrating their determination and courage to the media.

In the past month, the most attention in the market has been on Lei Jun, the CEO of Xiaomi's car division. The Xiaomi SU7 was released on the 28th of last month and has already received over 70,000 pre-orders. Lei Jun said at the auto show, "These 28 days felt so long, it feels like a dream."

The CEOs of almost all the exhibiting car companies were inevitably asked about their views on Xiaomi. A senior executive of Volkswagen said that he test drove the Xiaomi SU7 and liked their ecological concept. Liu Tao, CEO of Zhiji Auto, across from Xiaomi's booth, said they have great respect for Xiaomi and are willing to learn from them. Li Bin of NIO said that traffic is definitely important, but ultimately it comes down to the competitiveness of the product, "Otherwise, everyone would just buy Xiaoyang's car." He Xiaopeng also said that Lei Jun's marketing ability is better than his, but he aims to make better technology than Xiaomi.

However, the most popular CEO at today's auto show may be someone who doesn't drive and doesn't make cars. At noon, a photo of Zhou Hongyi, the chairman of Qihoo 360, sitting on top of an off-road vehicle, began circulating on social media.

Zhou Hongyi has become one of the hottest figures in the auto industry recently, second only to Lei Jun. Before the official opening of the Beijing Auto Show, due to a video of him selling his Maybach to buy a domestic car, almost all domestic car companies flocked to display their latest products outside the 360 headquarters, queuing up for Zhou Hongyi's experience. 360 employees even displayed the slogan "798 Small Auto Show" on the big screen below their building.

At today's Beijing Auto Show, he and his team were live streaming and constantly moving around the booths of various car companies, "bringing some traffic to everyone." Despite the overcrowding at the venue, causing his live stream to lag and have a poor experience, it still attracted a large number of fans. Photos of him with different car company CEOs circulated on social media, and some car company CEOs had to interrupt interviews and come out to greet Zhou Hongyi upon learning of his arrival.

Zhou Hongyi's live stream may also be more entertaining. For example, at the Hongqi booth, he asked the staff which car they provided to the leaders. After Li Xiang introduced the Ideal L6 as a competitor to the Porsche Cayenne, Zhou Hongyi asked why the appearance doesn't follow the Cayenne's design. Coming out of the Nezha Auto booth, he asked someone why there were no car models at this year's auto show.

Many media outlets have emphasized in their reports that after Xiaomi's huge marketing success, car companies have fallen into a state of traffic anxiety. Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motors, who has been registered on Weibo for 13 years, recently updated his first Weibo post. He said, "When there was too little wine before, of course, there was no fear of the deep alley. Now that there is too much wine, you don't know which one is the real good wine."

Some media outlets have reported that the number of new energy vehicle models confirmed to be launched in the domestic market this year has reached 106, a record high. In the first two weeks of April, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in the Chinese auto market has already exceeded 50%—the government's original plan was to achieve this figure by 2035. Miao Wei, former Minister of Industry and Information Technology, said, "We may achieve this goal ten years ahead of schedule."

In contrast, the development of new energy vehicles in markets outside of China has begun to stagnate. Several major U.S. car companies have announced a temporary halt to the development of new energy vehicle models, and the German government has suspended subsidies for electric cars. Some media outlets have asked in their reports: Has China fallen into a "new energy trap"?

Car companies in the midst of the fray do not agree with this view. In the past few months, most domestic car companies have already set ambitious sales plans for new energy vehicles. Some traditional car companies that are slightly behind in the layout of new energy vehicles have almost without exception emphasized their shift in focus to new energy vehicles.

In today's more intense competition, the pressure and cruelty of competition they face are even greater, and a slight misstep could lead to being forgotten. Perhaps this is also why they all appeared in Zhou Hongyi's live stream today.

The only company that did not appear at the auto show was Tesla, which had the best sales of pure electric vehicles in China last year. Just before the Beijing Auto Show, the company celebrated its tenth anniversary in the Chinese market—aside from the celebratory Weibo post from Tesla, almost no one paid attention.