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On March 6, in Chongqing, J.D. Power successfully held the "2025 Annual Forum and Award Ceremony," revealing that this global authority in data research is also a "vanguard" of the AI wave.

For a long time, everyone has referred to J.D. Power's annually updated series of professional research and rankings when buying cars, including the China Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI), China Customer Service Index (CSI), China Initial Quality Study (IQS), China Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, China Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS), China New Energy Vehicle APEAL Study (NEV-APEAL), China New Energy Vehicle Initial Quality Study (NEV-IQS), China New Energy Vehicle Customer Experience Value Index (NEV-CXVI), China Tech Experience Index (TXI) Study, and the Huayu Award. It was not until today's forum that we discovered J.D. Power is also a "master" of academic research.


DeepSeek Discussed Throughout the Event


From the moment I arrived at the forum venue at 9 a.m., the one keyword echoing in my ears was DeepSeek, with AI ranking second. In fact, the hundreds of guests attending the entire forum—from 57 automakers, 10 partners, industry academic authorities, and experts—were all focused on the topic of "AI." That's why the opening speech by Su Jun, President of J.D. Power China, was also about AI: "AI is reshaping the automotive industry landscape, ushering in the era of the 'data moat.' In the past, automakers built cars relying on traditional research and engineers' experience. Now, DeepSeek provides high-frequency user behavior data, allowing automakers to reverse-define products based on user needs. As the trend shifts from 'engineer-dominated' to 'user sovereignty rising,' data insight has become the key to brand competition. We have always believed: only by making data-driven decisions can brands build their moat. J.D. Power's five major solutions spanning the entire automotive lifecycle can help automakers seize market opportunities as competition returns to the user."

Don't think Su Jun was merely giving a speech in step with the times. In fact, since 2024—the "first year of AI"—J.D. Power has built its own AI large model based on years of accumulated consumer insight data, covering the entire lifecycle from vehicle platform R&D to consumer online car selection/viewing/purchasing/after-sales/used car transactions across all dimensions. At this forum, they officially launched a new digital human—Dr. Power—which was also immediately connected to DeepSeek.

So, as an "AI vanguard," J.D. Power not only proposed in its China smart cockpit research that "AI intelligence will become the focus of competition in the automotive industry in 2025," but also took the lead in conducting deep experimentation itself.


What Can an "AI-empowered" J.D. Power Do?


From past perception, although J.D. Power is highly professional, all of their work comes from frontline markets. Every research report published is based on the voices of tens of thousands of car owners (per individual study) across more than 81 cities nationwide.

The addition of AI technology has given J.D. Power's large model and database wings. What exactly does this revolutionary technology bring? Here are a few examples.

First, the product R&D stage: Whenever a new car is launched, the first thing everyone thinks of is "What is this new car's benchmark model?"—J.D. Power's research found that traditional automotive product R&D not only suffers from insufficient sample sizes and delayed feedback, but more critically, it is "competitor-oriented," meaning the industry finds benchmark products first and then develops its own new cars. While this may offer late-mover technical advantages, accumulated to today, it has led to the severe involution everyone is familiar with: homogenization.

Second, there is a lack of research data on consumer voices. The so-called "listening to advice" has not fundamentally solved the NPS (Net Promoter Score) problem that has been haunting automakers—where exactly does the problem lie?

Furthermore, do Thai users like Chinese cars? What troubles do Chinese cars face in the Mexican market?—Chinese automakers going global, crossing the river by feeling for stones, have already become the world's top auto exporter, yet there remain vast blanks that cannot be filled...

All of the above questions can actually be answered by finding the right "stones" through J.D. Power's AI achievements.


Concerns from Authorities


At this forum, two authoritative experts presented this year's automotive market/AI intelligence trends. Xu Changming, Senior Economist at the State Information Center, noted from a macro perspective that the domestic auto demand market has entered a phase of fluctuating slow growth. Although policies have played a key role in driving the market and NEV passenger vehicle penetration is rising, "market competition is extremely fierce, and price wars have become the norm in the battle for market share." "Future overseas market demand is broad, and China's auto exports and local production prospects are promising."

When entering overseas markets, beyond one's own hard work and environmental factors, finding the right "stones" to cross the river by feeling can also yield twice the result with half the effort.

Liu Yan, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, is a close observer of AI technology. She said: "In the AI era, automotive brand marketing presents characteristics of higher precision, better interactivity, higher efficiency, deeper insights, and stronger timeliness. In the future, its development trends will feature deep technology integration, multimodal marketing, expanded scenario-based marketing, increased cross-domain collaboration, and data-driven lean operations across the entire chain."

Of course, there is a "but": "AI marketing also carries risks such as data security and privacy. Amid great changes, automotive brand marketing should adhere to being user-centric and data-driven, meeting user needs, using data for precise decision-making, and strengthening brand building."

In terms of data security and user privacy, J.D. Power, with 57 years of history, clearly not only can do this but does it meticulously.

In addition to the two industry authorities, executives from AI large-model company Volcano Engine, as well as from AVATR, Changan, NIO, Dongfeng Group, Xiaomi Auto, AION, and Volkswagen (Anhui), covering R&D, customer service, marketing, and other fields, presented on-site the changes and innovations brought by AI intelligence combined with J.D. Power research data.

After listening to a full day of forum sessions, I was greatly rewarded and can summarize it in one sentence: J.D. Power, as the voice of consumers, has flown even higher after growing AI wings!


Author: Liu Ying LY