Since the mid-nineties of the last century, with the emergence of domestic manufactures such as Chery, the product development in the Chinese auto industry has started to shift into "Independent development", Starting from simple KD assemblies or manufacturing foreign licences through joint venture companies.

However, the "Independent development" that Chinese manufacturers are conducting is not literally "independent". By a variety of case studies, It can be concluded that, in the current stage, this independent development is more an approach to overcome the technological barrier of foreign enterprises and technological learning in which a Chinese technical team can participate or even play a leading role hence making the best use of available resources. It is actually a "Self-dominating development" rather than an "independent development".

It must be emphasized that this is a transient stage instead of the ultimate goal. To achieve true independent development, the Chinese auto enterprises must be dedicated to core technology R&D and talent training.