One increase, one decrease! The car-mounted HUD officially enters the AR era. The car-mounted front-installed HUD market welcomes a historic moment.

This week, the High-tech Industry Research Institute of Intelligent Vehicles released data showing that from January to February 2026, the delivery of new passenger cars with front-installed W-HUD in the Chinese market (excluding imports and exports) reached 349,900 units, a slight year-on-year decrease of 1.21%; the delivery of new cars equipped with AR-HUD reached 213,400 units, a year-on-year increase of 89.86%, continuing to maintain high growth rates.

Another set of data shows that since the second half of last year, the number of new cars equipped with W-HUD in the Chinese market has reached 108 models, while those equipped with AR-HUD has reached 69 models. The contrast behind these two sets of data highlights the tendency of the terminal market for HUD choices.

Especially with the accelerated popularity of urban NOA, the demand for AR-HUD has become more urgent. For example, Xiaopeng's main push for AR lane-level navigation, AR assisted driving, and AR safety assistance scenarios is becoming a necessity, also compensating for the shortcomings of existing human-machine co-driving interactions.

Compared to traditional W-HUD, AR-HUD further enhances driving safety in terms of information display richness and interaction between the car and the road, effectively reducing the burden during the driving process and improving driving comfort. Meanwhile, the large-size display also provides possibilities for future interactive experience upgrades.

On the automaker side, with Xiaopeng and Leap Motor achieving the first installation of AR-HUD in 2025, all leading new energy players have achieved full coverage of HUD installations. Among them, NIO has also upgraded from W-HUD to AR-HUD for the first time, being the first in the industry to adopt all-weather AR HUD with MINI LED technology.

In 2025, the delivery of new passenger cars with front-installed W/AR-HUD in the Chinese market (excluding imports and exports) is expected to reach 4,391,900 units, with the installation rate rising to 19.11%, compared to just 3.45% in 2020. At the same time, AR-HUD continues to maintain a high growth trend.

Among them, the delivery of front-installed AR-HUD reached 1,550,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 75.28%, with the installation rate rising to 6.74%. In comparison, the year-on-year growth rate of W-HUD is only 7.47%. Currently, several local Chinese suppliers such as Zijing, Huayang Multimedia, Crystal Optoelectronics, and Huawei are the leading players in AR-HUD.

Especially Huawei's Lcos solution stands out, with monitoring data from the High-tech Industry Research Institute of Intelligent Vehicles showing that from January to December 2025, the AR-HUD solution based on the Lcos technology path achieved new car deliveries of 349,800 units, a year-on-year increase of 117.67%.

At the same time, in terms of technology paths, diverse solutions are also providing more choices for automakers. For example, as a leading company in the AR-HUD industry, Crystal Optoelectronics has realized a diversified product matrix of AR-HUD with various technology paths including TFT, DLP, Lcos, optical waveguide, and oblique projection.

In terms of new entrants, Desay SV announcement shows that the company’s HUD business has made significant breakthroughs, obtaining customer orders from Dongfeng Motor, SAIC General, GAC Honda, Dongfeng Nissan, and GAC Passenger Vehicles, and is about to mass-produce its first enhanced display AR-HUD.

Considering the further upgrade of cockpit interaction, especially as competition intensifies in vehicles priced below 200,000 yuan, the High-tech Industry Research Institute of Intelligent Vehicles predicts that the installation rate of AR-HUD will strive to reach the 15%-20% range in 2026. At the same time, the installation volume will also exceed W-HUD, becoming the market's main force. (High-tech Industry Research Institute of Intelligent Vehicles)