EV makers Tesla, Nio and Xiaomi have ranked in the first three positions of the 2025 Gartner Digital Automotive Index, which evaluates automakers on their potential to monetize software.
In this year’s edition, 24 companies were ranked based on how much of a priority is software to the company and how advanced is the vehicle technology in areas that are heavily influenced by software.
It included both “new incumbents” in the market and legacy players.
“The index saw the combined performance of Chinese OEMs overtaking that of US OEMs,” Gartner’s VP of Research Pedro Pacheco wrote on LinkedIn this Tuesday.
He added that “despite Tesla still being in front, it is being closely chased by a substantial number of Chinese new incumbents.”
The Elon Musk-led EV maker increased its score by two percentage points from a year ago, finishing with 79% — and remaining at the top for the third consecutive time.
Tesla scored highest in the “culture and leadership” category. Gartner attributes this to the large number of executives reporting directly to the CEO who have strong digital expertise.
Shanghai-based Nio was ranked second, with 77% (eight percentage points above last year’s results). The company’s founder and CEO, William Li, was also praised for his tech expertise.
In late April, Nio launched its flagship sedan, the ET9 — the first vehicle to use the NT 3.0 platform and the in-house developed Shenji autonomous driving chip.
In June, the model ranked as the most software-defined vehicle (SDV)-ready model for 2025, according to a new study by S&P Global Mobility.
The third place in the index was taken by tech giant Xiaomi, which has just entered the study after launching its EV unit in early 2024.
“This year, Xiaomi and Li Auto have been added to the index, answering the curiosity of many clients and industry experts on how these new players fare against the rest of the industry,” Pacheco said, quoted by Automotive News.
Li Auto had a score of 60.1%, while Xiaomi reached 72.5%.
According to the executive, being a “software-focused company,” Xiaomi focuses on talent and prioritizes “building technology into vehicles.”
“The choices made in terms of new architecture is the fruit of its benchmarking against existing competitors,” Pacheco added.
The three EV makers’ combined overall score increased to 61.6% in 2025, up by one percentage point from a year before, while the score for legacy automakers slipped to 33.8% (down from 34.1% in 2024).
“This is because the average legacy player hasn’t shown substantial internal transformation at the leadership and culture levels,” Pacheco said, noting that these companies are also not showing “major progress with tech in their products.”
The study showed that established automakers, such as Renault, Mazda and the last ranked JLR, are struggling to progress towards digitalization.
Pacheco warned that while the index only focuses on software, those automakers “have to face difficult choices if they persist in not efficiently addressing their software-related limitations.”
Stellantis, General Motors, and Hyundai Group all made progress by appointing more tech-focused executives to their boards and consistently delivering over-the-air software updates for their vehicles.
Competitive salaries for software engineers also helped strengthen their positions.
Hyundai’s score rose to 45.5%, boosted not only by its growing EV lineup but also by its fast-charging capability (350 kW or more), which requires advanced electronics and software.
Overall, the share of executive board members with technology backgrounds increased to 20.3% in 2025, up from 12.8% in 2024.
However, the percentage of chief executive officers with significant digital experience dipped from 13% to 12.8% year over year.
