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Driving school industry faces severe oversupply, leading firms introduce VR+AI training models
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- DeepHorus
Recently, the topic 'Who Killed Driving Schools?' topped Weibo's hot search list, sparking widespread discussion about the current state of the driving training industry. According to Yicai.com, the once-thriving driving school industry now faces severe oversupply, with some small and medium-sized driving schools suffering losses or even closing down. Data from the Ministry of Public Security shows that the number of newly licensed drivers in China has been declining year by year. In 2015, there were 36.13 million newly licensed drivers, but this number has decreased annually since then, dropping to 20.51 million by 2025βa 43% decrease compared to 2015. This has directly led to a shrinking pool of driving school students and intensified industry competition.
There are multiple reasons for the cooling of driving schools. On the one hand, the main demographic learning to drive is young people and college students, but the population of the 'post-00s' generation is smaller than that of the 'post-80s' and 'post-90s'. On the other hand, travel options such as ride-hailing, subways, and buses have gradually replaced some of the demand for private car use, and young people's consumption concepts have also changed. In response to the industry's transformation, driving training institutions are seeking to reinvent themselves. For example, Oriental Fashion (Beijing Oriental Fashion Driving School), a leading company in the industry, released its 2025 annual report showing full-year operating revenue of 618 million yuan, with a net loss narrowed by 17.41% year-on-year. The company stated it will continue to adhere to its 'intelligence + energy efficiency' dual-energy strategy and increase investment in and upgrade its VR+AI intelligent driving training system.
Oriental Fashion pioneered a three-in-one intelligent driving training model combining 'VR + AI + real-road training,' achieving an intelligent, scenario-based, and standardized approach to learning to drive. Using technology to lower costs and improve teaching quality has become an important direction for industry transformation. In addition to hardware upgrades, more and more driving schools are beginning to focus on service experience. To meet young students' high expectations for consumption experience, driving schools have introduced services such as 'one person, one car' and 'free pickup and drop-off,' while also strengthening instructor management and improving transparency in fees and the efficiency of obtaining licenses.
Industry insiders believe that the era of extensive development in the driving training industry has come to an end, and future success will depend on technological innovation and service upgrades to win over the market. Only by continuously improving student satisfaction can driving schools stand out amidst oversupply and intense competition.
