China has been No.1 country in the world automobile production and sales volume since 2009. Chinese market condition became a critical factor being able to make a considerable impact on the norm change of world automobile industry. To access the rivalry structure of Chinese automobile industry, this study took the industry based view and the institution based view. Firstly through the performance analysis this study picked out three areas, Shanghai, Guangdong and Jilin province among Big Ten areas of automobile industry. Secondly the rivalry condition was reviewed by three phases; SOEs, JVs and local governments. Especially the rivalry among local governments was addressed through the analysis for the major policies or plans of Shanghai government, Guangdong and Jilin province government. Thirdly the governance structure of three representative SOEs, SAIC, FAW, GAIG was examined to clarify the connection among SOEs, JVs, MNEs and local governments. In the result there exist three kinds of competitions at the automobile industry of China, and the institution based view will be more needed as the government role increases due to the commercialization of green energy car.