•An intrinsic cohesive zone approach is proposed for the impact failure of automotive windshield laminated glass.•Gradual energy dissipation process of glass-PVB debonding can be modeled by means of the cohesive zone model.•A windshield finite element model is developed to account for the two failure patterns, including glass fracture and glass-PVB debonding.•The effectiveness of the proposed model is validated by comparing simulation results under center and corner impact with experimental ones.•Parametric studies are conducted to investigate the effects of adhesion parameters, PVB material parameters, and impact velocities and angles on the impact fracture behavior and energy absorption performance of the windshield. Though windshield laminated glass is a simple sandwiched composite structure, it is of vital importance to investigate its damage and energy absorption behavior for the purpose of pedestrian safety protection. This paper proposes an intrinsic cohesive zone approach to achieve this end. A finite element windshield glazing model is established by inserting cohesive elements into the common surfaces between glass elements, and the interfaces between glass and PVB prior to simulations. The appeal of this model is that both of the two main failure patterns and their energy absorptions, i.e. glass fracture and glass-PVB debonding, of the windshield can be captured by means of the intrinsic cohesive zone approach. The effectiveness of the proposed model is validated by comparing the simulation results under center and corner impact with the corresponding experimental outcomes. Finally, the effects of adhesion parameters, PVB material parameters, and impact velocities and angles on the impact fracture behavior and energy absorption performance of the windshield are thoroughly investigated.