Huawei’s smart car ambitions date back to 2013
Huawei first set up a unit to create internet-based auto applications in 2013. It made its Shanghai international auto show debut in 2019, where it also announced plans to become an auto parts supplier. A month later it started a unit to develop smart car solutions.
The company’s auto wing consists of five categories – smart driving, intelligent network, smart cockpit platform, smart electric, and cloud services.
Huawei’s electric car prototype is ready
The manufacturer has reportedly been building up the capacity to make nearly everything required for smart cars.
Xu Zhijun, a rotating chairman of the company has been quoted saying:
Anything that Tesla can do, we can do.
The company’s autonomous driving system is said to be better than Tesla’s Model 3’s.
A person who is apparently privy to Huawei’s plan has said that it wants to become a dominant supplier of all hardware and software for smart cars. The company has reportedly been poaching employees from major auto suppliers and is prepared to set up a team with thousands of professionals.
It also edited its business registration in August to include production and sales of auto parts and smart driving systems in its business scope .
Huawei is particularly serious about making chips and OS for cars and is moving forward with its plans aggressively.
Auto industry players are monitoring the Chinese company’s expansion closely and they are apparently concerned that Huawei will eventually start manufacturing its own cars.
The company has already co-developed a prototype with a Chinese manufacturer that will start road tests towards the end of 2020 and go on sale in Q4 2021.
