Huawei teams up with BAIC BJEV, Changan, GAC to co-launch self-driving car brands

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Huawei will invest over $1 billion this year in the research and development of smart cars' components, Xu Zhijun, the rotating chairman of the telecom titan, told analysts in Shenzhen on Monday.

He added that China, which has annual car demands of roughly 30 million units and a greater room for future growth, is big enough for Huawei to develop. However, Huawei eyes the global market for every industry it develops, rather than merely focusing on Chinese market.

Mr. Xu also said Huawei's autonomous driving technologies have overtaken Tesla's in some spheres, for instance by allowing cars to cruise for over 1,000 kilometers in downtown areas without human intervention.

The Chinese telecom giant has formed in-depth partnerships with three automakers, namely BAIC BJEV, Changan Automobile and GAC Group, to jointly roll out self-driving car brands starting from the end of 2021.

According to Mr. Xu, the cars jointly developed with BAIC BJEV will be under “ARCFOX” brand and are expected for launch from the fourth quarter this year. The brand names of the vehicles co-developed with the other two partners have not been announced yet.

The mobile giant has designed the logo “Inside” for the self-driving cars. The “Inside” will be adopted by the vehicles it develops with automakers as sub-brand.

“Although Huawei doesn't build cars by itself, the company wants to create some good business model with carmakers by forming in-depth cooperation,” said Mr. Xu.

Arcfox α-S; photo credit: Arcfox

At the forthcoming Auto Shanghai 2021, BAIC BJEV will showcase the Arcfox α-S, an all-electric car using Huawei's intelligent automotive solutions.