Tencent and GAC signed strategic cooperation agreement to develop connected vehicles

Shanghai (Gasgoo)-On September 18, China’s Guangzhou Automobile Group Company (GAC Group) and Tencent Holdings Limited signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Guangzhou. After the announcement was released, shares of GAC surged.

According to the agreement, the companies will develop business cooperation in areas such as internet connected vehicles, intelligent driving, cloud platform, big data, etc. GAC said that in order to promote the business development of both sides, they will also explore the capital investment in auto-relevant e-commerce, auto insurance, mobility service and new energy vehicles.

Based on intelligent voice technology and intelligent mobility, the companies will take advantage of Tencent’s expertise in mobile payments, music, Wechat networking and social media accounts to launch connected vehicle service with artificial intelligence features.

In the field of intelligent driving, GAC and Tencent will conduct joint research on vehicles’ usage and co-create an intelligent connected vehicle brand with own characteristics and competitiveness. Meanwhile, Tencent will provide technical support to improve the safety of GAC’s connected vehicle solutions.
What’s more, GAC will make full use of Tencent’s advantage in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, big data processing suite to develop intelligent connected vehicles with industry leading competitiveness.

GAC’s statement said that the cooperation will help the companies to establish business ecosystem and accelerate the development of connected vehicle industry.

Nowadays, technology and production modes are undergoing radical changes. Thus cross-border integration has become a trend. In particular, after intelligent connected vehicle had become the direction of auto industry, it makes sense for automakers to cooperate with communications and internet companies. In March, Tencent acquires 5 percent of Tesla’s shares for nearly 1.8 billion dollars.