Geely Auto partners with Tencent for digital business, low-carbon development

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Geely Auto and Tencent forged a new strategic partnership on Jan. 19 to jointly develop such business as intelligent cockpit, autonomous driving, digital marketing and low-carbon development, according to a posting on Geely’s WeChat account.

Photo credit: Geely Auto

Under the agreement, the Internet giant will assist Geely Auto with the digital upgrading of the “user lifecycle”, the building of a digital industrial closed loop where product R&D, manufacturing, marketing, user operation and after-sale services are fully connected, and the construction of a “human-centric” digital service system.

Meanwhile, both parties intend to co-work on boosting the low-carbon development for the whole automotive industrial chain and launching an open “carbon neutrality” platform.

Geely said the strategic collaboration will create a new business model for the Internet-powered auto industry. Two companies will make joint efforts to build the next-generation intelligent cockpit that fully integrates ecosystems of Geely and Tencent, and forms interconnection between mobile phones and auto systems, so as to offer more user-friendly experience available for multiple scenarios.

Moreover, Geely Auto and Tencent will cooperate on autonomous driving simulation and cloud-based platform, jointly speed up the R&D and validation of autonomous driving products, and help perfect relevant standards, laws and regulations.

Moreover, the automaker and the tech giant also plan to seek innovative teamwork in the domains like digital marketing, car sharing, digital finance service and smart transportation.

The cooperation between Geely and Tencent can date back to 2018, when the two firms, together with China Railway Investment Corp, formally launched a joint venture dubbed China Railway Gecent Technology Co.,Ltd (CRGT).

CRGT focuses on constructing and operating China's high-speed train Wi-Fi platform. Besides, it also provides passengers with one-stop services integrating on-line and off-line operational modes, covering Wi-Fi, recreation, news, on-line food order, e-commerce services and smart retail, etc.

On June 25, 2019, ECARX Technology (ECARX), a connectivity company invested by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, and Tencent Auto Intelligence (TAI), an automobile AI arm of Tencent, agreed to conduct in-depth collaboration in intelligent-connected services, the user operation, AI and cloud technologies.