Co-founder of TuSimple resigns to start truck-making company

Beijing (Gasgoo)- The co-founder and former vice president of engineering from TuSimple, Huang Zehua, has resigned from the autonomous driving firm to start his own truck company in October 2021, according to a local media outlet.

Photo credit: TuSimple

In April 2022, the former executive incorporated a company named Lingyi Smart Truck (Zero-one in English). The company is positioned as a truck maker, dedicated to providing truck hardware for autonomous driving companies, sources close to the matter added. Huang’s new firm aims to be the NIO, XPeng of China’s commercial vehicle industry. 

Huang Zehua confirmed to the media outlet that he has left TuSimple and is currently in the startup phase of his new business without giving out further information. 

Notably, not long ago, on June 10th, Chen Mo, the CEO of the Nasdaq-listed autonomous driving developer, announced the establishment a hydrogen-focused L4 autonomous heavy-duty truck company, HYDRON.

People within the industry said that as autonomous driving is not a huge priority on the traditional automakers’ list of projects, autonomous truck making could take a long time to realize real production. 

For example, although TuSimple has received a big order for 6,775 autonomous driving trucks, its truck-making partner, Navistar, won’t be able to produce vehicles until 2024.