While Huawei keeps saying it will not make its own car, the company recently formed a new venture focusing on smart car equipment manufacturing, vehicle components development, and other tasks. Whether Huawei will remain committed to its promise still needs to be determined.
According to reports from China-based Sina, Securities Times and The Paper, information on Tianyancha, a website offering Chinese companies' data, showed that Shenzhen Yinwang Intelligent Technology was established on January 16 with a registered capital of CNY1 billion (US$140.4 million).
Yingwang is 100% owned by Huawei Technologies and is registered at Huawei's headquarters. Yingwang's executives are also its parent company's executives.
According to Tianyancha, Yingwang covers smart car equipment manufacturing, vehicle component development, AI application system integration, basic AI software development, data processing, and many other segments.
Analysts said Yingwang is Huawei's first step to building its smart car business and will enjoy the tech giant's techniques and resources. Although Huawei now controls 100% of the new company, it plans to cooperate with partners to diversify Yingwang's shareholders and turn it into an open technology platform. The partners will include Changan Automobile, which announced a partnership with Huawei in November 2023.
Changan said on January 16 that it formed a task force with Huawei for their joint effort in smart vehicles. Zhu Huarong, Changan's chairman, said the pair's joint venture is tentatively named Newcool and will focus on smart driving, smart cockpit, head-up display (HUD) enabled by augmented reality (AR) and other technology. The two companies are still discussing the details of their partnership.
The duo signed an MoU at the end of November. According to the MoU, Huawei will set up a company to cover R&D, production, sales, and after-services of smart vehicle systems and components. Changan will invest in the new venture and form a strategic partnership.
Yingwang is believed to be the new company that Huawei agreed to establish. In addition to Changan, China-based Seres, BAIC, Chery, and JAC Group are all reported to be potential investors. According to the MoU, Changan and other investors cannot own more than 40% of the new company's shares.
Whether Huawei's Yingwang is the same company as Newcool remains unknown. Since forming the smart car business unit in mid-2019, Huawei has invested up to US$1 billion in R&D costs for automotive solutions and has kept seeing losses.
Article translated by Peng Chen
