The bullet is through the week: smartphone manufacturer Huawei is venturing into the auto industry. The giant Chinese tech company is investing $ 1 billion in the development of electric and autonomous cars.
Earlier there were rumors that telecom manufacturer Huawei, mainly known as a producer of smartphones, would want to build cars. Now it has been officially announced that Huawei is entering the car market, although not alone. The manufacturer joins the Chinese colossi BAIC Group, Changan Automobile and Guangzhou Automobile (GAC) for the production of its models. The four-wheelers do get logos from Huawei.
Xu Zhijun (Eric Xu), Huawei’s top driver, says his company is investing $ 1 billion this year in research and development of electric and autonomous cars. According to Xu, Huawei has technology in house that makes electric cars with a range of more than 1,000 kilometers possible. It is not yet known when the Huawei cars will appear on the road. In view of the collaborations with Chinese car manufacturers, it does not seem that Huawei will develop its cars completely itself. The company appears to mainly supply the electric powertrains and autonomous technologies.
Huawei is not the only tech manufacturer looking to build electric cars. Apple has been planning to get involved in the car market for years and is still looking for a suitable partner. The Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi is also interested in electric and autonomous cars.