The partnership is a part of BYD’s strategy to target higher-end markets, focusing on boosting the sales of its luxury brands Denza, Fangchengbao, and Yangwang to enhance its profitability. These three brands represented only 5% of its total sales in the first half of the year, as reported by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Chinese electric vehicle titan BYD has formalized a partnership with Huawei, agreeing to integrate the tech conglomerate’s sophisticated autonomous driving technology into its rugged Fangchengbao EV lineup, according to an announcement from Huawei on Tuesday.
The Bao 8 SUV, a part of the Fangchengbao series, is set to be the inaugural model from BYD featuring Huawei’s advanced Qiankun intelligent driving system. This vehicle is anticipated to hit the market later in the year.
This collaboration is part of BYD’s strategic shift towards the higher end of the market, seeking to bolster the sales of its luxury brands—Denza, Fangchengbao, and Yangwang—in an effort to enhance profitability. These brands collectively contributed to only 5% of BYD’s overall sales in the first half of the year, as per figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. The incorporation of Huawei’s technology also underscores the necessity for BYD to augment its competitive edge in smart driving technologies, especially given its reliance on external expertise in upscale models.
BYD has traditionally held a cost advantage in the EV industry, largely due to its comprehensive approach of vertically integrating the production of crucial components like batteries.
Despite the company’s significant investment in developing its own advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) by recruiting thousands of engineers since last year, it continues to depend on external providers for such technologies in its premium models, such as employing Momenta’s ADAS systems in its Denza vehicles.
The alliance with Huawei not only marks an expansion of Huawei’s footprint in the electric vehicle domain as a pivotal ADAS supplier but also indicates the sector’s evolving landscape, evidenced by major automakers like Volkswagen’s Audi opting to utilize Huawei’s ADAS for their EVs in the Chinese market.
