Huawei said on April 12 that it will cooperate with BAIC Arcfox, Changan Automobile, and GAC to create three automotive sub-brands, with new models to be launched in the fourth quarter.
Huawei held a global analyst conference where Xu Zhijun, the company's vice chairman and rotating chairman, explained Huawei's overall strategy.
The automotive industry does not need Huawei as a car brand, but Huawei's technology, Xu said.
Huawei will insist on not building cars, a decision that has been discussed for years, Xu said, adding that the company is positioning itself in the automotive sector as a supplier of incremental components for smart networked vehicles.
Huawei will increase its investment in smart car software to realize the intelligence, automation, and electrification of the automotive industry, Xu said.
Huawei started working on electric vehicles in 2012, and as the industry continued to evolve, it came up with smart cars and autonomous driving, Xu said.
Huawei's technology is being used more and more extensively in automobiles, and the value of autonomous driving in cars is becoming more and more visible, according to Xu.
From 2012 to now, Xu held discussions with automotive companies in China, Japan, and Germany and found that they needed Huawei's ICT capabilities to help them build good cars.
Huawei designed the "Huawei Inside" sub-brand, and only cars that use Huawei's self-driving technology will have this logo, according to Xu.
Huawei wants to cooperate with car companies as an ICT company to create more value and use Huawei Inside to do the car sub-brand.
