Volkswagen is in discussions with Huawei about acquiring the latter's self-driving team and plans to announce further information by the end of March, local media said.
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Volkswagen is in discussions with Huawei's automotive division about acquiring the project team of the latter's autonomous driving unit, with further information planned to be announced by the end of March, local media Cailian reported today.
The brief report did not provide more content. But according to Jiemian's report, the two sides will form a joint venture, with Volkswagen funding and controlling the company, and Huawei providing the technology to become a tier1 supplier.
"This is like Huawei selling its autonomous driving business to Volkswagen for a price that could be around RMB 10 billion," Jiemian said, citing people familiar with the matter.
German magazine Manager reported last week that Volkswagen is in talks with Huawei to buy the latter's autonomous driving unit for billions of euros.
Volkswagen executives have been negotiating for months on the deal, which also involves technology systems that Volkswagen doesn't specialize in, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Later, China Star Market cited industry sources as saying Huawei's self-driving business was in talks with other companies for a joint venture.
In late October last year, tech media outlet 36kr cited people familiar with the matter as saying that Huawei planned to form a joint venture with Volkswagen to develop self-driving technology.
Huawei will provide a number of senior technical talents to support the joint venture, with Su Jing, a former self-driving business line executive and head of the intelligent driving product department, joining, according to the report.
However, Huawei later said that the report was untrue.
In January, Volkswagen China CEO Stephan Wöllenstein said that the German automaker and Huawei were indeed in discussions, but there was no confirmable news, including the formation of a joint venture between the two companies.
Volkswagen reportedly plans to buy Huawei's self-driving unit
