This is the second time Nio has made adjustments to its smart driving team to accelerate the use of end-to-end technology to remake smart driving features.
Nio (NYSE: NIO) has reportedly made another adjustment to its smart driving team to ramp up its bet on end-to-end technology, after several of its local peers are already using the technology in ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System).
The electric vehicle (EV) maker is close to completing a personnel reshuffle in several key positions across the smart driving delivery team, end-to-end technology team, according to a report in local media outlet LatePost today.
This is the second time this year that Nio has reorganized its smart driving team to emphasize the use of end-to-end technology, with the last change coming in June.
The latest restructuring is due to Nio's smart driving program not delivering as well as expected and slower progress on end-to-end programs, LatePost said, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Nio's smart driving division has more than a dozen sub-divisions, and in the latest reshuffle, Ren Shaoqing, vice president of smart driving research and development, will replace Peng Chao and directly manage the large model division, according to the report.
The heads of the company's deployment architecture and solutions department and time and space information department have also seen changes, according to LatePost.
When asked by LatePost, Nio said the adjustments are to ensure better delivery of advanced features to users and to meet the needs of a multi-platform, multi-functional business.
At the same time, this is a proactive adjustment in response to rapid changes in technology and products, Nio said.
Nio started developing smart driving features on its own in 2016, ahead of the vast majority of new local car-making forces, LatePost's report noted, adding that the company mass-produced highway-ready NOA (Navigate on Autopilot) features in October 2020, making it the first local carmaker to reach that achievement.
Late last year, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) launched the FSD V12 version in North America, which reinvented the smart driving architecture with end-to-end technology. A number of new Chinese car makers and smart driving solution suppliers follow suit.
To date, Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI), Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV), and smart driving solution providers including Huawei, Momenta, and DeepRoute have pushed end-to-end solutions to users, the report noted.
Nio still hasn't pushed an end-to-end smart driving solution to users, instead launching an AEB (automatic emergency braking) feature based on end-to-end algorithms in July.
The company's latest personal change, which can be seen as a continuation of the tweak from six months ago, is centered on identifying weaknesses in Nio's end-to-end technology development and making the division of responsibilities clearer, LatePost quoted an industry source as saying.
In a way, this also represents a reflection and revision of Nio's smart driving technology development over the past year, the source said.
Another local media outlet, 36kr, also reported on the change, saying that the company's Nio World Model smart driving program is scheduled to launch as early as the first quarter of next year.
Nio announced the Nio World Model at its Nio IN 2024 event on July 27, saying it was the first smart driving world model.
It also announced NAD Arch 2.0 at the time and said it is an end-to-end architecture that introduces the World Model and can rely on raw sensor data to generate driving decisions.
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