BEIJING (Reuters) – BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology, the electric vehicle arm of Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC), plans to launch its first sedan in partnership with Huawei Technologies this year, as Huawei steers into the EV market.
The first model co-developed with Huawei is scheduled to hit the Chinese market this year, BAIC BluePark said on Monday, in response to an investor question.
The car will be “a high-end intelligent sedan to meet consumers’ demand for premium mobility experiences,” the state-owned automaker added, without giving specifics.
The tie-up signals Huawei’s bigger EV footprint that has seen the Chinese technology giant, the target of U.S. sanctions since 2019, encroaching on the territory of established EV makers.
Aito, an EV marque co-founded by Huawei and carmaker Seres in late 2021, topped Li Auto for the first time in sales in January, helped by the introduction of revamped M7 in September.
Huawei has also built the S7 sedan with Chinese automaker Chery Auto under a new marquee, Luxeed, that it intends to take on Tesla’s Model S.
In November, Huawei revealed plans to move core technologies and resources in its four-year-old smart car operations to a new joint venture owned up to 40% by automaker Changan Auto, which makes Avatr-branded cars with Huawei.
A shortage of a component belonging to a computing unit that powers Huawei’s advanced driver assistance systems has resulted in delayed deliveries of flagship models from some of its partners including Changan, Chery and Seres, Reuters reported earlier this year.
(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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