At Huawei's winter new product launch on December 23, 2021, Huawei announced the official launch of AITO's first model, the AITO Q&A M5. Just a week before the launch of the M5, another company announced the construction of cars. Although this company is currently little known, its founder is Li Yinan, who is a "genius" on his head and the aura of "Huawei's youngest vice president" in the past, and when he left Huawei to start his own business that year, Li Yinan once annoyed Ren Zhengfei.
On December 15, 2021, Niu Innovative Energy Technology Co., Ltd. released the English brand "NIUTRON" and the Chinese brand "Self-Touring Home", and announced that the first product, Self-Traveling NV, will be listed and pre-ordered in the first half of 2022, and the delivery will start in September of the same year. At the same time, Ziyoujia Automobile announced the completion of a $500 million A round of financing, and received investment from WELL-known institutions such as IDG and COATUE.
According to public information, Niu Chuangxin Energy is a company focusing on the field of intelligent high-end new energy vehicles. The company's car manufacturing project was established in November 2018, the brand headquarters is located in Beijing, Shanghai set up a research and development center, R & D and intelligent manufacturing base is located in Changzhou. According to the information on the official website of Ziyoujia, the brand models are parallel to the two technical routes of extended range and pure electricity.
Niu Chuangxin Energy is undoubtedly a young company, so young that it is almost impossible to find its brand's official website in a number of mainstream search engines. But the name of its founder has long been widely known, which is mainly due to Li Yinan's personal professional experience.
At the age of 15, Li Yinan was admitted to the junior class of the former Huazhong University of Science and Technology (now Huazhong University of Science and Technology) and became a "young genius" in the eyes of the outside world.
In 1993, after graduating from graduate school at the age of 23, Li Yinan officially joined Huawei. Since then, Li Yinan has been promoted repeatedly like "open and hanging", and at the age of 25, he was promoted to vice president, chief engineer, and president of the central research department of Huawei. The rumor that "Li Yinan may become Ren Zhengfei's successor" was also not far away at the time.
"Ren Zhengfei Biography" wrote, "Li Yinan's experience in Huawei is relatively glamorous, because the road is too smooth, the higher his status, and the greater the potential contradiction between him and Ren Zhengfei." ”
In 2000, Li Yinan left Huawei in a high profile and founded Harbor Network Co., Ltd., and competed with Huawei in business in subsequent development. Ren Zhengfei once said, "Huawei was filled with a vicious atmosphere at that time, shouting that the early days of capital were dirty slogans, and in droves of risk speculation, they jointly stole the company's technical secrets and trade secrets. ”。
At that time, the fierceness of the competition between the two sides had been completely opened, and Huawei had set up a "Hong Kong Office" within huawei, according to the "Biography of Ren Zhengfei", the main responsibility of this "Port Office" was to participate in the bidding activities with the Harbor Network, as long as there was a bid with the participation of the Harbor, no matter how low the price must be successful.
In 2006, Harbor Network was eventually acquired by Huawei, and Li Yinan returned to Huawei to continue to serve as vice president.
Two years later, Li Yinan joined Baidu as CTO. "There are no more than three people in the world who can be Baidu's CTO, and Li Yinan is one of them." To Li Yinan, Robin Li also did not hesitate to praise himself.
Li Yinan at the Baidu Innovation Technology Conference in August 2009
However, Li Yinan's life in Baidu was not long, and Li Yinan left Baidu more than a year later. In the years since, he has joined China Mobile as CEO of 12580 as a partner at Sands Jiang Ventures.
In 2015, Li Yinan once again set up Niudian Technology, which became a dark horse in the market under the pressure of a number of well-known electric vehicle bicycle brands such as Aima and Yadi.
In June of the same year, shortly after the launch of a new product, Li Yinan was criminally detained by the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau, who was arrested by the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau on July 10, 2015, on suspicion of insider trading, and was eventually sentenced to two years and six months in prison and fined 7.5 million yuan. Since then, Li Yinan has disappeared from the public's vision, and he has not been seen even when the company landed on the NASDAQ.
This return, the project of starting a business again is the hot field at present. Niu Chuangxin Energy announced that the first product will be available and will be available for pre-order in the first half of 2022, with deliveries starting in September of the same year. This means that Li Yinan, who officially announced the construction of the car at the latest in 2021, may land on the market before xiaomi and other star cross-border brands. Huawei's exploration of new energy vehicles is also in full swing, in the new field, Li Yinan, who has a deep relationship with Huawei, does not know whether he will develop a new story with Huawei.