On April 7, a blockbuster news shook the automotive industry and the technology community: GAC Aion, a new energy vehicle brand under GAC Group, and Didi Chuxing, the world's leading mobility platform, announced that Guangzhou Andi Technology Co., Ltd., a joint venture between the two parties, was officially approved for business licenses. This cooperation is not only a symbol of the alliance between the two giants, but also a powerful exploration of the future of intelligent mobility.
The establishment of Guangzhou Andi Technology Co., Ltd. marks that the two parties will jointly invest 420 million yuan to jointly enter the field of Robotaxi (driverless taxi), and are committed to building a closed-loop commercialization of L4 autonomous driving. The backdrop to this collaboration is the transformation of the intelligent, electrified automotive industry and the booming shared mobility market.
The joint venture is headquartered in Huangpu District, Guangzhou, with GAC Aion and Didi Autonomous Driving each holding 50% of the shares. The company's management is made up of industry heavyweights, with Zhang Xiong, deputy general manager of GAC Aion, as chairman, and Meng Xing, chief operating officer of Didi Autonomous Driving, as general manager. Such a high-level configuration has undoubtedly injected strong confidence and impetus into the future development of the joint venture.
Plans for the first model have already surfaced, and mass production is expected in 2025. This model will be built on GAC Aion's AEP3.0 high-end pure electric exclusive platform, integrating Xingling's high-end electronic and electrical architecture and multi-fusion perception autonomous driving mass production technology. GAC Aion's advantages in intelligent connected vehicles (ICVs) and manufacturing will help reduce hardware costs and ensure production quality.
The technical strength of Didi's autonomous driving should not be underestimated. The new model will be equipped with Didi's autonomous driving L4 urban generalization engine and software and hardware technology solutions, leveraging Didi's rich experience in algorithms and software and hardware systems. After mass production, the model will be fully adapted to Didi's unmanned operation and maintenance platform Huijugang, and plans to produce 100,000 units during its life cycle, which will be connected to Didi Chuxing's network in the form of hybrid dispatch to improve profitability.
Meng Xing said that unmanned driving technology is leading the transformation of the automobile transportation industry. Didi Autonomous Driving has been committed to the research and development of leading L4 autonomous driving technology solutions, relying on the automated intelligent operation system Huiju Port to ensure the safe and efficient operation of vehicles. The approval of the joint venture and the positive progress of the first production vehicle mark a new stage in the commercialization of the autonomous driving industry.
For GAC Aion, this cooperation means that it has become the first car company to enter the practical operation stage of L4 autonomous driving. It has built the world's first L4 business ecological closed-loop of "technology + intelligent manufacturing + operation", and has taken the lead in proposing specific mass production plans when other car companies are still exploring L4. GAC Aion has rapidly accumulated advantages in Robotaxi, the most complex and large-scale application scenario of autonomous driving technology, and has become a "leader" in the development of the industry.
In addition to the cooperation with Didi autonomous driving, GAC Aion has also been actively promoting the popularization of L2+ intelligent driving technology since the beginning of this year. The launch of the Y Plus intelligent driving version, the "official drop" of the S Max Xinghan and V Plus, and the breakthrough in L3 technology all show GAC Aion's deep strength in the field of intelligent driving.
In terms of L3 technology, GAC Aion is one of the first car companies in China to obtain a road test license, and its models have achieved excellent results in a number of recent intelligent driving tests. In terms of L4, in addition to the cooperation with Didi, GAC Aion also announced with NVIDIA that it will join forces to mass-produce L4 models, which undoubtedly accelerated the pace of innovation in the industry.
Zhang Xiong, deputy general manager of GAC Aion, said that with the promotion of industry trends and national policies, the new energy vehicle industry is about to enter the era of high-end intelligent driving. GAC Aion has been actively promoting the innovation and application of autonomous driving technology, and the license of the joint venture with Didi Autonomous Driving has been approved, which not only takes the lead in exploring the L4 commercialization route in the industry, but also further reduces the cost of related technologies through large-scale mass production of L4, paving the way for the promotion and application of high-end intelligent driving technology.
Overall, the approval of the joint venture between GAC Aion and Didi Autonomous Driving is not only a milestone in the cooperation between the two giants, but also an important progress in the field of intelligent mobility in China and even the world. With the establishment of the joint venture and the launch of the first model, we have reason to believe that the future of smart mobility will be safer, more convenient and more efficient.