Recently, there is definite news that Toyota, Honda, Nissan, one of the three major Japanese brands, will cooperate with Huawei, and its models will be equipped with Huawei's intelligent driving technology, and the industry speculates that it is likely to be Toyota, because the ninth-generation Camry has used Huawei's intelligent cockpit.
It is difficult to guess what kind of chemical reaction will be brought about by the Japanese brand and Huawei's intelligent driving technology, but there is no doubt that the Japanese new energy models will make up for the biggest shortcomings. Because these technologies of battery, motor and electronic control are the solutions of the suppliers who procure, as long as the gap between the suppliers will not be too large, the joint venture new energy models are considered to be backward, mainly in terms of intelligence, including intelligent cockpit and intelligent driving.
Think about it, when Toyota's pure electric models use CATL's batteries, Huawei's motors, BYD's electronic controls and Huawei's intelligent driving systems, what kind of product power will it be. If a relatively competitive price is set, then Toyota's pure electric model may really become a hot-selling model.
Unlike Japanese brands that plan to use Huawei's intelligent driving technology, some domestic manufacturers are still wary and suspicious of Huawei, and the most classic is SAIC's soul theory.
On June 30, 2021, at SAIC's shareholders' meeting, an investor asked whether SAIC would consider cooperating with third-party companies such as Huawei in autonomous driving. In this regard, Chen Hong, chairman of SAIC, said that it is unacceptable for SAIC to cooperate with a third-party company like Huawei for autonomous driving, so that it will become the soul and SAIC will become the body. At the same time, Chen Hong stressed that SAIC will not take the overall solution provided by anyone, at most it is a cooperative solution.
Shortly thereafter, however, SAIC announced that it had reached an agreement with Mobileye to develop a joint development plan for intelligent driving technology. In 2023, SAIC will launch an intelligent driving vehicle equipped with the first-generation intelligent driving central controller.
In addition, Xiao Yong, deputy general manager of GAC Aion, also bombarded Huawei in public. He said, "Maybe it's not just the battery, Huawei is also a big-name supplier, its price is relatively high, and it is not controlled, we want to cooperate with Huawei, we will find that there is basically no bargaining power." However, in addition to complaining, Xiao Yong also admitted that Huawei's things are "very good to be honest", but GAC has no way to accept it.
This kind of remark that cooperating with Huawei is a loss of soul has become a joke, and it has been ridiculed by many industry insiders to this day, mainly because the sales of Wenjie are now rising. Huawei's intelligent driving technology has shown a clear leading edge and is definitely the first echelon of intelligent driving solutions in the industry.
In fact, from the perspective of that time, SAIC's sales at that time were not low, and domestic shipments were stable at more than three million, and it is understandable to say such remarks, but in 2024, intelligent driving has become the main arena for high-end new energy vehicle competition.
Now that even Japanese brands are about to adopt Huawei's intelligent driving solution, domestic car companies must have a sense of crisis, and when the competitive Japanese pure electric models equipped with Huawei's intelligent driving solution come out, domestic car companies are still holding their own identities and are unwilling to put down their bodies, so how to compete with them?