(JW Insights) Apr 4 -- Huawei's CEO of intelligent auto business Richard Yu confirmed that AITO - a brand of Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) maker Seres Group - remains a key partner of Huawei despite the removal of 'Huawei' from co-developed vehicles, reported Yicai Global on April 3.

Yu emphasized recently that the removal of the brand tag is to avoid confusion about Huawei's role in the automotive industry as a maker of solutions not hardware. There is no change in AITO's essence as a brand in Huawei's ecosystem. Besides Seres, Chery Automobile, BAIC Group, and JAC Group will also soon launch models equipped with a full set of Huawei solutions, he added.

Huawei does not manufacture cars but helps auto vendors make good vehicles, giving car companies like Seres opportunities to grow. Huawei and Seres have teamed up on three models, namely AITO M5, AITO M7, and the all-electric version of AITO M5. These vehicles have gained more than 100,000 buyers, which proves their initial recognition by the market and users.

Meanwhile, Yu mentioned that there will be no conflict of interest despite the launch of different models of several brands with Huawei while using the smart selection method.

Some of the co-developed models are sport-utility vehicles while others are sedans and multipurpose vehicles.

Huawei has three ways to engage in the auto business. Apart from the above mentioned smart selection way, Huawei can also work as a part supplier or intelligent system provider through the 'Huawei Inside' mode, said the Yicai Global report.

When entering the automotive sector, Huawei was first thinking about becoming a car parts supplier similar to Bosch and Continental, but in fact, what Huawei offers is not brakes, steering systems, or other standard parts, but software, algorithms, cloud services, and chips, which are highly customized and difficult to be sold at a large scale like standardized components, Yu said.

Hence, cooperation needed to be deeper with manufacturers to integrate and iterate smart driving solutions continuously and that is why Huawei launched its 'Huawei Inside' partnership model, Yu added.

Yu noted that widening collaboration abroad is unlikely as Huawei mostly cooperates with domestic vendors due to sanctions. The company has been on the Entity List of the government of the United States since May 2019, according to the Yicai Global report.

(Chen HX)