Introduction: The Future of Huawei’s Automotive Plans Remains Unclear
Despite being constantly rumored to be entering the automotive industry, Huawei has been denying, denying, and denying, while also being falsely associated with certain names. However, at an “insignificant” launch event earlier this month, the real Huawei car was finally revealed.
On December 2, Dongfeng’s Sailing “AITO,” a high-end intelligent car brand, was released in Chongqing, and this can be deemed as the real Huawei car.
Previously, Huawei had cooperated with Beiqi Jingkang Siles (Arcfox), Changan Ovitar, and Saic Roewe to varying degrees, and these brands were also all labeled as “Huawei cars”, but industry insiders understand that they are only “Huawei inside” and not true Huawei cars.
What sets the AITO brand apart is that, besides production by Sailing, Huawei is responsible for almost everything else including product planning, marketing, and retail. This means AITO has a more special identity.
Sailing’s (rotating) president, Xu Lin, said, “Our Huawei industrial design team, user experience team, and others worked together to build this car (the first car under the AITO brand), which not only uses Huawei’s intelligent electric system but also is the first product to be equipped with the latest HarmonyOS intelligent cockpit solution.”
This shows that the essence of the AITO brand has already been carved into Huawei’s automotive business. AITO, to Huawei’s automotive business, is like Honor to Huawei’s smartphones.
The reason why Huawei’s car entry was so low-profile may be due to the profound lesson that they learned from the US sanctions on Huawei’s smartphones: technology suppliers who have core bottom-level technologies should not directly participate in C-end competition, nor should they be too high-profile.
After the release of AITO cars, the media’s attention is mostly focused on the positioning of intelligent cars rather than Huawei’s own car-made process. This is directly related to the official promotional approach, where Huawei does not want to directly express that AITO is Huawei’s car.
But we all understand that, after the Huawei smartphone event, Huawei’s automotive business might never actually enter the market. Therefore, although AITO doesn’t go by the name of Huawei’s car, it has been identified as such.
With the establishment of the AITO brand, Huawei’s car-making has officially launched. This marks the arrival of another carmaking powerhouse in the intelligent-electric-car market.
Looking forward, the biggest “identity obstacle” facing Huawei’s automotive business has been cleared. The next step is to consider how to actually make cars.
Currently, fuel cars are on the decline and intelligent electric cars are booming. For Huawei, it would not be wise to enter the fuel vehicle market at this time. It is only natural for them to aim for the emerging intelligent electric car market.# What Is an Intelligent Car and What Is A Smart Car?
According to Eric Xu, “an intelligent car is the stacking of functions, with humans learning and adapting to machines, while a smart car starts with human needs, with machines learning and adapting to humans. Therefore, the key to a smart car is autonomous learning and thinking.”
In short, a smart car is an upgraded version of an intelligent car, with the ability of self-learning. However, it remains to be seen whether there is a need for a new smart car when the idea of the Internet of Things (IoT) in intelligent cars is not new.
As for the definition of a smart car, whether it is just a word game played by Huawei or actually exists, it remains to be judged through actual experience. The AITO brand’s first car will be launched on the 23rd of this month, allowing consumers the opportunity to explore its features.
Huawei appears to have ambitious goals for the AITO brand in the future. Xu said, “here, we have set a small goal for ourselves: to enter the first-tier within five years and become a global leading brand in new energy vehicles!”
To achieve this goal, in addition to the mid-sized SUV that will be released soon, AITO will launch a mid-to-large luxury SUV next year, with new car models being prepared for 2023.
Additionally, in terms of AITO’s sales channels, Huawei and Cyrus will jointly establish a strong marketing service network, with thousands of flagship stores, experience centers, and user centers to meet consumer demand for AITO brand products and services.
It is essential to look at AITO brand’s sales goals dialectically. One cannot underestimate Huawei’s strength, nor can we ignore its ALL IN determination in entering the automobile industry. Based on Huawei’s mobile phone business’s success, we do not have sufficient reasons to be pessimistic about the AITO brand.
However, whether AITO will be able to enter the first-tier in five years remains a question. Is five years too long, or too short? Does it have the potential to enter the first tier? What is the specific definition of a first-tier brand?
As for the future, Huawei’s thinking remains unclear about its automobile business.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.