Chinese Smartphone Maker Huawei Tries To Tap EV Wave With New Alliances

Author: Anusuya Lahiri | April 03, 2023 08:07am

China's Huawei Technologies is partnering with more legacy automakers to produce Aito-branded electric cars to tap the Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) driven EV wave.
Huawei will collaborate with Chery Automobile, BAIC Motor Corp (OTC:BCCMY) (OTC:BMCLF), and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group to manufacture Aito-branded vehicles, Reuters reports citing Richard Yu, Huawei's Smart Car CEO, said at the China EV 100 forum in Beijing.
Yu added that Huawei already partnered with Seres Group to make Aito cars and plans a series of models, including SUVs, sedans, and multipurpose vehicles under the Aito brand.
Seres sold 80,000 Aito cars featuring Huawei's HarmonyOS system - developed by the company as an alternative to Android - in 2022, up more than six times from a year ago.
U.S. hit Huawei with export controls citing security risks blocking it from buying key components, from using Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google's Android operating system and affecting its partnerships with global automakers.
Tension with the U.S. saw Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou detained for three years in Canada over alleged efforts to cover up attempts by Huawei-linked companies to sell equipment to Iran in breach of U.S. sanctions.
In March, Huawei accomplished notable success in electronic design automation (EDA) tools for chips produced at and above 14-nm technology.
Reportedly, Huawei has developed 78 tools related to chip hardware and software.
Huawei, a major supplier of equipment used in 5G telecommunications networks, succumbed to U.S. export controls in 2019.