Author | Janson
Editor | Zhihao
Huawei’s car-making national team has added another friend, and Dongfeng Landmap and Huawei have officially signed a strategic cooperation agreement.
On January 22nd, Huawei, a Lantu brand under Dongfeng Motor Group, signed a strategic cooperation agreement. The two parties will work together to create an excellent intelligent travel experience to meet the needs of modern consumers and promote the high-quality development of the automotive industry. This cooperation will deepen the application of intelligent technology in the automotive field and accelerate its commercialization process.
▲ Lantu Auto & Huawei official publicity cooperation
At the signing ceremony, DONGFENG MOTOR CORPORATION Party Committee Standing Committee and Deputy General Manager You Zheng, CEO Lu Fang of Lantu Automobile, Vice Chairperson and Rotating Chairperson Xu Zhijun of Huawei, and CEO Jin Yuzhi of Huawei Intelligent Vehicle Solutions Business Unit (BU) attended the ceremony.
It is worth noting that Yu Chengdong, chairperson of Automotive BU, who is responsible for Huawei’s smart car business (now Hongmeng Zhixing), did not appear at the signing site.
From the perspective of the two sides’ announcements, the main purpose of this cooperation is to promote the deployment of intelligent technologies, and it is worth noting that when Huawei and Changan jointly announced the establishment of a joint venture company, they also focused on the intelligent aspects of automobiles. It can be seen that the cooperation between Lantu and Huawei may be close to the cooperation model of Changan.
Huawei currently has three different automotive business models internally, one is the parts, the other is the HI model, and the last is the Hongmeng Zhixing model. Yu Chengdong is currently mainly promoting the Hongmeng Zhixing model, frequently serving as the platform of Hongmeng Zhixing, and even participating in product launches. Under the Hongmeng Zhixing model, Huawei will participate in all aspects from design to sales.
Based on this information, the cooperation between Dongfeng Landmap and Huawei should also be an HI model, and even Dongfeng Motor will participate in the joint venture between Huawei and Changan in the future.
First, Huawei Landmap officially joined hands to enhance the competitiveness of smart cars
According to the official news of Huawei Smart Car Solutions, during the signing period, the two sides conducted in-depth discussions on the development trend of intelligent connected vehicles.
▲ Main models of Lantu Automobile
From the perspective of the qualifications of both parties, Lantu Auto has an industry-leading position in vehicle safety and driving handling performance, particularly in terms of vehicle safety and driving performance, leveraging the 55-year experience of the central enterprise Dongfeng Company and the world’s leading new energy vehicle manufacturing technology.
Huawei has a deep accumulation in the field of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and continues to make breakthroughs in intelligent technology. The cooperation between the two parties will enable Lantu Automobile to further improve and iterate in the field of intelligent new energy vehicles.
At the signing ceremony, DONGFENG MOTOR CORPORATION Party Committee Standing Committee and Deputy General Manager You Zheng, CEO Lu Fang of Lantu Automobile, Huawei Vice Chairperson and Rotating Chairperson Xu Zhijun, and Huawei Intelligent Vehicle Solutions Business Unit (BU) CEO Jin Yuzhi and other senior leaders attended to witness this important moment.
At the scene, Lantu Automotive COO Jiang Tao and Huawei Smart Car Solutions BU Vice President Chi Linchun signed the agreement on behalf of both parties.
Second, Lantu Huawei cooperation is implemented, or the HI model is adopted
At present, Huawei has three main models in the automotive field, namely the parts supplier model, the HUAWEI INSIDE (HI) model and the Hongmeng Zhixing model. The layout of the three business models currently formed by Huawei varies according to the depth of participation:
Well, first of all.Parts supplier modelThis means that Huawei, as a core supplier in the era of smart electric vehicles, provides automakers with a range of standardized components, such as lidar, millimeter-wave radar, cameras, motors, and on-board lighting, which are closely related to electrification and intelligence.
Secondly, the solution model, namelyHUAWEI INSIDE (HI)To provide full-stack integrated solutions to car companies, while the car design, manufacturing and sales are still the responsibility of the car companies themselves. This plan is represented by BAIC’s Extreme Fox, and Avita and other brands. Later, Dongfeng Landmap may also adopt this model.
▲ HUAWEI INSIDE MODE
Finally, the Hongmeng Zhixing model involves Huawei’s in-depth participation, from product definition, user research, channel retail to marketing and other aspects. At present, Hongmeng Zhixing’s cooperative products mainly include Wenjie, which cooperates with Salis, and Zhijie, which cooperates with Chery. At the same time, Huawei’s Hongmeng Zhixing project with BAIC and JAC is also on the way.
In short, the first two models are mainly for enterprise customers (Huawei to B), while Hongmeng Zhixing is directly for consumers (Huawei to C).
In the past few years, with the popularity of the Wenjie brand, the outside world once believed that Huawei’s main energy in automobiles had shifted to the Hongmeng Zhixing model, and this model was officially upgraded to Hongmeng Zhixing this year, while the earliest proposed HI model always seemed tepid.
But at the beginning of this year, this model also underwent a new change.
Just last week, at the Changan Global Partner Conference, Zhu Huarong, chairperson of Changan Automobile, took the initiative to stand on the HI model.
Zhu Huarong pointed out that although the Hongmeng Zhixing model still has room for discussion in terms of following industrial laws, meeting policy requirements, and protecting user interests, the HUAWEI INSIDE (HI) model is undoubtedly fully consistent with these key factors.
The HI model has promoted the strong alliance between Changan and Huawei, achieving complementary advantages, fully stimulating the core competitiveness of both parties, and forming a close community of interests. This cooperation model not only conforms to the general trend of industrial development, but also brings higher-quality products and services to users, ensuring the fundamental interests of all parties.
At the same time, it is understood that Huawei and BAIC will also launch a HI model model again this year.
And Huawei’s cooperation with Lantu this time seems to have also moved towards the HI model.
From this perspective, the Huawei HI model is not going away, but will continue to be a very important automotive business model for Huawei.
However, slightly different from the previous HI, Huawei has announced that it will establish a joint venture with Changan Automobile to spin off the automotive intelligence-related business and operate it separately. Changan will become one of the shareholders, which also means that HI model companies may participate in the new joint venture. Lantu is also expected to become one of the shareholders of Huawei’s Changan joint venture in the future.
This cooperation reflects the complementarity of technologies and resources between the two parties, and is also the result of joint research and innovation between the two companies in the field of smart vehicles. Through this cooperation, Huawei and Dongfeng Motor are expected to jointly promote the advancement of smart vehicle technology and bring new product options to the market.
▲ Hongmeng Zhixing Model
On the other hand, Hongmeng Zhixing is still making great progress. After the launch of the new M7, it quickly set off a sales whirlwind. This year, it has surpassed its ideal for two consecutive weeks and become the best new car company in a single week.
After the launch of the M9, orders also exceeded 54,000 units.
At the same time, the Smart S7 jointly launched by Huawei and Chery has also begun mass production and delivery.
In addition, according to media reports, Huawei, BAIC and JAC will cooperate through Hongmeng Zhixing, and will also launch the "X world" brand. It is expected that new products will also be available to consumers this year.
Overall, Huawei’s automotive business is gradually becoming clearer, and many domestic auto brands are expected to usher in a comprehensive upgrade through cooperation with Huawei.
Conclusion: Huawei Landmap cooperation can be expected in the future
At the beginning of this year, Lantu Automobile announced last year’s sales results, reaching 50,552 units. It achieved its target of 50,000 units set in 2023. Compared with the previous year, Lantu Automobile achieved a significant increase in annual sales of 160%.
Today’s announcement of this strategic cooperation heralds the in-depth cooperation between Dongfeng Lantu and Huawei in the field of smart car technology, which will further promote the development of the smart car industry and bring consumers a smarter and safer travel experience.
In addition, this cooperation is also expected to play a positive role in Lantu’s influence and sales growth.