SAIC Motor and Huawei in Close Contact: A Potential New Partnership Sparks Market Speculation

SAIC Motor and Huawei in Close Contact: A Potential New Partnership Sparks Market SpeculationRecent reports of close contact between SAIC Motor and Huawei have drawn significant industry attention, with rumors suggesting SAIC Motor may strategically invest in Huawei's subsidiary, IMPT (presumably referring to a company related to intelligent driving). This news quickly became an industry hot topic, sparking heated market discussion

SAIC Motor and Huawei in Close Contact: A Potential New Partnership Sparks Market Speculation

Recent reports of close contact between SAIC Motor and Huawei have drawn significant industry attention, with rumors suggesting SAIC Motor may strategically invest in Huawei's subsidiary, IMPT (presumably referring to a company related to intelligent driving). This news quickly became an industry hot topic, sparking heated market discussion. The underlying reasons are complex, involving SAIC Motor's strategic adjustments in the intelligent driving field and the potential for a new collaboration model with Huawei.

The source of the news points to SAIC Motor's President, Jia Jianxu, leading a team in in-depth discussions with Huawei to explore potential partnerships. This contrasts sharply with SAIC Motor's 2021 public statement that it would not rely on a single supplier for complete solutions, suggesting a potential shift in its intelligent driving technology development strategy.

Although SAIC Motor officially responded with "no knowledge of the matter," this statement hasn't entirely quelled market speculation. As a leading domestic automotive company, any strategic adjustment by SAIC Motor will have a profound impact on the industry. The "rumored" partnership with Huawei is particularly noteworthy, given Huawei's strong capabilities in intelligent driving and its extensive experience collaborating with numerous automakers, making it a preferred partner for many manufacturers.

SAIC Motor's Deep Cultivation of the Intelligent Driving Sector and Diversified Technology System

Intelligent driving technology has become a crucial factor in automotive industry competition, with high-level intelligent driving representing a coveted "technological high ground" for automakers. "End-to-end" solutions and in-vehicle large models are becoming industry focal points. As an industry leader, SAIC Motor needs to gain market recognition and enhance its competitiveness in the intelligent driving field.

SAIC Motor has currently established a relatively complete technology system in the intelligent driving field, with multiple teams responsible for R&D and application of different levels of autonomous driving technology:

• Zero-Bound and SAIC Motor's Innovation Research and Development Institute are primarily responsible for the R&D of L2/L2+ level autonomous driving technology, mainly applied to self-owned brands such as Fei Fan and Roewe.

• IM Motors collaborates with external suppliers to develop and apply L2++/L3 level autonomous driving technology.

• SAIC Motor-controlled Youdao ZhiTu focuses on the R&D of unmanned commercial vehicle transportation.

• SAIC Motor's subsidiary, SAIC AI LAB (presumably referring to a company focusing on AI), concentrates on the Robotaxi sector.

It's worth noting that IM Motors, responsible for SAIC Motor's "new four modernizations" transformation, employs the IMAD 3.0 intelligent driving solution. This solution, jointly developed by IM Motors and Momenta, achieves an end-to-end intuitive intelligent driving experience. SAIC Motor has explicitly stated on its interactive platform that it has autonomous control over the IMAD 3.0 system, highlighting its emphasis on technological independence.

Huawei's Three Collaboration Models with Automakers and Their Impact

Huawei has developed relatively mature models for collaborating with automakers, mainly including three: supplier model, HI model, and Smart Selection model (HarmonyOS driving model).

• Supplier Model: Huawei provides components or technical support to automakers.

• HI Model (Huawei Inside): Huawei deeply participates in vehicle R&D, providing more in-depth technical support.

• Smart Selection Model (HarmonyOS Driving Model): Huawei collaborates with automakers to create smart cars based on the HarmonyOS ecosystem, with Huawei participating in deeper levels of collaboration.

HarmonyOS has already collaborated with multiple automakers, achieving significant market results with cumulative deliveries reaching 500,000 units in 32 months. However, deep collaboration with Huawei also presents potential risks. Some argue that automakers may be somewhat restricted by Huawei's technology system and collaboration model, thus affecting their autonomy.

SAIC Motor's collaboration with Momenta offers a different model for reference. As Momenta's largest external shareholder, SAIC Motor has more autonomy and control in the partnership, contrasting with the potential limitations of collaborating with Huawei.

The Possibility of Investing in IMPT and Market Reaction

It's noteworthy that Huawei recently registered a batch of new trademarks, such as "Xianjie," "Tianjie," and "Junjie," sparking market speculation about a potential "fifth realm" offering. The "rumored" partnership between SAIC Motor and Huawei further fueled this speculation, with some suggesting SAIC Motor might strategically invest in Huawei's subsidiary, IMPT.

Currently, Seres and Avatr have invested in IMPT, companies collaborating with Huawei under the Smart Selection and HI models respectively. Chery also confirmed its investment in IMPT in mid-November. Huawei's Executive Director, Yu Chengdong, stated that companies investing in IMPT can quickly acquire Huawei's core technologies in intelligent driving and intelligent cockpits, even obtaining underlying code and jointly advancing R&D, enjoying priority access and usage rights to Huawei's pre-research technologies.

Influenced by this news, SAIC Motor's stock price has experienced multiple daily limit increases, indicating the market's positive expectation for a potential partnership between SAIC Motor and Huawei. However, whether the collaboration between SAIC Motor and Huawei will truly materialize and achieve success remains to be seen. Industry experts will closely monitor the subsequent developments of both parties and the impact of this collaboration model on the entire automotive industry.

In summary, the potential partnership between SAIC Motor and Huawei not only concerns the strategic development of both companies but will also have a profound impact on the intelligent transformation of the entire automotive industry. The future collaboration model and SAIC Motor's strategic choices in the intelligent driving field will be the focus of market attention. This event once again confirms the core position of intelligent driving technology in automotive industry competition and the complex situation faced by automakers in terms of technological autonomy and choice of collaboration model.