Chinese EV makers continue to enhance smart vehicle technology. As an emerging automotive tier-1 supplier, Huawei's car business profited in the first quarter of 2024. However, concerns about Huawei threatening automakers' authority are also growing.
Several China-based EV makers have used Nvidia's car chips in their vehicles. As Chinese automakers' reliance on US companies increases, the question of how US-China tension will affect the dynamic is drawing attention.
BYD founder and chairman Wang Chuanfu said EVs are still gaining momentum in replacing internal combustion engine vehicles. He also announced that BYD will invest CNY100 billion (US$13 billion) in smart vehicle technology development.
The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has approved nine local carmakers to conduct public trials on Level 3 and Level 4 vehicle autonomy. Tesla and other foreign automakers developing the technology did not make the list for a while.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said at a pre-Computex speech that Mercedes-Benz will adopt Nivida's Drive AV system in 2025 and other major carmakers will follow suit in 2026. While maintaining a leading self-driving chips and solutions provider, Nvidia is expected to face tough challenges in the coming years.
Software has become the core of automotive innovation as the era of Software-Defined Vehicles (SDV) arrives. Dr. Zhang Rixin, CEO of Vector China, said the architecture of automotive software will grow more complex. Moreover, SDVs will break the linear automotive supply chain and turn it into a network.
LG Innotek and Hyundai Mobis have jointly applied for patents for LiDARs used in self-driving cars as LG Group and Hyundai Motor Group expand their collaboration on automotive electronics. LG Innotek plans to begin mass production of solid-state LiDARs in the second half of 2024.
Tesla is said to proceed with a plan to launch its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software in China. The EV company is on track to register the technology and aims to activate the service later this year.
Tesla no longer emphasizes a sales target of 20 million vehicles by the end of this decade as the company accelerates the development of autonomous driving, its 2023 impact report showed.
After Tesla reported weaker-than-expected sales in the first quarter of 2024, CEO Elon Musk has taken several measures to maintain the company's leadership in the EV sector. However, these approaches seem to have achieved limited success and caused an unexpected setback.
Following reports of Apple's withdrawal from the development of self-driving electric vehicles, Samsung Electronics is reportedly discontinuing its preliminary research on software algorithms for autonomous vehicles. The company will shift its focus to research and development in robotics due to uncertain commercialization prospects for self-driving technology.
Hesai Technology Co., a developer of sensor technologies used in self-driving cars, is suing the US Department of Defense for including it on a list of companies accused of aiding China's military.
The US-China trade relationship will likely exacerbate as the US might take "extreme action" on Chinese-made connected cars. The Biden administration is also considering new tariffs on several sectors China dominates, including EVs.
US chipmaker Nvidia Corp. is investing in Wayve Technologies Ltd., joining a US$1.05 billion funding round for the UK startup that wants to get its autonomous-driving technology into cars.
Chinese carmaker Seres, a Huawei partner, came out of the red in the first quarter of 2024 after experiencing losses for five years. The Aito EVs it co-developed with Huawei have gained traction in the market and accounted for 70% of Seres' sales volume.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk paid an unannounced visit to China on April 28. His main goal is reportedly accelerating the rollout of Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software in China. Coincidently, the country said on the same day that vehicles made by Tesla and other carmakers comply with data security requirements.
China has greenlit a US listing by autonomous driving startup Pony.ai, raising the potential for an increase in Chinese tech initial public offerings in New York after a more than two-year hiatus.
Besides launching a new wave of EV price-cut strategies in 2024, Tesla is also undergoing a global mass layoff, highlighting the severe sales challenges Tesla is facing in the Chinese market.
