In the domestic new energy vehicle market in 2023, who can attract the most attention? Although Huawei does not make cars, it relies on the Hongmeng intelligent cockpit 4 in hand0、ads2.A series of core components such as the 0-end intelligent driving assistance system, the DRIVE ONE power platform, the Turing intelligent chassis, and the AR-HUD are among the new energy vehicle companies.
Changan is one of Huawei's most famous and powerful partners, but recently, Zhu Huarong, chairman of Changan Automobile, publicly criticized and ridiculed Huawei's smart car model. So what happened between Chang'an and Huawei? Can the AVATR brand go on according to Zhu Huarong's vision?
Why is Huawei so entangled?
Among several "national prefix" car manufacturers, Changan Automobile has the most in-depth cooperation with Huawei. It cooperated with Huawei and CATL to create the AVATR brand, and at the end of November last year, Huawei's car BU became independent, and Changan was also the first to announce its joining. However, it should be noted that there are also restrictions on the cooperation between Changan and Huawei, that is, Changan must take the lead.
At this point, Zhu Huarong, chairman of Chang'an, said very clearly that Chang'an wants to ensure its "soul", and it is impossible for it to hand over the leading power to Huawei and become Huawei's "smart car" like Cialis, which is also the main reason why he bombarded Huawei's smart car model.
AVATR Automobile, in fact, is an upgraded version of Huawei's HI model, which uses a large number of core components from Huawei, but the design, production, marketing, and delivery of vehicles are all dominated by Changan Automobile. Under the smart car model adopted by Wenjie, Huawei controls almost all core links except production. The main difference between the two is that the Hi model is dominated by partners, while the smart car model is dominated by Huawei.
There is no doubt that Chang'an will not let Huawei dominate. This is first because of its status as a state-owned enterprise, and secondly because of its huge size. Changan Automobile has invested a lot of effort in the field of new energy and has its own core technology, although it is still losing money, but the previous investment cannot be stopped because of Huawei.
The most confusing thing about Huawei is that it does have an advantage in the field of technology. In 2023, the popularization of intelligent cockpits and high-end intelligent driving assistance is actually brought up by Huawei. However, manufacturers with technology are generally relatively strong, or if they are not strong, it is difficult for these core technologies to exert their real value.
What level is AVATR at now?
At present, Changan Automobile has three main new energy sectors. One is the dark blue brand incubated by Chang'an itself, the other is the Qiyuan brand that focuses on the low-end market, and the other is the AVATR brand created in cooperation with CATL and Huawei.
Deep Blue Automobile's performance is still good, with a cumulative sales volume of 13 in 202360,000 units, and its two main models, Deep Blue SL03 and Deep Blue S7, have entered the mainstream market.
The Kaizen brand started late, with a cumulative annual sales volume of 40,000 units; The AVATR brand is also not bad, with a total of 2 deliveries throughout the year760,000 units, of which 6,106 were delivered in December.
Such a report card of AVATR was interpreted by Changan Automobile as thriving, although the total sales were far below expectations and did not meet the annual sales target, but the performance in December proved that it has entered the mainstream. In the view of Zhu Huarong of Changan Automobile, even if it is the HI model, it can achieve good results, so why give the leading power to Huawei?
It is worth mentioning that the positioning of AVATR is relatively high. The AVATR 11 starts at a whopping $29080,000 yuan, the starting price of AVATR 12 is as high as 30080,000 yuan, to achieve such results, is enough to prove Chang'an's own strong strength. This may have given Zhu Huarong a lot of confidence. In his opinion, Changan has the ability to do a good job in new energy vehicles.
Is it okay to do without Huawei?
After Zhu Huarong bombarded Huawei's smart car model, the cooperation between Changan and Huawei can be basically determined, that is, Huawei, as a first-class parts supplier, is similar to Bosch or Continental's positioning in the cooperative relationship between the two sides, or other manufacturers that previously provided engines, gearboxes and other parts to Changan.
The question now is, is this model really sustainable? In other words, how much does AVATAR's current achievements have to do with Huawei? If AVATR can really break away from Huawei and break out of the sky, it can prove that Zhu Huarong's opinion is correct.
Wenjie also uses various core components of Huawei, which is the same as AVATAR, the difference is that it is actually "Huawei's car", according to Yu Chengdong, Wenjie even the production link is led by Huawei, and the vehicle is sold in Huawei's sales system. In this case, Huawei's influence is infinitely amplified, and a large number of consumers rush to buy the word "Huawei".
But AVATR is different, Changan tries its best to emphasize the difference between it and Wenjie, and is very taboo for consumers to say that it is Huawei's car. However, AVATAR's "traffic" in 2023 is indeed related to Huawei, without Huawei, the AVATR brand would not have such a high degree of attention, and without attention, there would be no sales.
Therefore, AVATAR's performance in the next few months is very crucial. In fact, this is also the dispute between Yu Chengdong and Xu Zhijun, at this stage, Huawei itself has not yet figured out how to develop the automotive business; Other automakers are still more confident and have a certain sense of distance from Huawei, and perhaps by the end of 2024, both sides will figure out how to cooperate.
There should be no doubt that Huawei won't launch its own brand of cars; Huawei does have a technological advantage, and there is no doubt about it.
The key is how Huawei itself and other manufacturers view this advantage. In a sense, if AVATR still does well according to the current development model, it will be a good thing for the entire new energy vehicle industry.