Image Source: Visual China
BEIJING, February 17 (TMTPOST) — Germany’s automaker giant Volkswagen is currently in talks with Chinese telecom heavyweight Huawei on acquiring the latter’s autonomous driving unit for billions of euros, German financial media Manager Magazin reported on Thursday.
The two companies’ leaders have been negotiating for several months, Manager Magazin said, quoting internal sources familiar with the matter. The deal being negotiated also involves a technology system that Volkswagen is not yet proficient in.
A spokesperson at Volkswagen declined to comment on the news report.
Huawei is currently working to roll out autonomous driving cars by 2025, Wang Jun, president of Huawei Smart Car Solutions business unit, said last year.
The cockpit will bring revolutionary changes to vehicles, said Wang at the 13th China Automotive Blue Book Forum held in Hefei. "Before 2025, the essence of cars will remain to be the car itself. Then we can think about whether we can make a mobile smart space inside of cars."
"Our goal is to make cars become moving smart spaces with disruptive technologies such as smart driving," Wang said. "We are not sure what we can do yet. We can make use of our imagination and think about limitless possibilities. There could be all kinds of applications."
It is worth noting that Huawei has stressed several times that it does not aim to make vehicles but develop technologies and services for smart cars.
Huawei has invested billions of yuan in its smart car unit, forming a team with over 5,000 professional talents, according to Wang. Huawei’s autonomous driving team would have over 2,000 people, Wang said.
Huawei’s smart car solution and cockpit are powered by its HarmonyOS, which took 10,000 engineers and two years to develop. Huawei has partnered with several car manufacturers including Guangzhou Automobile Group, Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., and the BAIC Group to strengthen its capacity in the automobile industry.
Huawei will roll out a number of driverless car models in 2022, according to Wang.
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