Huawei announced a new brand of autonomous driving software

Huawei has introduced a new brand of software for smart electric vehicles called Qiankun. This is another step in the company's strategy to become a leading player in the electric vehicle industry.

Qiankun plans to provide autonomous driving systems that control the chassis, audio system and driver's seat.

“2024 will be the first year of mass commercialization of intelligent driving, and the number of vehicles equipped with Huawei's system will exceed 500,000 by the end of 2024.”

Jin Yuzhi, CEO of Huawei IAS division

Smart electric vehicles from Huawei

Huawei's Smart Car division was launched in 2019. The company has set an ambitious goal to become the equivalent of German auto giant Bosch in the era of autonomous electric vehicles, providing software and components.

So far, the tech giant has launched 7 electric vehicle models in collaboration with Chinese automakers. These include 3 models from the Aito brand, developed in partnership with Seres, 1 Luxeed S7 sedan, created in collaboration with Chery, 2 automatic models from Changan Avatr, and 1 model from Arcfox, owned by BAIC.

Also this week, Huawei unveiled the S9 sedan, the first model under the premium Stelato brand developed in collaboration with BAIC.

Competition in the field of autonomous driving systems

The diversification of electric vehicle production comes amid an intensifying price war in the world's largest auto market, which is struggling with slowing sales and deepening overcapacity problems. Tesla, Xiaomi, Uber, Google's Waymo, GM Cruise and Mercedes-Benz are experimenting with the use of autonomous driving technologies in their electric cars.

“At a societal level, driverless cars have the potential to save millions of lives, transform our cities, reduce emissions, reclaim billions of hours of time and restore freedom of movement.”

Mo Elshenawy, Vice President of Engineering, GM Cruise

As IoT and machine learning technologies evolve, automakers and automotive software providers find themselves in an increasingly competitive environment. Therefore, in 2024, Huawei plans to release about 10 new car models equipped with the Qianku system.