Editor | Zhang Lianyi

Huawei and GAC Motor have officially established their new collaborative venture.

On March 19, GAC Motor announced the formation of HuaWang Automobile Technology (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "HuaWang Auto"), a newly established company wholly owned by GAC Motor. The unveiling of their new high-end smart car brand is imminent.

GAC Motor emphasized that this marks a further expansion into the smart car ecosystem and high-end market segments, representing the latest progress of the GH Project.

"GH" is a joint initiative by GAC Motor and Huawei. Moving forward, both parties will leverage the new company as a platform for comprehensive cooperation across product definition, marketing, and ecological services, aiming to create a new car brand built on an innovative architecture. The inaugural product will be positioned as an intelligent new energy vehicle priced at 300,000 yuan.

Business Information of HuaWang Auto

According to Qichacha data, HuaWang Auto, founded on March 18, boasts a registered capital of 1.5 billion yuan. Its legal representative is Ge Xianqing, currently serving as Deputy General Manager of GAC Motor. Headquartered in Guangzhou, Guangdong, GAC Motor holds 100% of the company's shares. It is rumored that the new venture may consider introducing additional investors in the future.

With the establishment of HuaWang Auto, the collaboration between GAC Motor and Huawei has entered a new phase focused on product launches.

01 Company and Legal Representative Confirmed, GAC Motor Speeds Up Its Intelligence Push

"GAC Motor aims to firmly establish itself among China's top intelligent driving companies by 2025 and enter the global elite in terms of intelligent driving and R&D capabilities by 2027." On March 18, at the GAC Starlink Smart Mobility Action Plan and Aion HL Pre-sale Launch Conference, Feng Xingya, Chairman and General Manager of GAC Motor, emphatically stated this goal.

GAC Motor Announces Intelligent Driving Goals

HuaWang Auto also shoulders this mission.

According to GAC Motor's plans, HuaWang Auto models will not only integrate Huawei's intelligent driving software, intelligent cockpit, intelligent vehicle control, and other solutions but will also adopt Huawei's IPD (Integrated Product Development) and IPMS (Integrated Product Marketing and Sales) system experiences to create a novel process spanning product definition, marketing, and ecological services.

In essence, it can be seen as a comprehensive learning from Huawei.

However, judging from the name and plan of "HuaWang", this collaboration between GAC Motor and Huawei is likely to adopt the "HI PLUS" model rather than the "Smart Selection Mode". That is, Huawei's support for the new brand encompasses not only branding, technology, and R&D but also channels and services.

HuaWang Auto's business scope is equally expansive.

According to Qichacha information, HuaWang Auto's business scope encompasses automobile sales, automobile parts and accessories manufacturing, intelligent in-vehicle equipment manufacturing, charging pile sales, new energy vehicle sales, battery manufacturing and sales, wearable intelligent device manufacturing, intelligent unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturing, service consumer robot manufacturing, basic artificial intelligence software development, and artificial intelligence application software development.

As for the legal representative, the choice of Ge Xianqing was not unexpected.

On November 30 last year, at the signing ceremony for the strategic cooperation on smart cars between GAC Motor and Huawei held in Guangzhou, GAC Motor was represented by Group Chairman Zeng Qinghong, General Manager Feng Xingya, and Deputy General Manager Ge Xianqing. Among them, Ge Xianqing signed the contract on behalf of GAC Motor.

Ge Xianqing Signs Contract with Huawei on Behalf of GAC Motor

Born in 1973, Ge Xianqing is considered a "young and ambitious" figure who studied Mechanical Engineering at Tongji University in Shanghai and holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree.

Public information shows that Ge Xianqing once served as General Manager of GAC Trading Co., Ltd. and later joined GAC Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. as the Head of the Sales Department. In June 2013, he was appointed Deputy General Manager of GAC Honda and subsequently took full responsibility for the localization project of Acura.

In 2022, Ge Xianqing was promoted to Deputy General Manager of GAC Motor and concurrently served as Chairman of GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.

With the company and legal representative confirmed, products are undoubtedly on the horizon.

Enhancing intelligence is the cornerstone of the collaboration between GAC Motor and Huawei. GAC Motor has previously stated that the new in-depth cooperation model of "Huawei Intelligence + GAC Intelligence Manufacturing" will offer users a pioneering intelligent experience.

In the official announcement, GAC Motor also highlighted that the inaugural product will be positioned as an intelligent new energy vehicle priced at 300,000 yuan.

Obviously, amidst automakers like BYD and Geely emphasizing "intelligent driving equality", GAC Motor also aims to swiftly address its intelligence shortcomings.

02 Initially Embraced Huawei but Changed Course at the "Last Minute"

GAC Motor was actually one of the first automakers to partner with Huawei.

As early as 2017, GAC Motor began strategic cooperation with Huawei, focusing on the field of intelligent connected electric vehicles.

In 2021, the collaboration between the two parties was elevated.

In 2021, GAC Motor unanimously approved the resolution to jointly develop the AH8 model with Huawei.

At that time, GAC Motor announced that the proposal for GAC Aion and Huawei to jointly develop the AH8 model was unanimously approved. AH8 is a medium to large-sized pure electric SUV with a total project investment of 788 million yuan. It is scheduled for mass production by the end of 2023 and will be equipped with Huawei's intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit technologies.

According to the plan, in addition to producing the SUV model AH8, the two parties will also launch an MPV and a high-end coupé.

However, by 2023, when AH8 was on the verge of mass production, the collaboration suddenly took a turn. "In March 2023, GAC Motor announced that it had decided to change the AH8 project from 'joint development' to 'independent development', and Huawei's role would shift from a partner to a supplier.

At that time, Huawei was relatively dominant in its dealings with automakers, and under the HI model, Huawei did not offer significant brand and channel empowerment.

Meanwhile, Huawei's automotive business was also experiencing a "turbulent period". Not only did sales of AITO under the HI model fail to show substantial improvement, but the AITO brand was also in a downturn, with sales of nearly 10,000 units in the first quarter of 2023, a significant decline from the over 10,000 units sold per month in 2022.

GAC Motor's decision is not difficult to understand.

But now, after a circuitous journey, GAC Motor has chosen to deeply re-engage with Huawei.

In fact, there were signs that GAC Motor intended to deepen its collaboration with Huawei. First, the GAC Trumpchi brand increased its cooperation with Huawei.

In April 2024, Trumpchi announced that it would equip all its cars, SUVs, and MPVs with Huawei technologies such as Qiankun Intelligent Driving and HarmonyOS Cockpit.

In April this year, GAC Trumpchi announced deepening cooperation with Huawei

Then there were frequent statements by Feng Xingya, General Manager of GAC Motor.

In September of the same year, Feng Xingya publicly stated that the collaboration between GAC Motor and Huawei would deepen.

In November, Feng Xingya reiterated that the frequent exchanges between the two parties at various levels and in diverse fields would deepen and expand the possibilities of collaboration. "As long as the desire for collaboration between the two parties remains so strong, there will definitely be more collaboration achievements and projects."

He also emphasized, "Previously, GAC Motor was relatively conservative about equipping vehicles with intelligent driving technology. It was Huawei that awakened our perception and understanding of consumers' new needs."

At this juncture, GAC Motor was poised to re-team with Huawei, awaiting only the final announcement.

03 Re-teaming Up, GAC Motor Hopes to Revitalize Sales and Boost Intelligence

This round of official announcements was made at the end of 2024.

On November 30 of that year, GAC Motor announced that it had signed a deepened cooperation agreement with Huawei. According to the agreement, GAC Motor will create a brand-new high-end intelligent new energy automotive brand in addition to Trumpchi, Aion, and Hyperion, and will collaborate with Huawei based on this new brand.

At that time, three representatives from both GAC Motor and Huawei attended the signing ceremony.

Among them, the GAC Motor representatives were Group Chairman Zeng Qinghong, General Manager Feng Xingya, and Deputy General Manager Ge Xianqing; the Huawei representatives were Rotating Chairman Xu Zhijun, CEO of Huawei Intelligent Automotive Solutions Business Unit Jin Yuzhi, and Vice President Chi Linchun.

Soon after, in less than two months.

GAC Motor Approved the "Resolution on GH Project"

On January 10, 2025, GAC Motor announced that the 78th meeting of the 6th Board of Directors had reviewed and approved the "Resolution on GH Project", agreeing to the company's investment in the establishment of the GH Project Company (tentative name, subject to registration), with a registered capital of 1.5 billion yuan.

The announcement revealed that GAC Motor would register and establish a new company to deeply integrate its respective advantages with Huawei. Through joint definition and design, they will carry out comprehensive cooperation across multiple areas such as product development, marketing strategies, and ecological services, aiming to create a brand-new automotive brand built on an innovative architecture and cutting-edge technology, and launch a series of intelligent new car models.

Behind GAC Motor's re-choice of Huawei lies the hope of revitalizing sales.

Sales data released by GAC Motor in early January this year showed that in the first 12 months of 2024, its cumulative sales were 2.0031 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 20.04%, of which 454,700 were new energy vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 17.26%.

GAC Motor's Production and Sales Data for 2024 (Units)

Amidst declining sales, revenue is also taking a hit.

GAC Motor's 2024 annual performance forecast indicates that it expects net profit for 2024 to decrease by 73% to 82% year-on-year.

Meanwhile, Huawei has demonstrated to a certain extent its ability to drive sales in the automotive field.

Thalys has a profound understanding of this.

Leveraging Huawei's powerful intelligent technology and channel capabilities, Thalys has risen rapidly.

Thalys' Production and Sales Data for 2024 (Units)

First, sales surged. In 2024, Thalys sold a total of 426,900 new energy vehicles, an increase of 182.84% year-on-year; then, revenue increased significantly. According to Thalys' annual profit forecast announcement, it is expected to achieve operating revenue of 144.2 billion to 146.7 billion yuan in 2024, an increase of 302.32% to 309.30% year-on-year, with net profit reaching 5.5 billion to 6 billion yuan, marking a turnaround from a loss to a profit.

Furthermore, Huawei's intelligent capabilities are undeniable. In November 2024, Feng Xingya stated at a media symposium, "At this stage, what intelligent driving pursues is not 'cost competitiveness' but 'advancement'. Utilizing one's own advanced technology for self-research and leveraging others' advanced technology is crucial to maintaining the advancement of autonomous driving."

Amidst proclaiming its intelligent driving goals, GAC Motor also hopes to learn more from Huawei's intelligent capabilities, replicate Thalys' successful experience, and gain an edge in the new round of the "intelligent driving war."-END-