Introduction

The battle for intelligence has commenced, and GAC Group stands resolute, unwavering in its commitment.

Early this year, it was anticipated that the automotive market's competition would merely revolve around another round of price wars. However, when BYD unveiled the 'Divine Eye' and thoroughly engaged the discourse on equal rights in intelligent driving, it became evident that to capture market share, strategies beyond mere price wars were imperative.

Within just two months, new plans centered on intelligent driving emerged in succession, including Chang'an's Beidou Tianshu 2.0, Geely's Qianli Haohan, Chery's Falcon Intelligence, and GAC's Xingling Intelligence.

In this cascade of intelligent driving announcements, Chinese automakers unanimously view intelligent driving capabilities as the linchpin for future survival. Consumers appear to have been swayed to consider 'intelligent driving' as a prerequisite for evaluating a car's quality.

Let's set aside whether this frantic competition aligns with the pace of transformation in the automotive industry. For enterprises alone, once embarked upon this path, there is no turning back. Once a trend solidifies, the only recourse is to wager everything and engage in fierce competition until a victor emerges.

For GAC Group, this battle for intelligent driving is particularly pivotal for survival. As the entire industry repeatedly encircles and suppresses joint venture brands, and private enterprises launch astonishing offensive maneuvers, GAC has already tasted the bitter taste of market downturn and uneven development across different segments, indicating that these abrupt changes will invariably occasionally jolt the group's nerves.

At the end of last year, leveraging high-level personnel changes, GAC Group indeed implemented reforms across various facets, whether it was relocating its headquarters or redefining the business focus between joint ventures and self-owned brands. The objective was clear: the entire group would enter a new phase of transformation.

Today, right after the announcement of the 'Xingling Intelligence' plan, GAC officially unveiled the establishment of Huawang Automobile Technology (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd., a new company invested by the group. This further underscores that in this year's arduous battle for intelligence, GAC intends to emerge victorious.

01 Collaborating with Huawei to Deepen Intelligent Reform

For a considerable period, facing new industry trends, GAC, despite being a state-owned enterprise, has demonstrated a strong sense of forward-looking planning. Particularly in the past five years, as the transition to electrification accelerated, GAC has unveiled plans ranging from deciding to operate AION independently to committing to fully develop in-house battery, electric drive, and electronic control technologies, along with technological upgrades at various levels.

However, reflecting on market feedback over the past few years, it seems that during the pursuit of sales, consumers did not have a profound impression of GAC's intelligent tag, failing to achieve the anticipated impact.

In this regard, GAC is naturally cognizant of the stakes involved. What approach should it adopt to continue implementing its intelligent transformation, and what strategy should it present to confront aggressive competitors?

Just as top self-owned automakers like BYD, Geely, and Chery are obsessed with capturing market share, so too are they with the attitude towards profound intelligent transformation. As for latecomers like NIO, Xpeng, Li Auto, and Xiaomi, in pursuit of a first-mover advantage, the human, material, and financial resources invested in the same dimension are beyond imagination.

Given the competitors' relentless efforts, I believe that for GAC, there is no shortcut but to fully embrace the challenge.

This year, the self-owned segment directly transformed into three independent operations: Trumpchi, AION, and Hyper GT, with technology sharing but each needing to carve out advantages in their unique way. This underscores that GAC is determined to break away from the past inherent development model and seek new breakthroughs.

Earlier, GAC had considered collaborating with Huawei to propel technological progress. Although there were adjustments in cooperation during this period, currently, joining Huawei's circle of friends signifies gaining a substantial advantage in the early stages of intelligent development. For GAC, deeply partnering with Huawei is the right approach.

Previously, GAC Group announced that the 78th meeting of the 6th Board of Directors approved the 'Proposal on the GH Project', agreeing to invest in establishing a GH project company. Utilizing the new company as a platform, GAC will collaborate with Huawei to leverage their respective strengths in various domains such as product definition, marketing, and ecological services to create a new automotive brand based on a new architecture. The first product will be positioned as a luxury intelligent new energy vehicle in the 300,000 yuan range, offering consumers a more forward-looking intelligent travel experience.

Today, Huawang Automobile Technology (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd., a new company invested by GAC Group, has officially been established, and a new high-end intelligent vehicle brand will be announced soon.

Obviously, this marks GAC Group's further layout in the intelligent vehicle ecosystem and high-end brands, the latest progression of the GH project, and the inception of GAC's quest to secure a prominent voice in the battle for intelligence.

According to the plan, Huawang Automobile will indeed forge a new brand, and subsequent new models will be equipped with Huawei's intelligent driving software, intelligent cabin, intelligent vehicle control, and other solutions. In terms of ecology and brand synergy, it will deeply integrate the respective advantages of GAC Group and Huawei, and establish a new process aligned with Huawei's IPD (Integrated Product Development) and IPMS (Integrated Product Marketing and Sales) system experience, spanning product definition, marketing, and ecological services.

Ultimately, in terms of propelling its own upward development, GAC has thoroughly considered the future trajectory of its autonomous business. The establishment of Huawang Automobile ultimately aims to exorcise GAC's grievances from last year. It does not seek to demonstrate grandiosity in momentum but, at least in terms of technological advancements in intelligence, GAC can stand among the industry's elite.

02 GAC Spares No Effort in Establishing an Intelligent Tag

"By continuously building 'Xingling Intelligence' and deepening GAC's 'Intelligent Journey 2027' action plan, GAC Group aims to secure a stable position in China's first-tier intelligent driving camp by 2025 and enter the global first-tier camp in terms of product intelligent driving level and R&D capabilities by 2027."

Regarding future development, since this is the aspiration of GAC Group Chairman Feng Xingya, the establishment of Huawang Automobile holds undeniable significance. However, as I mentioned at the outset, in this battle for intelligence, GAC intends to emerge victorious.

Like its competitors, implementing equal rights in intelligent driving or collaborating with Huawei to build a new ecosystem can assist GAC in narrowing the gap with leading enterprises at this juncture. Ultimately, for GAC, establishing a first-mover advantage in intelligence is not something that can be achieved by merely following others.

Next, it is imperative for GAC Group to fully leverage intelligent driving technology based on GAC GSD and vigorously promote equal rights in intelligent driving.

But on another dimension, from launching mass production and marketing the country's first L3 autonomous driving passenger car in the fourth quarter to the industry's first L4 autonomous driving pre-installed mass production model with global adaptation capabilities, which is a collaboration between GAC and Didi Chuxing in the realm of L4 autonomous driving, will also roll off the production line and be delivered this year. This is obviously aimed at carving out a leading edge for GAC in the higher-level intelligent driving field.

Currently, in terms of L4 Robotaxi commercial operation, GAC operates through its subsidiary Ruqi Chuxing and strategic partner Pony.ai in five regions: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone, with a mileage exceeding 40 million kilometers, equivalent to circling the Earth 1,000 times.

Coupled with GAC's L2 intelligent driving service serving nearly 1.4 million users and accumulating massive data and technological expertise through nearly 4 billion kilometers, it can be said that, in fact, GAC's all-scenario and three-dimensional travel network has taken initial shape.

Furthermore, GAC Group effectively reuses its intelligent capabilities in the domains of flying cars and humanoid robots. GAC's incubated flying car brand, GOVY, has unveiled two flying car models, GOVY AirCar and GOVY AirJet, aiming to commence reservations within the year.

GAC's third-generation embodied intelligent humanoid robot GoMate is also planned to achieve mass production of self-developed components by 2025 and will spearhead demonstration applications of complete machines in the production lines and industrial parks of GAC Trumpchi, GAC AION, and other OEM factories. In 2026, small-batch production of complete machines will be realized, gradually expanding to large-scale mass production.

Therefore, GAC's deepening of its intelligent strategy is not merely a stopgap measure. The initial intention of establishing Huawang Automobile is more to complement the intelligent tag of the entire group.

To be frank, most of the time, consumers' perceptions of GAC stem from its joint venture image with GAC Toyota and GAC Honda. In terms of new technologies, we tend to overlook GAC's proactive stance towards the new era.

Especially in the South China market, surrounded by Huawei, BYD, and Xpeng, GAC is often firmly associated with the background of traditional automakers.

Based on this public perception, when we retrospect the emerging strategies implemented and planned by GAC in the past year, everything is nothing more than more clearly underscoring the value of GAC as the industry's leading intelligent brand. This hidden asset can more or less provide fresh impetus to GAC Group in future market competition.

Editor-in-Chief: Shi Jie, Editor: He Zengrong