Rejecting Huawei, Chen Hong fell? Who gave SAIC the courage to say "no"

SAIC refused to cooperate with Huawei in autonomous driving.

On June 30, at the 2020 annual general meeting of shareholders of SAIC, when asked whether SAIC would consider cooperating with third-party companies such as Huawei to drive automatically, Chen Hong, chairman of SAIC, bluntly said: "It is unacceptable for SAIC to cooperate with third-party companies such as Huawei to drive automatically."

Chen Hong said: "It's like a company providing us with a total solution, making it the soul and SAIC the body. For such a result, SAIC is unacceptable, and it is necessary to hold the soul in its own hands. "

Chen Hong's metaphor is in place, which is what Huawei wants to do and is doing: Huawei does not make cars, but builds the souls of all cars through its strong technology research and development capabilities. SAIC's concerns are not groundless. Huawei provides a complete set of solutions for car companies, which can be said to be the "flat" cooperation of car companies. In the direction of entering the field of autonomous driving, no core technology is untenable in the hands of car companies themselves.

Not only was Huawei rejected, Chen Hong said that it was difficult for SAIC to accept a single supplier to provide its overall solution, and vice versa. At present, SAIC and Huawei have cooperated in 5G and connected ecology. R car, the pure electric brand of SAIC passenger car, has used Huawei's 5G networking module. So, what is the reason why SAIC rejected Huawei?

Where is the confidence to refuse?

In 2020, SAIC's revenue was 742,654.38+0 billion yuan and its net profit was 296,543.8+0.88 billion yuan. Sales have reached 5.6 million. Among the domestic old-fashioned car companies, SAIC is a strong one and the top ten car companies with stable global sales.

You may not know that the "new four modernizations" strategy often mentioned by the automobile industry in recent years was first put forward by SAIC. In SAIC's "new four modernizations" strategy, it includes four aspects: electrification, * * sharing, intelligent networking and internationalization, and has been widely accepted by the global automobile industry.

There is no doubt that the electrification and intelligence of automobiles are an important turning point in the future of the automobile industry. It is not surprising that the development direction of electrification and intelligence is the general trend, but by observing the changes in the industry environment, this strategy is put forward, which shows the overall situation of SAIC or Chen Hong.

But for enterprises, it is not enough to have a forward-looking vision. Another thing SAIC has done is to work hard.

Since 20 17, SAIC has begun to explore the field of high-precision map data through its subsidiary SAIC Chuangfa, which is the core basic technology link in high-level autonomous driving. In addition, SAIC and Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. * * * jointly established two power battery companies, "SAIC Times" and "Time SAIC"; 20 18, SAIC Infineon Company was established to manufacture automotive semiconductors (chips); In 2020, SAIC Software Center officially released a brand-new company name-SAIC Zero Beam Software Branch.

In addition, SAIC also cooperates with some technology companies to step into a new era of modernization. Establish a joint venture with TTTech, an Austrian network and security control solution provider, to promote the integrated development of decision-making control system for iECU self-driving cars; Reached a cooperation agreement with Intel subsidiary Mobileye, becoming the first China car company to apply the latter's road network asset management technology, and introduced L2+ ADAS advanced driver assistance system; Reached a comprehensive strategic cooperation with Horizon Robotics, an edge artificial intelligence chip unicorn, and set up a special team around horizon autopilot chip research to develop SAIC's own high-level autopilot system that can benchmark Tesla FSD.

Over the years, SAIC has made a series of preparations for its new four modernizations, from manufacturing batteries, battery packs and chips to developing maps and autonomous driving, as well as a complete set of electric intelligent systems. This is the manufacturing ability of SAIC's "body" and "soul", and it is also the basis for its rejection of Huawei.

It's not just SAIC, it's the collective anxiety of traditional automobile companies to transform into the intelligent age.

With the rise of the new forces of car-making, fuel vehicles are facing a huge technical impact. There are only two ways to save the market. One is to independently develop autonomous driving technology, and the other is to be forced to cooperate with third-party companies.

In the era of intelligence, cooperation is different. For enterprises, cooperation without technical equality is like a plate of sand, which disappears when the wind blows. It's not just SAIC, it's the collective anxiety of traditional automobile companies to transform into the intelligent age.

For traditional enterprises, it is a risky move to cooperate with technology companies, either to help each other move forward and go further, or to become the foundry of technology companies, lose the "soul" of enterprises, and become a body that can only assemble cars.

For example, in the early years, when smart security was just starting, Defiance Technology had close cooperation with AI companies and security companies such as Shang Tang, but this honeymoon period only lasted less than two years. Security companies can develop their own artificial intelligence algorithms, and artificial intelligence companies have also launched their own hardware products. From cooperation to game, it is also the best ending, because the worst thing is to be abandoned, such as CAMBRIAN AI chip. After a year of cooperation with Huawei, it parted ways and its market value plummeted ...

For Huawei and other technology companies, on the one hand, they want to enter the automobile market and share a piece of it, but on the other hand, in view of the huge cost of directly entering the whole vehicle manufacturing in automobile and other industries, the most convenient and advanced choice is to manufacture the soul of the automobile. Huawei has publicly announced that it will not build cars, but has repeatedly sought cooperation between car companies. Why? Isn't it the way of "I take the soul, you take the body, and we will win together"?

We know that Microsoft doesn't make money by selling computers, but most computer manufacturers around the world are using Microsoft's operating system. With this article alone, Microsoft is ahead of many manufacturers. Huawei also wants to be the Microsoft of the automobile industry.

Both chip and communication technology businesses are sanctioned by the United States, and Huawei urgently needs to find a new way out to maintain business growth. As the most potential market at present, Huawei is bound to make great strides, and its strategy is also very clear-not to build cars, but to forge the souls of all cars through its strong technology research and development capabilities.

On June 5438+ 10, 2020, Huawei released HI full-stack smart car solution, including 1 brand-new computing and communication architecture, five intelligent systems such as intelligent driving, intelligent cockpit, intelligent electric vehicle, intelligent network connection and intelligent Che Yun, and a complete set of intelligent components such as lidar and AR-HUD. To put it simply and rudely, Huawei can pack everything except the whole vehicle.

Without the abundant capital of an established state-owned enterprise like SAIC, it may not have the courage and strength to refuse such cooperation. Either abandoned by the times, or take a chance, maybe bicycles become motorcycles.

In the era of intelligence, the lack of solid core technology, the cooperation between the two sides is like the sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of these traditional automobile manufacturers. A little carelessness, a wrong step, the outcome may be very different.

It is for this reason that SAIC refuses to be an empty shell and tries to grasp its own soul. But what SAIC refuses is not Huawei, but this kind of cooperation that will be stifled at any time.

Write | Jane