The Chinese car manufacturer Geely presents the first model of its new brand Lynk & Co in Berlin.
Ullstein picture Dtl. | Ullstein picture | Getty Images
BEIJING – Companies out Nvidia to Huawei are chasing the vehicle technology market as the electric car industry booms, with Ecarx emerging as a new competitor.
The founder and CEO of the Chinese car company Geely, Eric Li, has been building since 2017 Ecarx which provides software and chip systems for digital car cockpits and driver assistance systems.
The company reported Wednesday that its fourth-quarter revenue rose 22% from a year ago to $263 million. Geely’s car brands such as Lynk and Co. accounted for 70% of this sales.
For the same quarter, Nvidia reported automotive sales fell 4% year-over-year to $281 million, although CEO Jensen Huang called the segment the company’s “next billion-dollar business.”
Nvidia counts Geely’s premium electric car brand Zeekr among customers of its Drive Orin chip, which uses artificial intelligence to provide driver assistance features called “system-on-a-chip.” Li Auto, BYD’s Denza brand and Xiaomi are among Nvidia’s other automotive customers.
Ecarx co-founder and CEO Ziyu Shen said in an interview with CNBC this week that Nvidia has a head start when it comes to AI-based autonomous driving systems.
“We can’t compete with them in this space,” he said, but noted that there is still about 70% or 80% of the car market that doesn’t need such advanced technology and can buy simpler, safety-focused driver assistance technologies.
“Security will be a very important entry point for us,” he said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.
Ecarx sells its own “system on a chip” Antora 1000, which is used by Lynk and Co.
Shen claimed his company’s current products directly compete with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips and that the new offerings, scheduled to be announced on March 20, would be on the same level as Nvidia’s Orin X.
Although Shen acknowledges Nvidia’s current leadership in AI-based technology, he is looking at various ways to gain more market share in the automotive space.
Geopolitical advantage?
Ecarx plans to profit from sales to local Chinese companies that need to buy from domestic firms for geopolitical reasons, Shen said, adding that the company works with almost all major automakers except BYD in China.
He expects the foreign market will also be a growing business for the company, giving it an advantage over Chinese competitors such as Huawei.
In recent months, Huawei has announced several deals to sell its operating system and other car technology to automakers in China, but has not yet announced major overseas deals in the sector. The company also sells electric cars through the Aito brand, which it co-developed.
“I think it is very difficult for Huawei to operate globally because it is a sanctioned company,” Shen said. “I think it will be very difficult for Western companies to work with them.”
Asked about the impact of U.S. restrictions on Chinese technology, Shen said his company has isolated operations in China from its overseas business and is following local compliance requirements regarding AI chip-related business in the U.S. as well as intellectual protection property.
Ecarx’s website lists offices in the United States and Europe, as well as in China.
Shen wants Ecarx to increase its foreign sales from around 10% of current sales to at least 25% next year and to at least 40% in the next four or five years.
“To be honest, if we can’t serve the five largest automakers in the world, it will be very difficult for us to become a large company,” he said, “because none of China’s.” [original equipment manufacturers] are among the top 5 in the world.”
BYD was by far the largest car company in China last year, followed by Volkswagen’s local joint venture with FAW, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association, which also included fuel-powered vehicles. Geely took third place.
In new energy vehicles, which include hybrid and battery-powered cars, BYD ranked first, followed by Tesla, GAC’s Aion brand and Geely, according to the association.
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2024-02-29 07:31:12
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