Chinese search engine giant Baidu today announced the formation of a smart car company to enter the auto industry as a vehicle manufacturer. Later, Xpeng chairman He Xiaopeng gave his opinion.
He said on Weibo that several tech companies may become new car makers in different models this year, which will have a very positive accelerating impact on the arrival of a new mobile ecosystem.
(Automatic translation of the Weibo page.)
Baidu’s newly formed car company will be aimed at the passenger car market, with Geely as an important partner.
Baidu said it hopes to leverage Apollo’s leading autonomous driving capabilities and its eight years of experience in the field of automotive intelligence to reshape smart car products and become a revolutionary force in the era of smart mobility.
However, Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), said that cooperation between Internet companies and car companies to build cars is a model, but it will not become mainstream.
Car building involves many issues such as hardware manufacturing and software control, and the two sides need to better mesh, Cui said.
Cui believes that Tesla’s model of designing its own systems and chips and producing the whole car is the most efficient at the moment. Internet companies building cars have certain opportunities in the mid-to high-end market, but the low-cost entry-level market is still dominated by traditional car companies, he said.
