36Kr Exclusive | BYD Reorganizes Its Self-developed Intelligent Driving System, Sprinting for Implementation Next Year

By | Han Yongchang

Editor | Li Qin, Yang Xuan

BYD, which is fully pursuing intelligent driving technology, is constantly changing its formation.

36Kr has learned from several informed sources that the Tianxuan Development Department and the Tianlang Research and Development Department, which are responsible for BYD's self-developed intelligent driving within the company, have recently been integrated.

After the integration, the initial self-developed intelligent driving is expected to be implemented by the middle of next year, including high-speed intelligent pilot and urban intelligent pilot functions. The model selected for implementation is Yangwang, BYD's million-yuan-level high-end brand.

In June this year, BYD established the Tianxuan Development Department for self-developed intelligent driving, led by Xu Lingyun, the former head of intelligent driving at HiPhi Auto, and positioned to develop a high-level self-developed intelligent driving solution.

At the same time, Li Feng, an experienced BYD employee, established the Tianlang Development Department, which is positioned to develop a low-level intelligent driving solution and also undertake some supplier businesses, including the Seal project where Horizon supplies the full-stack solution.

However, after four months, the independent operation status of the two teams has been weakened. "Now, internally and externally, we don't mention Tianxuan and Tianlang; it's just a self-developed intelligent driving department."

BYD has always advocated internal competition. Whether it is self-developed chips or self-developed intelligent driving, there have been multiple departments within the company simultaneously carrying out research and development, competing with each other. Such an organizational structure is conducive to competition, but it may also lead to a dispersion of energy and a delay in the product rhythm.

Especially in intelligent driving research and development, "precision" is more important than "quantity". Only a dedicated team that integrates and exerts its strength can maximize its effectiveness. Now, the integration of BYD's self-developed intelligent driving team is also a signal for it to strive for its self-developed mass production.

The intelligent driving industry is entering a rapid development rhythm. New technical systems such as high-speed pilot, urban pilot, and even end-to-end technology are emerging one after another. The speed gap between leading companies such as Huawei and the second-tier companies is also rapidly widening. Obviously, BYD is also striving to explore its own intelligent driving business rhythm.

From Division to Integration, "Horse Racing" Has Produced Results

The Tianxuan Development Department originated from the Intelligent Driving Research and Development Center under BYD's New Technology Institute, and the predecessor of the Tianlang Development Department is the Intelligent Driving Research and Development Team of BYD Electronic Business Division.

In the first half of this year, during BYD's integration of intelligent driving resources, a hundred-person intelligent driving team from the Electronic Business Division merged into BYD's New Technology Institute, led by Li Feng.

Now, within BYD's New Technology Institute, the two teams, which were previously operating in parallel, have once again undergone integration.

Informed sources disclosed to 36Kr that after the establishment of the Tianxuan and Tianlang teams, the Tianlang team absorbed many intelligent driving personnel from other vehicle manufacturers, with mature experience, and the progress was apparently faster.

Currently, after the integration of the two teams, Xu Lingyun, who originally reported to Yang Dongsheng, the dean of the New Technology Institute, has begun to report to Li Feng in business.

That is to say, in the past year or more, the position of the person in charge of BYD's self-developed intelligent driving has been successively taken over from the veteran Han Bing, the newcomer Xu Lingyun, to the current Li Feng.

Splitting, integrating, and changing the core technical person in charge, and continuously striving to achieve the goal of the implementation of self-developed intelligent driving, is the normal state of BYD's pursuit of the intelligent driving business in the past two years.

This is due to the group's top management's focus on intelligent driving. Yang Dongsheng, the dean of BYD's New Technology Institute, mentioned in an interview with 36Kr that the first thing BYD attaches great importance to now is intelligence. He often receives calls from Chairman Wang Chuanfu, and the main topic of their communication is intelligence.

"The horse racing culture is very common in a large company like BYD, especially for company-level businesses. If there are no achievements, the person in charge has to be replaced." A senior BYD insider told 36Kr.

After the integration of Tianxuan and Tianlang, in addition to the self-developed intelligent driving system, BYD also has the Intelligent Technology Research Institute, which is formed by the merger of the Intelligent Networking Center led by Liu Ke and the Intelligent Driving Center led by Han Bing. The Intelligent Technology Research Institute is mainly responsible for cooperating with suppliers, and both self-research and external suppliers are used to ensure BYD's huge demand.

Intelligent Driving, BYD's New Sales Lever

In September this year, BYD's monthly sales exceeded the 400,000 mark for the first time, reaching 419,400 units. Among them, the Dynasty Network and Ocean Network are still the absolute mainstays, with sales of 401,500 units, accounting for 95.7%. The combined sales of the high-end brands Denza, Fangchengbao, and Yangwang are 16,000 units, accounting for only 3.8%.

The Dynasty and Ocean networks, which mainly focus on mid-to-low-end models, are the basis for BYD to master the 100,000 - 200,000 yuan market pricing power. However, seizing more mid-to-high-end brand markets is BYD's longer-term goal and the mission of the three independent brands.

Today, the share of the mid-to-high-end automotive market has basically been divided up by the new forces. Vehicle manufacturers such as NIO, AITO, and Li Auto were benchmarked against BBA when they were first established. Over the years, they have occupied the users' minds, and it is not easy for BYD to pry open this market.

Completing intelligence is the key means for BYD to break through the mid-to-high-end market. BYD is making changes. The Denza Z9 GT, with the support of electric technologies such as Yi Sanfang, received 5,000 large orders within 36 hours of its launch. If it has intelligent technologies such as urban pilot, it will have a better market performance.

If BYD's self-developed algorithm is implemented, combined with its unique technologies such as Yi Sifang and Yunian, it may bring a different driving experience, and it will be of great help to impact the mid-to-high-end market at that time.

Self-developed intelligent driving requires strong financial support, which is one of BYD's advantages. Wang Chuanfu once said that the company plans to invest 100 billion yuan in the research and development of intelligent driving technology in the future, focusing on cutting-edge technologies including generative AI and end-to-end large models.

This is not an empty talk. BYD, which advocates the "engineer culture", has always attached great importance to R & D investment and invested 20.2 billion yuan in R & D in the first half of the year.

Although in public, the end-to-end mentioned by Yang Dongsheng is still mechanically from the actuator to the actuator, that is, from the tire's end sensing to the brain's response and strategy, and then to the tire's control.

However, BYD is also secretly exerting efforts in the software end-to-end from perception to regulation and control. In June this year, BYD briefly introduced Zhou Peng, the former head of Baidu's cabin-driving integrated intelligent driving technology, who is specifically responsible for the development of the end-to-end large model regulation and control algorithm. After the merger of BYD's Tianxuan and Tianlang Development Departments, they also concentrated on making breakthroughs in software algorithms.

There were once several departments in BYD simultaneously conducting intelligent driving research and development. Although the internal horse racing is more dynamic, it has also caused redundancy in resources. Now, the integration may be an opportunity for BYD to make up for its shortcomings.

The high-level intelligent driving function in the industry has been popularized to 150,000-yuan-level models. If BYD does not have outstanding intelligent driving capabilities for a long time, it will not only have difficulty in impacting the mid-to-high-end market, but also the 100,000 - 200,000 yuan basic market may be affected. After this organizational structure adjustment, BYD obviously needs a faster research and development speed.

BYD's long-term and firm research and development of electric vehicle technology has given it a first-mover advantage in the past few years. The sales of new energy vehicles have exceeded 9 million units, and the revenue in the first half of the year exceeded 300 billion yuan.

And on this sales ship, how to pry open a larger commercial lever is an urgent test for BYD's intelligent capabilities, including intelligent driving.