SAIC Group Continues to Integrate, May Establish a New Intelligent Chassis Company | Exclusive from 36Kr

36Kr Auto has exclusively learned that SAIC Motor may establish a new intelligent chassis architecture company, which will be formed by integrating several parts subsidiaries of Huayu Automotive Systems Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of SAIC Motor. The integration work started in March this year and is expected to be completed in June this year. After preliminary consideration by the group, Lu Yong, the former dean of SAIC Motor's Innovation and R & D General Institute, will serve as the head of the new company.

36Kr Auto has verified the above information with SAIC Motor, but as of press time, there is no response.

Huayu Automotive Systems is an automotive parts company under SAIC Motor, and its business covers a variety of products such as automobile instrument panels, door panels, automobile chassis structural parts, drive shafts, and brakes. SAIC Motor has absolute controlling rights over this enterprise. As of the third quarter of 2024, the shares of Huayu Automotive Systems directly and indirectly held by SAIC Motor add up to nearly 60%.

SAIC Motor is also the main customer of Huayu Automotive Systems. According to Huayu Automotive Systems' financial report for the first half of 2024, in the first half of 2024, SAIC Motor contributed 38% of Huayu Automotive Systems' main business revenue. In addition to SAIC Motor, vehicle manufacturers such as Tesla, Seres, BYD, and Geely are also important customers of Huayu Automotive Systems.

Meanwhile, Huayu Automotive Systems has a number of parts subsidiaries that it wholly owns or has stakes in. The products of these parts subsidiaries involve categories such as steering, braking, suspension, and transmission, which provide a solid business foundation for SAIC to integrate a new chassis architecture company.

The person who will lead this chassis architecture company is Lu Yong, who appeared as a chassis expert of the group at SAIC Night. After joining SAIC Motor in 1996, he has successively served as the director of the chassis department of SAIC Volkswagen, the director of the chassis department of SAIC Motor's Technical Center, and the general manager of United Automotive Electronic Systems Co., Ltd.

Not long ago, Lu Yong stepped down from the position of dean of SAIC Motor's Innovation and R & D General Institute and was transferred to Shanghai Huizhong, a chassis manufacturing enterprise wholly owned by Huayu Automotive Systems. In a sense, such personnel adjustment may be a response to SAIC Motor's integration rhythm in the parts field.

36Kr Auto has learned that since Jia Jianxu became the president of SAIC Motor, personnel replacement and integration have been the main themes of SAIC Motor's operation.

The integration of the entire group started with the "Grand Passenger Vehicle Strategy", which integrated five enterprises including SAIC Passenger Vehicle, SAIC International, Innovation and R & D General Institute, Zero Beam Technology, and Overseas Mobility, aiming to focus resources and improve efficiency. After the "Grand Passenger Vehicle Strategy" came SAIC Motor's "Grand Chassis Strategy", which integrates SAIC Motor's R & D and production capabilities in the chassis and related fields in order to form a synergy and achieve breakthroughs in chassis technology.

The reason for prioritizing the integration of parts business in the chassis segment may be to coordinate with the R & D of intelligent driving.

"Equal access to intelligent driving" has been a hot topic in the automotive industry in recent years, and the chassis is a key component of the autonomous driving execution layer. Especially for the L3 - level mass - produced intelligent driving system that SAIC plans to launch this year, higher requirements are put forward for the performance of the chassis. This requires SAIC to launch a more intelligent chassis as soon as possible to act as the "executor" of a more advanced intelligent driving system.

Cooperation with Huawei may also be a factor prompting SAIC to make the decision on the "Grand Chassis Strategy".

For Huawei, the products launched by Hongmeng Zhixing were previously positioned in the market of 250,000 yuan and above. With the cost - reduction support of SAIC's industrial chain, Hongmeng Zhixing is expected to fill the gap in the market segment below 200,000 yuan. For SAIC, learning Huawei's IPD and IPMS processes and introducing Huawei's intelligent technologies are expected to make up for SAIC's shortcomings in product definition and intelligence.

Therefore, both parties have high hopes for the "Shangjie" cooperation project. They not only established a team of 5,000 people, made an initial investment of 6 billion yuan, but also built a super factory dedicated to "Shangjie". Now SAIC plans to establish a new chassis architecture company, which may provide more support for the "Shangjie" project at the hardware level including the chassis.

For a long time, the glory of SAIC Motor's vehicle business has overshadowed its advantages and layout in the supply chain. After the integration at the parts level is completed, SAIC Motor's innovation may reach a new level.