Changan plans to take a stake in Qianli Technology, and Qianli Zhijia advances cooperation with Audi | Exclusive from 36Kr
36Kr has learned from multiple industry insiders that Qianli Technology is actively discussing intelligent cooperation with automobile manufacturers such as Changan, Audi, and Chery.
Among them, Changan not only intends to adopt Qianli Technology's assisted driving solution but also plans to take a stake in Qianli Technology. The two parties originally planned to complete the equity change at the beginning of this year. However, according to insiders, there is no substantial progress in this plan at present.
36Kr has learned that BAIC is currently the most certain external customer for Qianli Technology. The two parties plan to establish a joint venture company within this year.
Qianli Technology and BAIC plan to cooperate on 5 models, including a sedan, an off-road vehicle, and a shooting brake. Some of these models are planned to be launched this year.
In addition to Changan and BAIC, traditional high - end brands like Audi and local state - owned enterprise Chery in Anhui are also discussing cooperation with Qianli Technology in the field of assisted driving.
The cooperation between Qianli Technology and Audi is relatively in - depth. At the Beijing Auto Show this year, Qianli Technology launched the automobile brand "Youxin" in cooperation with BAIC, which is similar to the cooperation model between Huawei and automobile manufacturers. Under this cooperation idea, in addition to BAIC, Qianli Technology is also promoting cooperation with Audi.
In the field of intelligent cockpits, Qianli Technology is discussing cooperation with the traditional luxury brand Mercedes - Benz. An insider told 36Kr: "What the two parties are discussing is most likely platform - based cooperation, not just for certain models. It can be seen from the solutions prepared by Qianli Technology for Mercedes - Benz that they are all for a certain platform."
While the overall situation of Qianli Technology's external supply is becoming clear, a series of rumors about personnel changes have pushed the company into the spotlight. Previously, there were reports that Chen Qi, the CEO of Qianli Zhijia, would leave, and there were also industry rumors that the co - president of Qianli Technology would also leave.
36Kr has learned that Chen Qi and Wang Jun are still in Qianli Technology's internal system. In May this year, Qianli Technology held a strategic meeting, and both Wang Jun and Chen Qi attended the meeting as senior executives. However, Zhang Xing, the person in charge of Qianli Technology's intelligent cockpit, who used to report to Wang Jun, now reports to Zhao Ming.
On May 14th, Qianli Technology officially issued a statement: "Chen Qi and the core R & D team are continuously leading the team to promote technological R & D and product iteration." Chen Qi, the CEO of Qianli Zhijia, also publicly stated in the afternoon of the same day: "I'm still in the company, working hard for Qianli Zhijia."
The public opinion on Qianli Technology's recent personnel changes seems to have come to a temporary end.
Actively Introducing External Customers, Qianli Technology Aims to Remove the "Geely - affiliated" Label
Qianli Technology positions itself as a provider of intelligent travel solutions. Geely indirectly holds about 30% of the shares of Qianli Technology. For this reason, many industry insiders have labeled Qianli Technology as "Geely - affiliated".
However, if Qianli Technology wants to complete the business closed - loop, it cannot rely solely on Geely's orders. Therefore, Qianli Technology is actively expanding external customers.
According to the official information of Qianli Technology, the progress of the company's external supply is relatively clear. On April 23rd this year, Qianli Technology held an AI strategy and product launch event in Beijing. The company's market share guidance is as follows: it is expected that the number of intelligent driving installations will reach 1 - 1.3 million by the end of 2026, 2.7 - 3.3 million in 2027, and an additional 3.5 - 4 million in 2028.
Zhao Ming, the co - chairman of Qianli Technology, said: "This is thanks to our many potential customers and the projects we are expanding."
The potential customers mentioned by Zhao Ming include Changan, Audi, Chery, BAIC and other automobile manufacturers. A person close to Qianli Technology said that Qianli Technology has always hoped to establish an enterprise that can compete with Yinwang, with multiple joint ventures. By binding customers through equity relationships, it can share the R & D costs of intelligentization.
"The investors are quite satisfied with the company's progress in expanding external customers," said a person close to Qianli Technology.
Among the automakers that Qianli Technology has contacted, Changan is not only discussing cooperation with Qianli Technology in the field of assisted driving but also plans to take a stake in Qianli Technology. It is understood that Qianli Technology once invited Changan's management to test - drive a vehicle equipped with Qianli Zhijia's solution, and Changan's management showed a certain degree of recognition.
For Qianli Technology, Changan is undoubtedly a potential customer of great importance. Last year, Changan Automobile's cumulative sales were close to 3 million, including 1.11 million new energy vehicles. Although it is difficult for Qianli Technology to become the sole provider of intelligent solutions for Changan Automobile, if it can reach a cooperation with such a large - scale central enterprise and even have an equity intersection, Qianli Technology will surely see the scale effect earlier.
In addition, Qianli Technology is also discussing cooperation with Chery and Audi. The cooperation between Qianli Technology and Audi is more in - depth, similar to the cooperation idea between Qianli Technology and BAIC.
Like Changan, Chery is an automaker with an annual sales volume of nearly 3 million. Cooperation with Chery can increase Qianli Technology's market share. Although the sales of the Audi brand in China have been declining in recent years, as a high - end brand in the fuel - vehicle era, it still has brand influence among some Chinese consumers. Therefore, the significance of cooperation with Audi is more reflected in brand endorsement.
Mercedes - Benz is another foreign customer of Qianli Technology. According to public information, last year, Mercedes - Benz acquired 3% of the shares of Qianli Technology at a price of 1.342 billion yuan, becoming the fifth - largest shareholder of Qianli Technology. 36Kr has learned that the current discussions between the two parties are mainly about the intelligent cockpit, and will also involve assisted driving in the future.
An insider told 36Kr that the intelligent cockpit solution prepared by Qianli Technology for Mercedes - Benz "is a platform - based solution, not just for specific models", so Qianli Technology can benefit more from this cooperation.
As a benchmark of traditional luxury brands, Mercedes - Benz's decisions have a certain demonstration effect in the Chinese market. Qianli Technology's entry into Mercedes - Benz's supply chain may accelerate the company's opening of the external supply market.
The cooperation between BAIC and Qianli Technology is the most mature. The two parties plan to establish a joint venture company within this year.
The two parties have planned 5 cooperation models, including not only the coupe and off - road SUV series but also a shooting brake model. An industry insider told 36Kr that some of these models are planned to be launched within this year.
36Kr has learned that the cooperation between Qianli Technology and BAIC is led by Wang Jun.
Before joining Qianli Technology, Wang Jun was the chairman and legal representative of Zhiyu Xinxing, a provider of perception and computing fusion solutions. BAIC was a customer of Zhiyu Xinxing. After Wang Jun became the co - president of Qianli Technology, Qianli Technology first cooperated with BAIC through Zhiyu Xinxing. "Later, it was Qianli Technology that directly cooperated with BAIC." Zhiyu Xinxing once played the role of an intermediary between Qianli Technology and BAIC.
How Does Qianli Technology Achieve "Independence and Autonomy"?
The introduction of external customers such as Changan and BAIC not only generates revenue for Qianli Technology but also enables it to get rid of its dependence on Geely as a single customer, thus avoiding becoming another Haomo Zhixing.
Haomo Zhixing, a company derived from Great Wall Motor's intelligent driving forward - looking department, has encountered difficulties in expanding external customers due to its close relationship with a single automaker. Obviously, Qianli Technology is very vigilant about the narrative of Haomo Zhixing.
At the Beijing Auto Show this year, the co - chairman of Qianli Technology publicly stated: "Geely is indeed our shareholder and one of our major customers. However, at the same time, Qianli Technology is completely independent and autonomous in the entire development strategy, business, and customer development process."
To truly achieve independence and autonomy, Qianli Technology has spared no effort.
The joining of Wang Jun and Zhao Ming is the manifestation of Qianli Technology's efforts in the personnel structure.
In the middle of last year, Qianli Technology officially announced that Wang Jun would serve as the co - president of the company. This executive, who once led the establishment of Huawei's intelligent vehicle BU, has strengthened Qianli Technology's capabilities in assisted driving technology R & D and mass production after joining the company.
At the beginning of this year, Qianli Technology officially announced that Zhao Ming, the former CEO of Honor, would become the co - chairman of the company. Zhao Ming once led Honor from a sales trough to the first place in the domestic mobile phone market share. His joining has complemented Qianli Technology's sales implementation capabilities. Zhao Ming once said in an interview with the media on April 23rd this year that "bringing the toC thinking into the toB business" is his "advantage in this new position".
Establishing an ecological alliance is another effort made by Qianli Technology for the commercialization of technology.
On April 23rd this year, Qianli Technology, Jieyue Xingchen, Aixin Yuanzhi, and Tianshu Zhixin officially announced the establishment of the "Qianli Alliance", proposing the ecological concept of "chain - type collaboration" to jointly impact the existing pattern of the assisted driving industry. 36Kr has learned that Qianli Technology is also promoting cross - shareholding with Jieyue Xingchen.
Among them, Jieyue Xingchen provides large - model capabilities, Qianli Technology is responsible for the application of the model, Aixin Yuanzhi develops vehicle - end chips, and Tianshu Zhixin provides general computing power for large - model training.
To some extent, the "Qianli Alliance" has the same ecological alliance strategy as Horizon. At the beginning of this year, Horizon reshaped its ecological alliance and launched the algorithm service model "HSD Together". The Journey 6P chip, originally developed by Horizon for algorithm solutions, has also been opened to manufacturers such as Yuanrong and Bosch. Horizon hopes to gain an advantage in the competition with manufacturers such as NVIDIA and Xinxing Hangtu.
Qianli Technology established the "Qianli Alliance" to bind cooperation partners and expand its influence. 36Kr has learned that the M97 to be launched by Aixin Yuanzhi has a computing power of over 700 TOPS, and its performance is comparable to that of Thor U. "Therefore, automakers such as Leapmotor, Geely, and Chery, which are eager to reduce costs, are very interested in this chip."
It is foreseeable that automakers "interested" in the M97 chip may also favor Qianli Technology, which is more coordinated with Aixin Yuanzhi, when choosing an algorithm provider.
However, although Qianli Technology has initially opened up the external supply market, in the current situation of the accelerated differentiation of the intelligent driving industry, Qianli Technology is facing the pursuit of strong competitors such as Huawei and Momenta. To maintain a good momentum and finally become a company that can compete with Huawei, Qianli Technology still needs to overcome many challenges.
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