16 | Monday, December 14, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY 10 | Wednesday, March 6, 2019 CHINA DAILY

Li Auto Truck makers turn to sets no growing China market

By LI FUSHENG date for [email protected] China, the world’s International carmakers are electric eying China’s commercial vehi­ largest truck market, cle segment, as the government is of utmost continues to invest in infrastruc­ ture and truckers seek comfort importance to us and project and better performance, said has become one of experts. China has been the world’s our important largest vehicle market since markets for future By ZHANG DANDAN 2009, with passenger vehicles as the mainstay. However, their growth.” Nasdaq­listed startup Li Auto sales have been falling since Martin Daum, CEO of Daimler is conducting “pre­research” on 2018, due to factors including Truck pure electric cars, but the extend­ limited license plate quotas in ed­range vehicle maker said on affluent metropolises. Thursday there is not a deadline The coronavirus has brought “But the demand for modern when it will go ahead. total vehicle sales down this year. vehicles with a higher technology Li Auto currently produces But commercial vehicles have been content, better performance and extended­range electric vehicles, insulated from the pandemic higher availability is increasing which can usually have longer thanks to China’s continuous with the need for more efficient ranges that pure electrics. investment in infrastructure. logistics and sustainable transport,” Its pure electric vehicles will be Statistics from the National said Scania in a statement. manufactured based on the next A staff member works on producing auto chips at a plant of a chip maker based in Chizhou, East China’s Development and Reform Commis­ Li Dakai, former chairman of generation of electric technolo­ Anhui province. SHENG WENPENG / FOR CHINA DAILY sion show that China’s investment transmission producer Shaanxi gies, which are expected to in the first 10 months moved up 0.7 Fast Gear, said more than 90 per­ include super­fast charging tech­ percent year­on­year despite the cent of trucks and buses sold in nology, high­voltage charging pandemic. China have manual gears, which platforms and high­charging­rate In the same period, commercial means there is great growth poten­ batteries, according to Li Auto. vehicle sales in the first 10 months tial for those with automatic trans­ The company stated that as Chips a big hurdle for totaled 4.2 million this year, up 21 missions. charging technologies and infra­ percent. He said demand for gas­efficient structure are still relatively Of them, heavy­duty truck and smart trucks will grow as well. sparse, pure electric vehicle user sales grew almost 40 percent to Li estimated that 50 percent of experience is below par. 1.37 million in the first 10 trucks will be hybrids in 10 or 20 As the supporting technologies industry to overcome months of 2020. Their sales are years. and facilities are substantially expected to hit a new high of 1.6 Scania’s President and CEO Hen­ improved in the following years, million for the whole year. rik Henriksson said it will make sig­ charging speed and convenience Digital components to play a more important When the intelligent connected Swedish truck maker Scania, a nificant investments until the end will also increase. role in overall automotive production in future vehicle era comes, the whole unit under Volkswagen’s com­ of the 2020s to establish China as John Zeng, managing director industry is bound to have higher mercial vehicle arm, Traton the third arm in its global produc­ of consulting firm LMC Automo­ requirements and more demand Group, has bought a truck com­ tion structure. tive Shanghai, said that as electric By ZHANG DANDAN on Friday that China is expected to for auto chips, which will feature pany in Jiangsu province. It has Scania’s investments in China vehicles represent the general [email protected] sell 25 million vehicles this year, fast upgrades and a high­level safe­ thus acquired a license to pro­ include establishing research and trend of the automobile industry, down just 2 percent from 2019. ty. duce its trucks in China for the development in the country. it is no surprise that Li Auto, a Chinese companies should get The imbalance between supply Before it’s too late, the industry first time. “We are aiming for sales in China leading Chinese NEV car manu­ prepared for the rise in chip and demand has resulted in Chi­ should learn lessons from the It did not reveal the schedule for at the end of the 2020s of at least the facturer with a high market valua­ demand as cars become smarter, na’s shortage of chips, Zhang said. chips used in mobile phones, and the first China­made model to roll off same volume as that of our current­ tion, will produce pure electric said analysts, after some carmak­ “With the resumption of produc­ take precautions to give more the assembly line, but Chinese media ly single largest market, Brazil,” said cars and amplify its product port­ ers experience pandemic­caused tion and transportation, the situa­ opportunities to domestic chip reported it would be around 2022. Henriksson. folio. chip shortages. tion can be turned around quickly.” makers, Zeng said. Like Volvo and Mercedes­Benz, Daimler AG is preparing itself for As power battery technology “It (the shortage of chips for car Nevertheless, John Zeng, man­ According to Yuan Chengyin, Scania has been selling imported the production of Mercedes­Benz­ develops, costs will be further electronics) is a historical prob­ aging director of consulting firm general manager of the National trucks in China, which are priced branded trucks at its Chinese joint lowered and extended­range lem, as China relied on imported LMC Automotive Shanghai, said New Energy Vehicle Technology higher than domestic rivals. venture, Foton Daimler. vehicles will be gradually phased chips from Europe, the United that to ensure a sound develop­ Innovation Center, the cost of auto The market is largely dominat­ Earlier this month, the joint out of the market, according to States, Malaysia, Japan and South ment of the automobile industry, chips in China was around $400 ed by local automakers including venture said it would invest over Yale Zhang, managing director of Korea,” said Yale Zhang, managing especially in the era of intelligent per car in 2019, and is estimated to FAW Jiefang Group, Dongfeng 3.8 billion yuan ($581.75 million) Shanghai­based consultancy firm director of Shanghai­based con­ connected vehicles, the problem of be $600 in 2022. With estimated Motor Group and Sinotruk, in a new plant in northern Bei­ Automotive Foresight. sultancy firm Automotive Fore­ auto chip shortage should be paid sales in the Chinese automobile which offer more price­competi­ jing. Production is to start in two “Switching to pure electric cars sight. more attention and solved funda­ market of 25 million in 2022, the tive vehicles. years. is not demanding for Li Auto However, the lockdown due to mentally. market scale of the country’s auto technically,” Zeng said. “However, the outbreak of the novel coronavi­ Auto chips, as small compo­ chips will reach $15 billion. as it is, fast charging is harmful to rus interrupted chip production nents, were to some extent The automobile chip market has the stability of batteries and cuts and the transnational transporta­ neglected in the period of tradi­ huge development opportunity, service life. We will see if future tion to some extent, which cut the tional car manufacturing in Chi­ and Chinese enterprises should technologies can help solve the supply of chips to the Chinese mar­ na, leading to the country having grasp it, Yuan said. problem.” ket. defects in the layout of the indus­ There have been some Chinese Li Auto is the only Chinese NEV As for the demand side, China’s trial chain and resorting to companies, including BYD, Star­ startup that produces extended­ automobile industry has had a imported chips. Power Semiconductor and Hori­ range electric cars, as its peers, sharp recovery from the pandemic Data shows that in 2019, the zon Robotics, and Sino­foreign including Nio and Xpeng, focus lockdown, with the market experi­ global auto chip market was worth joint ventures making strides in on the development and produc­ encing eight consecutive months around $47.5 billion. While China’s developing automobile chips. tion of pure electric vehicles. of sales growth. auto chip industry was valued at In May, BAIC Motor joined Li Auto has only one model, the In June, the country’s leading less than 15 billion yuan ($2.29 bil­ hands with Imagination Technolo­ Li One, on sale, of which it sold automobile industry association, lion), accounting for around 4.5 gies, a British semiconductor and 26,498 in the first 11 months this the China Association of Automo­ percent of the global total. software design company, to set up year. In November, 4,646 models bile Manufacturers, forecast a full­ In contrast, the scale of the Chi­ a joint venture, focusing on the were delivered to customers, a year decline in sales of 10­20 nese automobile industry account­ research and development of 25.8 percent increase from Octo­ percent. ed for more than 30 percent of the autonomous driving chips and ber. But, the association estimated world that year. language interaction chips. Uber, hit by virus, sells its robot­vehicle division

SAN RAMON, CALIFORNIA — the Uber network,” Urmson said. Aurora, based in Mountain View, Uber is selling off its autonomous Uber will not have exclusive California, is led by former Google, vehicles development arm as the rights as a ride­hailing company to Our first product will Tesla and Uber executives. Aurora ride­hailing company slims down Aurora’s technology, but the two also has partnerships with delivery after its revenues were pummeled companies will have a “preferred be in trucking and giant Amazon and auto companies by the coronavirus pandemic. relationship,” Urmson said. freight ... and we’ll Hyundai and Kia, among others, but Self­driving vehicle technology San Francisco­based Uber will its partnership with Uber is its first company Aurora will acquire the lose a critical piece of its company ultimately see our official relationship with a ride­hail­ employees and technology behind after the pandemic cut into its vehicles deploying on ing company. Uber’s Advanced Technologies finances by suppressing demand for The move will help Uber find a Group in an stock transaction, the shared rides. Its path to profitability the Uber network.” quicker path to profitability, said companies said last week. has often been linked with its plans Chris Urmson, CEO of Aurora Steven Fox, founder and CEO of Fox Uber will also invest $400 million to deploy autonomous vehicles and Advisors. “It accomplishes the best into Aurora, and Uber’s CEO Dara reduce the high cost of paying driv­ of both worlds for them. It takes Khosrowshahi will join Aurora’s ers. back,” Urmson said. “What’s been away a big profit drag and keeps board of directors. The company’s efforts around impressive to me in meeting the them strategically well­positioned After the transaction, Aurora will self­driving technology was marred team over the last little while is just for when they want to move parts of be worth $10 billion and Uber will in March 2018 when one of its auto­ how much the team has learned, their network to be autonomous,” he hold 26 percent stake in the compa­ mated test vehicles hit and killed a and the tenaciousness, and deter­ said. ny, Aurora CEO Chris Urmson said woman, the first death involving the mination of the team as they come The deal means San Francisco­ in an interview. technology. The backup Uber driver to market in a thoughtful, safe based Uber will be entrusting a key “Our first product will be in truck­ involved in the crash was charged way.” piece of its future to a 3­year­old ing and freight, but we look forward with negligent homicide for being Gaining customers’ trust is a huge startup co­founded and run by one to taking this great team that we distracted in the moments before factor, said Dan Morgan, vice­presi­ of the engineers who launched Goo­ have and accelerating that while fatally striking the woman in subur­ dent of Synovus Trust Company. gle’s pioneering work in self­driving continuing working on light vehi­ ban Phoenix. “You have one or two bad accidents cars more than a decade ago. cles and ride­haling, and we’ll ulti­ “There’s no doubt they had a and people are like, ‘I’m not getting mately see our vehicles deploying on pretty rough couple of years a while into that thing,’” he said. AP

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