Huawei’s carmaking ambitions face challenges under US sanctions and concerns over brand identity

Huawei’s head of smart cars Richard Yu said during a forum that the company is having trouble finding partners amid competition at home and sanctions abroad

Providing the ‘smarts’ for electric cars was one big pivot for the telecoms equipment maker after US sanctions all but killed its lucrative smartphone business

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Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co sells electric vehicles at its flagship store in Shenzhen on April 21, 2021. Photo: SCMP

Published: 9:00pm, 3 Apr 2023Updated: 9:14pm, 4 Apr 2023

Huawei Technologies Co’ bid to become a major supplier of the smart software powering next-generation electric vehicles (EVs) is facing challenges from US sanctions, competition at home, and an identity crisis.

Richard Yu Chengdong, chief executive at both Huawei’s consumer business group and the firm's intelligent automotive solution business unit, said at the China EV 100 Forum on Saturday that major European, Japanese and American carmakers will not use the Chinese tech giant’s solutions because it is under US sanctions.

He said top-tier EV makers at home also will not partner with the company on so-called smartisation because they have their own EV ambitions and may want to limit reliance on third-party services when considering valuations ahead of public listings.

“So our clients are then confined to traditional Chinese carmakers … Among them, those who don’t want to lose their souls would probably shun us,” Yu said.

The joke revealed an uncomfortable truth: navigating the domestic EV industry has proven to be a bumpy ride for China’s largest telecoms equipment maker. The business requires huge investment commitments, but there is a limited pool of clients.