Geely Auto Group may already pose a huge threat to the rest of the automotive industry, but they’re not resting on their laurels just yet. Earlier this month, we got word that they’re partnering up with Foxconn to create a JV focused on contract manufacturing electric vehicles for third parties. More recently, they partnered up with Baidu to create ‘intelligent electric vehicle’ for the Chinese tech giant. Well, they’re also teaming up with another huge Chinese technology giant, Tencent.
The deal with Tencent will be to have a ‘strategic cooperation’ in digitalisation, intelligent cockpits, autonomous drive and low-carbon development.
This is quite a deep level of partnership as it will affect Geely’s entire automotive product lifecycle. However, the two companies have had a history of working together, both in automotive and non-automotive fields, so the synergies should not be too tough to develop.
Previous cooperations between the two companies
2018: Joint venture with China Railways developing high-speed Wifi, high-speed railway mobility service applications, and other digital services
2019: ECARX under Geely Holding Group works with Tencent Auto on intelligent connectivity services, joint user operations, AI, and cloud services.
Ongoing: Tencent automotive applications are available in several Geely Auto and Lynk & Co models.
An Conghui, President of Geely Holding Group, President and CEO of Geely Auto Group said:
“The global automotive industry is facing profound changes and new technologies are restructuring the industrial ecology. Looking ahead to the future, we must be open to cooperation, joint development, and new innovations. With a cooperative relationship spanning three years, Geely and Tencent is now deepening their partnership and working to digitalize the entire automotive value chain. At the same time, we hope to fulfil our responsibility to society by jointly promoting sustainable low carbon development throughout the automotive industry.”
Tang Daosheng, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent and President of Tencent Cloud and Smart Industry Group said:
“Tencent and Geely have cooperated with each other since 2018 and have achieved much together. Today, the digitalization of the mobility sector has reached a new level and the time for Geely to digitally transform all aspects of their automotive product lifecycle is upon us. As Geely’s strategic digital partner, Tencent hopes to help the Geely Auto Group further its digital transformation and promote further sustainable development of the automotive industry.”
