Huawei takes thinly-disguised swipe at BYD on autonomous cars

Staff reporter

Huawei yesterday took a thinly-disguised swipe at BYD (1211) amid a battle among China's electric vehicle makers to get ahead in the autonomous driving race.

Huawei executive director Richard Yu Chengdong said there is a big difference between making autonomous driving work and making it safe and reliable, after BYD announced plans to offer advanced autonomous driving on most of its models.

"Just like making a phone call only requires network connectivity, but browsing the internet requires 5G, this is why many consider Huawei's Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance to be ahead of its time," Yu said on the Twitter-like Weibo.

He said the breakthrough technology powering Huawei's Maextro luxury car - which is a HIMA model and priced in the 1 million yuan (HK$1.07 million) range - will soon be revealed.

On Monday, BYD said it will make its new 'God's Eye' driver-assistance system standard in vehicles priced above 100,000 yuan (HK$106,674) and several lower-cost models as well.

BYD's shares once hit a record high at HK$340.30 yesterday before closing 0.07 percent lower amid US President Donald Trump's tariff threats.

Meanwhile, Leapmotor (9863) yesterday launched a new EV with smart driving technology priced under 150,000 yuan.

In other news, China's car sales fell 12 percent in January from a year earlier to 1.81 million units, data from the China Passenger Car Association showed.