Huawei Struggling to Grow Smart Car Business, Executive Says

Chinese automakers prefer to keep control over their driving tech, while U.S. sanctions make international firms wary, Richard Yu says

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Two cars sit on display on Oct. 18 at a Huawei smart car store in Shenzhen, South China’s Guangdong province. Photo: VCG

Software giant Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. revealed that it is struggling to grow its fledgling smart driving systems business as Chinese automakers fear losing control of the “soul” of their cars and U.S. sanctions keep international firms at a distance.

Richard Yu, who oversees Huawei’s consumer and smart car businesses, laid bare the company’s predicament at an industry forum Saturday, which followed renewed speculation that Huawei was planning to make its own cars.

Domestic electric-vehicle (EV) startups tend to be unwilling to collaborate with Huawei in intelligent driving as they prefer to have full ownership of the technology, Yu said at the China EV100 Forum. China’s traditional carmakers are also worried that a partnership would give Huawei too much control over a car’s software system.

Meanwhile, Washington’s sanctions on Huawei continue to unsettle international companies and so they are also reluctant to build deep ties, Yu said.