China's largest automaker, SAIC Motor, and Chinese tech giant Huawei have signed an agreement to develop smart electric vehicles.

SAIC Motor said it will cooperate with the tech manufacturer to develop new “globally competitive” smart electric vehicles, with the two firms strategically cooperating on manufacturing, supply chain management, and sales services, SAIC said in a statement.

“The strategic cooperation between SAIC and Huawei will further leverage each other's advantages and promote China's automotive industry to a new level in the age of intelligence,” SAIC added.

The move comes after SAIC Motor reported a decline in sales in its 2022 annual report.

In a statement at the time, the company said it faced challenges such as intense market competition and rising raw material prices, which put pressure on profitability.

But in 2024, it announced that it had reached a number of milestones, with terminal deliveries reaching 4.639 million vehicles and sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) hitting an all-time high, the company reported in January.

In December 2024 alone, SAIC Motor's wholesale vehicle sales reached 483,000 units, while terminal deliveries reached 506,000 units, marking the sixth consecutive month of sales growth.

Last year, the automaker launched the “Seven Technology Pillars 2.0,” a project that includes innovations such as solid-state batteries, intelligent digital chassis and advanced intelligent driving.

The company also inked a number of partnerships, including one with Audi to develop high-end smart EVs and a smart digital platform.

Last November, SAIC Motor and Volkswagen also renewed their joint venture agreement pledging to jointly develop more than 10 new models, including pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.

The new collaboration with SAIC adds to the list of strategic collaborations for Huawei, which is strengthening its partnerships to become a significant player in the electric vehicle market.

The Chinese manufacturer has been teaming with Changan Automobile since 2023 to create a new EV brand called Avatr, with the partnership aiming to boost Huawei's smart driving technologies.

The newly established joint venture between Changan and Huawei, announced in January, is tentatively named “Newcool,” and focuses on seven major areas, including smart driving, intelligent cockpit, smart car digital platform, intelligent car cloud, and smart car lights.

Huawei is also is currently collaborating with BAIC Group to develop smart EVs, integrating Huawei's intelligent vehicle solutions into BAIC's electric cars.

The chipmaker is also engaged in the development of artificial intelligence (AI). ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant that owns the video-sharing apps TikTok and Douyin, reportedly recently planned to develop a new large-scale AI language model using chips from HuaweiTechnologies.

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