Neta S, Jointly Produced by Hozon and Huawei, to List Next Year

Chinese EV startup Hozon Auto, Neta’s parent firm, and Huawei inked an agreement on Wednesday to develop a long-term win-win partnership. The Neta S, which is scheduled to hit the market next year, will be the first model co-developed by Hozon Auto and Huawei.

The Neta S will use Huawei’s MDC (mobile data center) intelligent driving platform and Lidar technology. The extended range version’s endurance mileage exceeds 1,100 kilometers, while the pure electric version’s endurance mileage surpasses 800 kilometers. The vehicle can realize L4 autonomous driving in some aspects, such as unmanned parking, remote calling and automatic tracking while driving.

Under the agreement, the two companies will carry out all-around cooperation on smart connectivity, in-car computing, intelligent driving, digital energy and cloud-based services, on the foundation of core technologies as IoT (Internet of Things), cloud computing and big data.

In May, Neta Auto introduced Internet company 360 as its second largest shareholder. Both parties affirmed that they would explore cooperation across the areas of intelligent interconnection, smart cockpits, digitalization and network security.

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Hozon Auto is the fifth vehicle company in China to carry out in-depth cooperation with Huawei. The telecommunications giant has also chosen BAIC BJEV, Changan Auto, SERES and GAC Group as strategic partners to support them in developing their own sub-brands. Huawei has repeatedly stressed that it does not make cars itself, aiming instead to focus on ICT (information and communications technology) and supply incremental components of intelligent vehicles to help car OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) build better vehicles.

Wang Jun, president of Huawei’s smart car solution business unit, said in April that the firm planned to invest $1 billion into the research and development of smart driving technologies this year. Besides, the R&D group of its auto business will be expanded to over 5,000 staff members in 2021, of which more than 2,000 will be located within the autonomous driving wing, he added.