OPPO Denies Plans for 2024 EV Launch in India
Indian media outlet 91mobiles reported on November 22 that according to various sources, OPPO is moving into the market of electric vehicles and plans to launch its first EV in India in late 2023 or early 2024. In response to this report, employees of OPPO said that they had never heard of such a plan.
According to the report, OPPO has started to make a progress plan for EVs, with models expected to be unveiled in early 2024. OPPO has applied for trademarks for various automotive products in India, including EVs and driverless cars.
Since the beginning of 2021, it has been repeatedly reported that OPPO is developing cars. In April, it was reported by some media outlets that the company was preparing to develop cars, and that founder Chen Mingyong was making a thorough investigation of industrial chain resources and talent, even meeting with relevant personnel at Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, (CATL, a leading battery company), China Automotive Research Institute and other enterprises and institutions.
In May, OPPO submitted an application for the trademark registration of “OCAR,” which includes coded key cards, electronic key cards, GPS navigation equipment, speakers, operating system programs and more. The company’s official recruitment page has also opened up automobile-related positions, such as automated driving perception fusion experts, lidar sensor engineers and vehicle system integration experts.
Although the news of OPPO manufacturing cars has not been confirmed, the company is already developing solutions for the integration of smart cars and smartphones. At 2021’s OPPO Developer Conference, Wu Henggang, President of OPPO Software Engineering Division, announced that the firm officially launched the OPPO Carlink solution, which opens up the ability of car-phones to the public.
According to the company, the OPPO Carlink solution is a systematic travel solution including hardware and software, concerning technical capability and service application, from two-wheeled EVs to four-wheeled vehicles, and across terminals. It includes functions such as digital car keys, watches controlling cars, car flash charging, car screen projection, car housekeepers and others.
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At present, OPPO Carlink has more than 70 cooperative manufacturers, including automobile manufacturers, two-wheeled EV manufacturers, Tier1 manufacturers and travel service providers. OPPO’s plan is to land more than 15 million vehicles in 2022.