Huawei Technologies unveiled its commercial Level 3 autonomous driving solution for highways, supported by executives from 11 of its car-making partners, igniting a smart technology race at the 21st Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition that opened today.
Huawei also debuted the Qiankun Intelligent Driving ADS 4, HarmonySpace 5 smart cockpit, and other intelligent tech products during a launch event late yesterday. The Qiankun ADS has four versions, with the flagship ADS Ultra enabling L3 self-driving on highways.
Huawei's L3 autonomous driving tech will achieve commercial readiness this year, said Jin Yuzhi, chief executive of Huawei's Intelligent Automotive Solution Business Unit. Almost four million cars will be equipped with the tech giant's urban intelligent driving assistance systems this year and over 27 million autos within three years, he added.
"Huawei has completed 600 million kilometers of L3 highway self-driving simulations and validations via its cloud-based World Engine, fully preparing the Shenzhen-based firm's highway L3 tech for mass production and commercial deployment," Jin pointed out.
The leap from L2 assisted driving to L3 autonomous driving presents significant technical challenges, prompting Huawei to prioritize highway applications where environmental complexity is comparatively lower, Jin noted.
Huawei allied with more than 600 industry partners across the upstream and downstream supply chain last year, with its intelligent driving systems installed in more than 22 production models, Jin said, adding that shipments of smart components topped 23 million units in 2024.
Huawei's Intelligent Automotive Solution Business Unit turned its first annual net profit last year, while its revenue soared 474 percent to CNY26.4 billion (USD3.6 billion) from the previous year, according to the parent company's financial report.
Vehicle intelligence focuses on software and artificial intelligence capabilities, fundamentally differentiating Huawei's co-development model with carmakers from its previous role as a pure hardware supplier, according to Jin. "Our collaboration with automakers requires deeper integration to deliver sustained value creation."
Audi will debut multiple new models co-developed with Huawei at the Shanghai Auto Show, which runs through May 2, including new energy and internal combustion engine vehicles, said Johannes Roscheck, president of the German auto giant's Chinese arm. Dozens of Audi models equipped with Qiankun ADS will likely launch this year, he added.
