Tencent wishes to be foreign car manufacturers’ go-to business for EVs in China

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Tencent wants to be foreign automakers' go-to company for EVs in China

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BMW’s iX electrical SUV in China was the very first international automobile brand name to consist of the car variation of Tencent’s We Chat messaging app, according to the Chinese tech business.

Tencent

BEIJING– Chinese web giant Tencent wishes to offer innovation which the business states will assist foreign car manufacturers that desire to offer cars and trucks in China’s huge electrical lorry market.

BMW and some U.S. car manufacturers are currently dealing with Tencent, stated Liu Shuquan, vice president of Tencent Intelligent Mobility, which becomes part of Tencent’s cloud company. Speaking to CNBC on Friday, he decreased to define which American carmakers it’s dealing with.

In a relocation focused on assisting enhance its worldwide technique, Liu’s group released a brand-new cloud computing item for car manufacturers called the “Tencent Intelligent Automobile Cloud” on Friday.

The all-in-one cloud item– likewise offered for domestic car manufacturers– can cover all technological elements of an electrical automobile, the business declared. Those includes variety from saving information in such a way enhanced for training self-governing driving systems, to offering motorists access to Tencent’s social networks and map apps.

The interface might be a selling point for China’s motorists thinking about how Tencent controls a selection of the leading online home entertainment apps in China.

The business has actually played the function of Facebook in China with its common We Chat messaging, payments and social networks app– something tech competitors Baidu and Alibaba have yet to come near.

In home entertainment, Tencent has other apps also: QQ Music, among the 2 primary Spotify- like apps in China; Tencent Video, which uses on-demand streaming material consisting of truth programs and animated series; along with popular mobile video games like Honor of Kings.

Tencent Maps is the 3rd most-popular navigation app in Apple’s App shop in China– the leading 2 come from its essential competitors Alibaba and Baidu.

All cars and trucks letting travelers or motorists gain access to Tencent apps from the lorry’s platforms require to have a contract with Tencent, Liu stated.

Those app-level collaborations began in 2018, around the exact same time Tencent Cloud started dealing with car manufacturers for self-governing driving services, the business stated.

Adding more self-driving tech

Players in China’s car market are progressively wagering that regional motorists will desire more self-governing driving functions, which are basically assisted-driving functions due to policy of present innovation.

Already in the very first quarter, 23% of brand-new cars and trucks offered in China included a restricted level of assisted driving, described as “Level 2” in a category system for self-governing driving, according to Tencent.

With the brand-new cloud computing item revealed recently, Liu stated abroad automobile business might establish automobiles with navigation and assisted-driving functions tailored for China’s roadways and surface.

“The information is owned by [the] OEM, the customer,” Liu stated, describing initial devices makers which offer elements and parts for another business’s item.

“We simply offer cloud service to save that information. The 2nd thing is we offer an entire community. That community not just consist of[s] our own service and material however likewise our partners’.”

Liu stated his business currently partners with almost 40 car brand names, consisting of BMW, SAIC and Nio, covering 120 lorry designs. He likewise kept in mind collaboration talks with German and Japanese business.

BMW did not instantly react to a CNBC ask for remark. SAIC and Nio agents spoke at Friday’s launch occasion for the “Tencent Intelligent Automobile Cloud” item.

Read more about electrical automobiles from CNBC Pro