BYD reportedly makes team changes to focus more on driver assist tech
BYD has made changes to its smart driving technology development teams to increase its bet on the field, according to a new report.
The Chinese new energy vehicle giant last week spun off the team responsible for its own technology at its planning institute's smart driving research and development centre to create a separate development unit called Tianxuan, local media outlet Jiemian reported today, citing multiple sources.
The new unit, headed by former HiPhi smart driving director Xu Lingyun, is organizationally on par with BYD's smart driving centre, according to the report.
Xu joined BYD in Sep 2023 as head of the perception technology team, reporting to Han Bing, head of the smart driving centre at BYD's planning institute.
With the latest restructuring, Xu reports directly to Yang Dongsheng, head of BYD's planning institute, according to Jiemian.
The Tianxuan unit currently employs under 400 people and is still in the process of internal staff integration, according to the report.
The unit will build full-stack R&D capabilities in a number of areas including perception, positioning, planning, control, underlying software, tool development, and data, the report said.
The smart driving centre under Han's charge will focus on supplier integration solutions, the report said, adding that smart driving suppliers working with BYD include Horizon Robotics, Black Sesame, Momenta, and DJI.
BYD will use both in-house developed technology and supplier solutions for its smart driving, and the establishment of the Tianxuan unit means that it is raising the emphasis on in-house developed technology to a new level, the report said, citing a person familiar with the matter.
In his first speech to all Tianxuan team members, Xu said BYD started relatively late in the smart driving field, but has the largest data source, according to the report.
Xu hinted that BYD's in-house developed smart driving technology will likely be used first in Yangwang's models, according to the report.
BYD officially launched the Yangwang brand on Jan 5, 2023, aiming for the market with a price tag in the RMB 1 million (USD138,000) level.
BYD's sales over the past two years have relied heavily on low-end and mid-end models, while for premium and luxury brands including Denza, Yangwang, and Fang Cheng Bao, smart driving capabilities are a key part of supporting the price premium, the report noted.
BYD has been very conservative in its marketing of smart driving capabilities over the past few years, but the company has stepped up its research and development of smart driving technology to stay relevant in what is seen as the next phase of competition in the EV industry.
Earlier this month, BYD chairman and president Wang Chuanfu said at the company's 2023 annual shareholders meeting that BYD's team of engineers in the field of smart driving was approaching 5,000.
BYD would invest RMB 100 billion in smart driving in the future, focusing on research and development of intelligent driving technologies including generative AI and large models, Wang said.
On Jan 16, BYD unveiled Xuanji Architecture as the core of its vehicle intelligence.
In the future, BYD's high-level smart driving systems will be standard on its models priced over RMB 300,000, while models priced between RMB 200,000 and RMB 300,000 offer them as options, the company said at the time.
On Jun 13, BYD showed off its assisted-driving capabilities in a rare video demonstration of a Denza N7 SUV passing through a complex urban road with the assisted-driving feature on and zero human takeover.
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