Huawei's auto business rakes in more revenue in H1 2024 than past 2 years combined

Chinese tech giant Huawei saw its automotive business unit realize a decent revenue in the first half of the year, as sales of models it built in partnership with Seres performed strongly.

As of early Jul, Huawei's Intelligent Automotive Solutions (IAS) business unit saw revenue reach RMB 10 billion ($1.38 billion), local media outlet 36kr reported today.

Huawei's previously published annual reports showed that its automotive business had revenues of RMB 2.1 billion and RMB 4.7 billion for the full years of 2022 and 2023, respectively.

This means that the business generated more revenue in the first half of this year than in the past two years combined, 36kr's report noted.

Huawei's automotive BU was established in May 2019, positioning itself as a supplier of smart internet-connected vehicle parts and components, providing solutions including smart driving and HarmonyOS cockpit solutions to car companies.

The business's significant revenue growth in H1 2024 came mainly from Seres' contribution.

Models built by Huawei in partnership with car companies delivered 194,200 units in the first half of 2024, of which the Aito-branded models it built in partnership with Seres delivered around 190,000 units, contributing more than 90%, the report by 36kr noted.

In a presentation on Mar 17, Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei's IAS business, said the business was expected to turn a profit this year, supported by mid-to-high-end models the company has built with car companies.

Huawei's automotive business had annual losses of up to RMB 10 billion at one point, but last year losses were reduced to RMB 6 billion, Yu said at the time.

On May 21, Yu said Huawei's automotive business had turned a profit in the first quarter of this year.

Huawei is pushing for the automotive business to operate independently to reach a wider potential customer base.

Huawei planned to integrate the core technologies and resources of its smart car solutions business into the new company, which would aim to become a world-class industry leader in automotive smart driving systems and components, according to a previous Changan announcement.

The joint venture was tentatively named Newcool, Changan's chairman Zhu Huarong said on Jan 16 at its global partner conference.