Chinese automaker Geely is unveiling the first model from its new Lynk & Co brand in Berlin.
Ullstein picture Dtl. | Photo by Ullstein | Getty Images
On Wednesday, the company said its fourth-quarter revenue rose 22% from a year earlier to $263 million. Geely’s automotive brands, such as Lynk and Co, account for 70% of this revenue.
For the same quarter, Nvidia reported that automotive revenue fell 4% year-over-year to $281 million, although CEO Jensen Huang called the company’s segment “the next billion-dollar business.”
Nvidia counts Geely’s premium electric car brand Zeekr as a customer for its Drive Orin chip, which uses artificial intelligence to power driver assistance capabilities known as a “system on a chip.” Li Auto, BYD’s Denza brand and Xiaomi are among Nvidia’s other automotive customers.
Ecarx co-founder and CEO Ziyu Shen told CNBC in an interview this week that Nvidia enjoys an advantage when it comes to autonomous AI-based control systems.
“We can’t compete with them in that area,” he said, but noted that there is still about 70% or 80% of the car market that doesn’t need such advanced technology and can buy simpler ones. safety-focused driver assistance technologies.
“Security will be a very important entry point for us,” he said in Mandarin, as translated by CNBC.
Ecarx sells its own Antora 1000 “system on a chip” which is used by Lynk and Co.
Shen claims that his company’s current products compete directly with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips and that the new offerings will be announced on March 20, will be on par with Nvidia’s Orin X.
So while he acknowledges Nvidia’s current lead in AI-based technology, Shen is looking at different ways to grab more market share in cars in the future.
Ecarx plans to take advantage of the sale to local Chinese companies that have to buy from local firms for geopolitical reasons, Shen said, adding that the company works with almost all major automakers except China’s BYD.
He expects the overseas market to also be a growth business for the company and something that offers it an edge over Chinese rivals such as Huawei.
In the past few months, Huawei has revealed several agreements to sell its operating system and other automotive technology to automakers in China, but has yet to announce any major overseas deals in the sector. The company also sells electric cars through its co-developed Aito brand.
“I think it is very difficult for Huawei to go global because it is a sanctioned company,” Shen said. “I think it will be very difficult for Western companies to cooperate with them.”
Asked about the impact of U.S. restrictions on Chinese technology, Shen said his company has isolated China operations from its overseas business and follows local compliance requirements related to its U.S. AI chip business, as well as the protection of intellectual property.
Ecarx’s website lists offices in the US and Europe, as well as in China.
Shen aims for Ecarx to increase its overseas sales from about 10 percent of current revenue to at least 25 percent next year and to at least 40 percent in the next four or five years.
“Frankly, if we can’t serve the five largest car manufacturers in the world, it’s very difficult for us to become a big company,” he said, “because none of the Chinese [original equipment manufacturers] are among the top five in the world.”
BYD was China’s biggest car company last year, followed by Volkswagen’s local joint venture with FAW, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association, which includes fuel-powered vehicles. Geely ranked third.
In new energy vehicles, which include hybrids and battery cars, BYD ranked first, followed by Tesla, GAC’s Aion brand and then Geely, according to association data.
