한국자동차연구원이 최근 발간한 산업분석 Vol. 143 ‘중국 자동차 시장 내 Huawei의 부상과 전망’ 보고서에 따르면 자동차 소프트웨어 기술 경쟁력으로 중국 자동차 산업 중심으로 급부상한 화웨이가 향후 자동차 산업에서 지속적인 성공을 이어가기 위해서는 기존 완성차 업체들과의 협업 및 기술 우위 유지와 미국의 대중국 반도체 제재 속 중국 이외에 수출되는 차량에 탑재 여부 등에 따라 성패가 갈라질 것으로 전망됐다.

▲How Huawei and automakers collaborate in the automotive industry
Success in securing advanced and market share based on SW technology competitiveness
Success or failure depends on whether or not the finished car is collaborated with or installed in an export car.
Huawei, which has emerged as a leader in the Chinese automobile industry with its competitive edge in automotive software technology, is expected to succeed or fail in the future automobile industry depending on factors such as maintaining collaboration with existing automakers, maintaining technological superiority, and whether to install the chips in vehicles exported outside of China amid the US's sanctions on China for semiconductors.
The Korea Automobile Research Institute recently published an industrial analysis Vol. 143 published a report titled 'Huawei's Rise and Prospects in the Chinese Automobile Market'.
According to Lee Seo-hyun, a senior researcher at the Industrial Analysis Lab who wrote the report, autonomous driving technology at Level 3 or below has recently emerged as a competitive axis in the Chinese automobile industry, and Chinese automobile companies are pursuing collaboration with Huawei, which is considered a leader in autonomous driving software.
Around 2021, existing Chinese automakers recognized that their software technology competitiveness was lower than that of emerging manufacturers such as Xpeng and LiAuto, and were hesitant to collaborate with Huawei, fearing that this problem could be solved by collaborating with them, but that their core values and leadership would be lost. However, around 2023, autonomous driving technology emerged as a factor in purchasing decisions by Chinese consumers, and it became difficult to respond in a timely manner with independent technology development. As sales of AITO M7, jointly developed by Seres and Huawei, were brisk, it is reported that several manufacturers began collaborating with Huawei around 2024.
BYD, which has been promoting the internalization of autonomous driving technology, is also planning to apply Huawei ADS to the new Leopard 8 model of its high-performance car brand Fangchengbao, and GAC is known to be releasing a new model with Huawei Harmony OS, smart cockpit, and high-end smart driving package in 2025.
Huawei does not manufacture cars directly, but has been collaborating with automakers through three methods: △Tier 1, which supplies only parts; △HI (Huawei Inside), which supplies advanced hardware and software; and △HIMA (Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance), which is involved in vehicle design, quality control, design, brand operation, and sales.
The HIMA brand series has achieved both quantitative and qualitative results, with brisk sales despite high unit prices. From January to September 2024, the HIMA group of brands sold a total of 312,000 units, ranking 7th in domestic new energy vehicle sales, and the average vehicle sales price was 382,000 yuan, which is 15-40% higher than that of Benz, BMW, and Tesla, ranking 1st.
In particular, Huawei's high-end smart driving package, which is a package of autonomous driving level 2 technologies including AEB (Advanced Emergency Braking), City NOA (Navigate on Autopilot, technology that allows the vehicle to automatically determine and steer the path while driving), and parking assistance, is strengthening Huawei's dominance as the purchase rate by consumers is increasing despite paid operation and price increases.
Based on this, Huawei is also actively participating in revising autonomous driving-related technology standards. It is the only parts company to participate in the revision of China's passenger car AEB national standards, which is a notable change compared to the past when multiple parts companies participated.
Huawei is presenting AEB as a marketing element to emphasize the excellence and safety of its technology, and it is expected that China will make it mandatory to install AEB in passenger cars when the revised standard is introduced, which is not currently mandatory.
Despite Huawei's high influence in the Chinese automobile industry, it is analyzed that Huawei's continued influence will depend on its cooperative relationship with automakers and its ability to maintain a relative technological edge.
It is known that automakers such as BYD are developing their own smart driving technology, Xpeng and others are using Nvidia's SoC to advance their own SW technology, and Tesla is also collaborating with Baidu to provide FSD (Full Self-Driving) service in the first quarter of 2025.
Smart Driving The competitiveness of autonomous driving SW technology is largely determined by securing various data and supercomputer computational performance. Huawei is still behind Tesla and others, and its competitors are known to be narrowing the gap.
Meanwhile, as collision accidents involving HIMA series vehicles continue, some are questioning the reliability of Huawei's technology.
Huawei is targeting the automotive industry platform, starting with smart driving technology, but its impact will be focused on the Chinese domestic market, and the US's semiconductor sanctions against China are expected to significantly determine Huawei's relative advantage.
In addition, Huawei is a company subject to concentrated sanctions by the United States, so it seems that it will be difficult to apply Huawei components and technology to vehicles destined for the United States and Europe, and there will be limitations in expandability for vehicles destined for emerging countries due to price issues.