Automotive business needs to be adjusted again! Huawei officially announces: Yu Chengdong Promotes to Chairman of Automotive BU
Huawei insiders have stated that this adjustment will elevate Yu Chengdong to the position of Chairman of Automotive BU, with the overall goal of helping Huawei achieve commercial success in the field of intelligent vehicles. "We will continue to increase investment in the automotive related field in the future."
Author | Li Na from First Financial
On September 20th, it was reported that Jin Yuzhi, the President of Huawei Optical Product Line, has recently taken over as the CEO of Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU, while Yu Chengdong serves as the Chairman of Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU.
Huawei insiders told First Financial reporters that the above news is true. The person stated that in this adjustment, Yu Chengdong will be promoted to the position of Chairman of Automotive BU, with the overall goal of helping Huawei achieve commercial success in the field of intelligent vehicles. "We will continue to increase investment in the automotive related field in the future."
At 2 pm, Huawei also issued an official internal document regarding the above adjustments.
According to public information, Jin Yuzhi currently serves as Vice President of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., President of Huawei Optical Product Line, and alternate director of Huawei. Its intelligent in car optical business products include AR HUD, intelligent headlights, etc., which intersect with Huawei Car BU.
After the adjustment, Jin Yuzhi will be the third person in charge of CheBU since its establishment in May 2019.
With the above changes, the current management architecture of Huawei's Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU includes: Huawei Terminal BG CEO, Chairman of Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU Yu Chengdong, President of Huawei Optics Product Line, CEO of Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU Jin Yuzhi, Huawei Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU CSO Wang Jun, and Huawei Intelligent Driving Solutions Product Line President and General Manager of Intelligent Driving Field Li Wenguang.
Industry insiders believe that after this management structure adjustment, Yu Chengdong will coordinate the relationship between automotive businesses from a higher perspective. With the gradual recovery of Huawei's terminal business, resources also need to be able to lead the operation of automotive BUs.
"The department led by Jin Yuzhi in the past has performed very well in business operations, and there may be a way to increase operating income and alleviate the financial pressure of the current automotive business," Huawei insiders told reporters.
According to public information, Huawei's optical product line led by Jin Yuzhi ranks among the world's top in the field of optical transmission and access, especially in long-distance optical transmission. This product covers multiple fields offline, including optical transmission, optical access, and optical applications. It is reported that Huawei invests up to $1 billion annually in research and development of optical products, demonstrating its importance in the field of optical communication.
But judging from the car BU he is about to take over, the profit pressure is not small. Since its establishment, this business unit has invested over 3 billion US dollars in research and development, but its revenue in 2022 was only 2.1 billion yuan, and in the first half of 2023, it was only 1 billion yuan.
Yu Chengdong once stated in a public speech in the first half of this year that there is only a two to three year window of opportunity for intelligent connected vehicles. If not seized, this market will have nothing to do with Huawei in the future.
At present, Huawei's cooperation with automotive companies can be divided into three categories: vertical component supply, HI mode, and Huawei Smart Selection mode. HI mode provides automotive companies with a full stack of intelligent automotive solutions, while Huawei Smart Selection mode involves Huawei's deep involvement in product definition, styling design, marketing, user experience, and other aspects. The depth of cooperation among these three modes varies from shallow to deep.
Yu Chengdong stated that Huawei has created a new business model in the Wenjie car, which is to create an ecological brand by Huawei. Internally, they hope that this ecological brand can exist in a very small number of companies that can survive. "We can't beat others by relying on one, but we can fight together as brothers. By building an ecological alliance, building this ecological platform together, and building the Wenjie ecological alliance, we can maximize its experience without conflicting products. This way, we can continue to develop. In the fierce market competition reshuffle in the future, these companies will become one of the few surviving enterprises."
"The intelligent selection model and the ecological brand model are our control of fate, and we are responsible for the success of the car company's products. If we cannot succeed, no matter how good the parts I make, what is the use? We must first help the car factory succeed. If the car factory cannot succeed, we cannot achieve success. The time window of these two years is very important. If we miss this village, we will not have this store," said Yu Chengdong.
He hopes that Huawei's automotive business segment can be profitable by 2025. "Currently, Huawei has not suffered any losses or profits in the field of intelligent selection. We have helped the car factory achieve over 1 million yuan, and the car BU can be profitable."