Huawei Challenges Tesla in the Autonomous Driving Tech Race

Tesla plans to enter China's autonomous driving market next year, facing stiff competition from Huawei. By 2025, a fierce battle between the two for the top provider spot could unfold. Who will emerge as the tech victor?

Tesla Delays Its Entry into China

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology, initially set to launch in China by the end of this year, has been postponed to 2025 due to pending regulatory approval.

A New Challenger, Huawei

In the autonomous driving technology race, Tesla is not alone. Yu Chengdong, President of Huawei’s automotive solutions division, announced at the 2024 World Conference on Connected Intelligent Vehicles that his company is gearing up to take on new competitors in China.

Bold Claims

Yu Chengdong has boasted that Huawei’s intelligent driving unit surpasses its foreign rival, Tesla, in driving solutions. He also suggested that a smart car powered by Huawei, without LiDAR technology, would perform better than Tesla’s offerings.

Huawei’s Bet

Huawei is banking on its advanced intelligent automotive suite, named Qiankun, to compete against foreign rivals. Already leading the Chinese automotive market not as a car manufacturer but as a provider of cutting-edge smart car solutions, Huawei’s AITO M9 and M7 Ultra models, which incorporate Huawei’s technology, have been successful in the sales market.

Ultimately, “Tesla will definitely face challenges in capturing customers in the Chinese autonomous vehicle market dominated by Huawei,” according to Yu Chengdong.