BMW’s X electric SUV in China was the first global car brand to include an automotive version of Tencent’s WeChat messaging application, according to the Chinese technology company.
Tencent
BEIJING - Chinese internet giant Tencent wants to sell technology that the company says will help foreign car manufacturers who want to sell cars in the large Chinese electric vehicle market.
BMW and some American car manufacturers are already cooperating with Tencent, Liu Shukuan, vice president of Tencent Intelligent Mobility, which is part of Tencent’s cloud business. Speaking to CNBC on Friday, he refused to specify with which American car manufacturers he is cooperating.
In a move aimed at helping strengthen its international strategy, Liu’s team on Friday launched a new cloud computing product for carmakers called “Tencent Intelligent Automobile Cloud.”
The all-in-one cloud product - also available to domestic carmakers - can cover all technological aspects of the electric car, the company claims. These functions range from storing data in a way optimized for autonomous driving system training, to giving drivers access to Tencent’s social media and map applications.
The user interface can be a selling point for Chinese drivers as Tencent dominates a range of the best online entertainment apps in China.
The company has played the role of Facebook in China with its ubiquitous WeChat app for messaging, payments and social networking - something that technology rivals Baidu and Alibaba have yet to approach.
In the field of entertainment, Tencent has other applications: KK Music, one of the two main applications similar to Spotify in China; Tencent Video, which offers streaming content on demand, including reality shows and animated series; as well as popular mobile games like Honor of Kings.
Tencent Maps is the third most popular navigation app in Apple’s app store in China - the first two belong to its key rivals Alibaba and Baidu.
All cars that allow passengers or drivers to access Tencent applications from vehicle platforms must have a contract with Tencent, Liu said.
Those app-level partnerships began in 2018, around the same time that Tencent Cloud began working with carmakers for autonomous driving services, the company said.
Adding more self-driving technology
Players in the Chinese auto industry are increasingly betting that local drivers will want more autonomous driving functions, which are essentially assisted driving functions due to the regulation of current technology.
Already in the first quarter, 23% of new cars sold in China came with a limited level of assisted driving, called “level 2” in the autonomous driving classification system, according to Tencent.
With a new cloud computing product announced last week, Liu said foreign car companies could develop vehicles with navigation and assisted driving functions tailored to Chinese roads and terrain.
“The data is owned [the] OEM, consumer, ”Liu said, referring to original equipment manufacturers who provide components and parts for other companies’ products.
“We only provide a cloud service to store that data. The other thing is to secure the entire ecosystem. That ecosystem doesn’t just include[s] our own services and content, but also our partners. “
Liu said that his company is already a partner with almost 40 car brands, including BMW, SAIC and Nio, covering 120 vehicle models. He also mentioned partnership talks with German and Japanese companies.
BMW did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. Representatives of SAIC and Nio spoke at the presentation of the “Tencent Intelligent Automobile Cloud” product on Friday.