Tencent wants to sell technology that helps foreign automakers who want to sell cars in China’s electric car market.
The company has no plans to become a car maker. But it wants to support automakers to build high-quality cars, enhance marketing and enterprise management efficiency, and improve the commuting experience.
” BMW and some US automakers are working with Tencent ,” said the vice president of the company’s Intelligent Mobility division, which is part of the Cloud and Intelligent Industry Group.
In a move intended to help advance its international strategy, the company launched a new cloud computing product for automakers called Tencent Smart Car Cloud.
A comprehensive cloud solution designed specifically for the smart car industry – also available to domestic automakers – covers all technological aspects of the electric vehicle.
These features range from improved data storage and training for self-driving systems to giving drivers access to the company’s social media and map apps.
And the user interface could be a selling point for drivers in China given how the company controls some of the best online entertainment apps in China.
The company played the role of Facebook in China with the WeChat messaging, payments and social networking application.
The company also has other apps in the entertainment field such as QQ Music, which is one of the two major Spotify-like apps in China.
It also owns a Video app that offers on-demand content including reality shows and animated series. In addition to popular mobile games such as Honor of Kings. Its map app is the third most popular map app on the Apple App Store in China.
All cars that allow passengers or drivers to access Tencent apps from vehicle platforms need an agreement with Tencent.
Those application-level partnerships began in 2018, around the same time cloud company Tencent began working with automakers for self-driving services.
Tencent is using its cloud technology to help automakers
Players in China’s auto industry are increasingly betting that local drivers want more autonomous driving features.
23% of new cars sold in China in the first quarter came with a limited level of assistive driving. It is referred to as Level 2 in the Autonomous Driving Rating System.
With the announcement of the new cloud computing product, foreign car companies can develop vehicles with navigation and assisted driving features for roads and terrain in China.
The company said: We provide a cloud service for data storage. We also offer a complete ecosystem. This ecosystem includes our services and content, as well as those of our partners.
Tencent is involved with nearly 40 car brands, covering 120 car models. There are also partnership talks with German and Japanese companies.
China is the world’s largest car market, where sales of electric cars have soared. Government support helped boost growth in the industry.
The government is also working to make it easier for drivers to obtain license plates for cars that run on electricity rather than on fuel.
Other than Tesla, domestic brands dominated the new car category, which includes hybrid and battery cars.
China is also the largest single market for German auto giant Volkswagen. Volkswagen aims to have battery electric cars account for half of its sales by 2030.
