Huawei teams up with GAC to break into the AI car market

Author | Zhou Zhiyu

Huawei aims to collaborate with partners to create an “Travel Intelligent Agent.”

On the evening of March 17, Huawei Smart Automotive Solutions BU CEO Jin Yuzhi and Qijing Automotive CEO Liu Jiaming jointly showcased the Qijing brand and its first model, GT7.

Jin Yuzhi set a significant goal for this vehicle — not just a mobile living space or a functional transportation tool, but an AI-era travel intelligent agent. “We hope both sides will work together to redefine the travel intelligent agent in the AI era, creating a brand born for users.”

The “境” (Jing) series represented by Qijing is seen as Huawei’s fourth cooperation model in the automotive field. It’s not Tier 1 component supply, not the HI deep cooperation model, nor HarmonyOS Intelligent Driving. Huawei’s team is based in Guangzhou, working jointly in a shared office, with IPD development processes integrated into the Qijing system, full-stack technology binding, but the brand and channels are independently managed by the Qijing team.

Product choices are equally bold. The first model is a 300,000-level intelligent shooting brake coupe, with almost no direct competitors domestically. No rivals also mean unverified demand.

Huawei and GAC have taken the first shot into an unoccupied space.

Blank Space

The first model is a shooting brake coupe, a very bold choice.

According to data from platforms like懂车帝, last year, the best-selling shooting brake in China sold at most 6,000 units per month; existing players are concentrated in the 200,000 yuan price range, so the 300,000-level smart shooting brake is truly a blank spot.

Qijing GT7 Product General Manager Xuan Wei said, “The shooting brake naturally has the elegant styling of a sedan, comparable cargo space to an SUV, and performance akin to a coupe.” “These have always been everyone’s dream cars, but in the past, no brand could offer accessible products.”

He doesn’t see this as a niche market. “The future won’t be a small-scale market but a very large one, fulfilling the untapped potential of young consumers’ needs.” Qijing bets on this demand’s real existence, just that no one has offered a product in the 300,000 yuan price range before.

GT7’s specs are impressive. 5050×1980×1470mm, 3000mm wheelbase, 0.23Cd drag coefficient. The highest-spec 896-line laser radar in mass production globally, 88-inch AR-HUD, three electric motors, 800V+6C ultra-fast charging with Kirin batteries, available in pure electric and extended-range versions. Regarding the top ten black technologies announced, Jin Yuzhi said, “Many are first launches or the most advanced functions in the field.”

But the real differentiation lies in the chassis.

Liu Jiaming revealed a key logic to Wall Street Journal: traditional chassis have precise vector control, but with Huawei’s XMC digital brain, “you’ll find the response isn’t fast enough because the brain is faster, nerves are faster, but the limbs aren’t.” This drives the industrialization of steer-by-wire chassis and brake-by-wire systems, reducing response times from several thousand milliseconds to milliseconds or hundreds of milliseconds. In extreme conditions, this speed difference can help drivers avoid danger.

“This industry has been studied before, but without the right environment, it’s hard to develop,” Liu said. “Technology drives industry development, and industry development in turn drives technological iteration — it’s a continuous rolling process.”

GT7 debuts Huawei’s Qian Kun Chi Tu platform and a new generation XMC digital chassis engine, tuned by former Aston Martin and McLaren engineers. Xuan Wei revealed that last month, they tested a new control mode in Xiangyang. “All chassis control engineers were very excited because they felt this was a mode they had never tried before.”

Specs are listed in the press conference PPT, but the vehicle was tested in extreme environments.

Jin Yuzhi shared a detail from winter testing: in Hulunbuir, at -40°C. He and Liu Jiaming stayed next door; the hotel was poorly soundproofed. Liu Jiaming had a severe cold, and Jin Yuzhi heard him coughing all night. The next morning, he skipped breakfast, took medicine, and went straight to the test site.

Liu Jiaming made three trips for winter testing. Jin Yuzhi said, “Look at how many car CEOs can truly be so hands-on and involved.”

The Third Path

The outside world’s focus on Qijing isn’t just about the car — it’s about how Huawei and GAC will cooperate.

Huawei’s three automotive models have been widely discussed: Tier 1 supplying parts, deep cooperation with the brand owned by the automaker (HI), and HarmonyOS Intelligent Driving led by Huawei. Qijing is the fourth model, between HI and HarmonyOS, but different from both.

The core difference is organizational.

Huawei Smart Automotive Solutions BU CMO Cheng Qiutao said, “Huawei not only provides full-stack technical solutions but also effectively integrates Huawei’s IPD process, with both teams working closely together. Through shared理念 and process adherence, we continuously generate chemical reactions.” It’s not just selling technology but exporting organizational capabilities and R&D processes.

Huawei’s team is based in Guangzhou, working jointly in a shared office, involved in all levels from basic processes to technical architecture. But the brand and channel leadership belong to Qijing — “1+N” dealer model, planning to open over 300 stores in 76 cities nationwide by the end of May.

Why GAC? The cooperation logic of Huawei’s Qian Kun “境” series is to find automakers with manufacturing experience but who haven’t yet broken through in the high-end intelligent market. GAC fits this profile — among its brands, Trumpchi focuses on traditional fuel vehicles, Aion on mass-market EVs, and Haobo on high-end but with limited success. The 300,000-level high-end intelligent market is a clear blank.

GAC has a manufacturing foundation but lacks high-end intelligent branding; Huawei has technology and brand influence, needing a partner with manufacturing experience willing to give space for independent mechanisms. Qijing operates independently of GAC’s existing brands, with its own branding system and operational team, which itself demonstrates GAC’s sincerity.

Integrating two systems inevitably causes friction.

Liu Jiaming didn’t shy away: “In cooperation with Jin’s team, disagreements are inevitable.” He defined these clashes as a healthy mechanism — “As someone from the automotive industry and as a team from the intelligent tech field, we view the future from different perspectives. This opposition and discussion actually help us see the same problem more thoroughly.”

In his words, “Arguing is healthier.”

He also acknowledged Huawei’s empowerment isn’t just technical. “Jin’s team has brought us a very effective working method during the empowerment process. This method has made our execution more efficient and helped us grasp market trends more quickly and accurately.”

For Huawei, Qijing is the beginning of the Qian Kun “境” series. Jin Yuzhi said Huawei Qian Kun fully supports the Qijing brand. If this model succeeds, brands like Dongfeng’s “Yijing” will follow a similar path. Qijing is not just a new vehicle; it’s Huawei’s new testing ground for automotive business.

Defining AI Cars

A practical question facing Qijing and other “境” players is: with at least a dozen automakers and over 15 models emphasizing AI concepts this year, how exactly should AI cars be defined?

Behind this question lies industry anxiety. As everyone talks about AI-enabled vehicles, the label “AI car” becomes a vague, often misused term.

Jin Yuzhi didn’t provide a strict quantification but offered a framework. He calls it “Third-Generation Vehicles.” The first is transportation tools; the second is a mobile living space, emphasizing space and comfort; the third is a travel intelligent agent, with AI as the core variable.

Qijing’s English name, AISTALAND, breaks down as AI Start New Land — using AI to open a new realm of automotive travel. This isn’t just a brand name but a declaration: Qijing aims to define a new category rather than compete on existing tracks.

He outlined four dimensions: driving, which will inevitably involve robot drivers; cockpit, which should understand when to proactively serve and when not to, understanding the user; the whole vehicle, transforming from a cold machine into an emotional passenger; and control, where AI intervenes in prediction and active adjustment, shifting from passive safety to active safety.

“Standing at the wave of the AI era, we are just beginning, and opportunities are just opening,” Jin Yuzhi said.

Liu Jiaming added a layer from the industry chain perspective. He believes AI cars are hard to define precisely now: “We still don’t have a clear definition of L3 or L4 even today.” But technology is driving change — AI is creating demand for digital chassis, which in turn pushes the industrialization of steer-by-wire systems, and mature steer-by-wire systems further unleash AI capabilities. “This third-generation AI vehicle truly represents a revolutionary industry shift.”

This is the underlying logic of Qijing’s bold gamble. Is a 300,000-level shooting brake a false demand? Can Huawei’s fourth cooperation model succeed? These are concrete business questions. But Jin Yuzhi and Liu Jiaming are betting on something bigger — that in the AI era, cars lack a standard definition, and whoever first turns concepts into perceptible product experiences will hold the power to define.

This isn’t just about one company. Over the past decade, China’s new energy vehicle industry has leapfrogged from catching up to running parallel, driven mainly by domestically replaced core technologies like the three-electric system. The next decade’s competition will shift from electrification to intelligence, from hardware stacking to AI-defined experiences. The entry ticket for this race isn’t batteries and motors but intelligent driving algorithms, digital chassis, AI cockpits, and integrated hardware-software systems.

Huawei and GAC chose Qijing to deliver their first answer. If GT7 is accepted by the market after its June launch, it will validate not just a vehicle or a brand but a deeply co-created industry model of “Chinese tech companies + Chinese automakers.”

Once this model is established, more “境” series vehicles will emerge, and more automakers will explore similar paths.

Liu Jiaming recalled an episode from 1998, when he joined Guangzhou Automotive during its lowest point. Out of 63 classmates, he was the only one still in car manufacturing. “Back then, we didn’t even know how to assemble cars.”

From being unable to produce cars, to making good cars, and now to defining cars — China’s automotive industry has taken nearly thirty years. Qijing might just open a new decade for this industry.

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