Bangalore, March 21, Following LeEco announcing of establishing a joint venture with Aston
Martin with each party holding a 50% shareholdingsEco,
this global internet conglomerate made series of significant yet fast
moves in smart automobile business recently, as the company has
entered a 50-50 joint venture with has recently looped in another
big fish, Ni Kai, the leading autonomous driving guru in China.
On 5th
March,
leading Chinese autonomous driving expert Dr. Kai Ni has been
appointed as Vice President, Smart Driving of LeAuto (China), which
is LeEco’s automotive subsidiary. Ni used to work as the leading
scientist for Baidu's autonomous car-driving and plane-piloting
projects.
Kai Ni received his B.S. and M.S.
from Tsinghua University, and later received a Ph.D. in Computer
Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Before joining
LeAuto, he worked in the dominant Chinese search company Baidu as the
senior researcher at the Institute of Deep Learning, leading the R&D
department for the autonomous car and plane programs. By December
2015, Baidu's autonomous car has finished its road test in Beijing,
and Baidu planned to introduce a business model of autonomous car
before 2018.
It was wildly speculated that Ni
may join the Google for the autonomous project, but it was finalized
that Ni joined LeEco.
Ding Lei, co-founder and global
vice chairman of LeAuto, said, "Autonomous driving is a
futuristic technology that LeEco must participate and have. We had
discussions with Daimler AG on cooperation in this field also."
LeEco started its electric car
project, or commonly known in China as SEE (Super Electric Ecosystem)
Project in December 2014, and in less than two years, LeEco plans to
exhibit its concept car this April at Beijing Auto Show.
On February 17th, 2016, LeEco and British sports car maker Aston Martin inked an MOU at Frankfurt, Germany, of establishing an electric car joint venture with each party holding 50% of the shareholdings. The joint venture will produce its first mass production model, RapidE, in 2018.
To achieve its ambitious goal,
LeAuto has headhunted a batch of industry heavyweights like Lei Ding,
former Vice President of Shanghai Automotive Industry
Corporation (Group), Frank Sterzer, former Manufacturing
Director of Volkswagen
Group China, Gao Jingshen, former vice general manager of
Guangzhou Toyota, and Lyu Zhengyu, former managing director of
Infiniti in China.
The global R&D team
of LeAuto has exceeded 700 people with 400 based in the U.S..
Moreover, LeEco also formed a
strategic alliance with US-based
smart electric vehicle start-up Faraday Future, as well as alliances
with Chinese ride-hailing app Yidao Yongche, and Beijing Dianzhuang
Technology Ltd, a startup that builds and rents charging posts.
To develop in-car operating system,
LeEco also partners with top Chinese automotive manufacturers
including BAIC Motor, BYD Co and Dongfeng Motor, to implement LeEco’s
Ecolink, which is a system connecting its cars and phones.
LeEco also announced last year that
it would set up a 10 billion yuan (US$1.54 billion) Chang Le Industry
Fund to support its automobile projects.
About LeEco
LeEco, formerly known as Letv, is a global pioneering internet and technology company with multiple internet ecosystems across content, devices, applications and platforms. Founded in November 2004 by Jia Yueting and Liu Hong, LeEco employs more than 10,000 people and is the world’s first video company to go public with a market capitalization of more than $12 billion USD. Headquartered in Beijing, China, it has regional headquarters in Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.
LeEco, formerly known as Letv, is a global pioneering internet and technology company with multiple internet ecosystems across content, devices, applications and platforms. Founded in November 2004 by Jia Yueting and Liu Hong, LeEco employs more than 10,000 people and is the world’s first video company to go public with a market capitalization of more than $12 billion USD. Headquartered in Beijing, China, it has regional headquarters in Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.
With disruptive innovation as the
guiding principle, LeEco is engaged in myriad businesses, spanning
Internet TV, video production and distribution, smart gadgets and
large-screen applications to e-commerce, eco-agriculture and
connected super-electric cars. The company also has one of the
world's largest content libraries which includes movies, TV dramas,
entertainment shows, sports and music, which can be viewed on LeEco
devices like Superphones and Super TVs. Breaking the barriers of
industries, LeEco provides personalized products and services for an
enhanced user experience at disruptive prices.
Comments