Toyota, Tencent team up on AI
Japan’s Toyota will team up with China’s Tencent and Nissan with Baidu in cross-border partnerships that highlight the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) for carmakers, the companies said on Thursday.
The two announcements from two of Japan’s biggest carmakers at the Beijing vehicle show also underscored the efforts of Japanese manufacturers to come to grips with the huge technological shifts that have disrupted their once enviable positions in the Chinese market.
Just a few years ago, Japanese car companies were among the most prominent foreign brands in China.
More recently, they were left flat-footed as local manufacturers led by BYD snatched market share with software-laden electric vehicles aimed at younger drivers.
Gaming and social media giant Tencent, and Baidu, China’s leading search engine, have been leaders in the country’s generative AI race.
Toyota, the world’s largest carmaker by volume, will include technology from tech giant Tencent technology in a Chinese-made passenger vehicle that will go on sale later in 2024, said Toyota’s Yiming Xu, a director for brand and communications for China.
The companies will offer services through Tencent’s strengths in big data, AI and cloud computing, said Xu.
Nissan said that it and Baidu signed a memorandum of understanding to carry out research on AI and “smart cars”.
Nissan said that it would use Baidu’s generative AI on its platform to study the feasibility of future tech development. It said that it would also equip its Chinese cars with Baidu’s AI products.
The partnerships also show how competitive China has become for vehicle makers, even globe-spanning giants such as Toyota.
Foreign vehicle makers are fighting to show they can remain relevant in China, amid the pressure from the shift to EVs, the rise of domestic brands and a price war.
Toyota has seen sales shrink though it has avoided the sharp blows that Honda Motor and Nissan have taken. The company saw its sales in China fall 1.7% to 1.9-million vehicles in 2023, the second successive year of decline.
Toyota also showed off two new battery electric vehicle models for the Chinese market at the Beijing show.