Electric Vehicles

Huawei’s Expansion in Smart Driving Stirs Competition, Scrutiny

An advertisement for the Luxeed S7 at a Huawei store in Shanghai.Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
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Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp.’s pivot into cars has become a high-profile success story. Its SU7 is a hit, forecast to sell 350,000 units this year and even Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley has heaped praise on the model.

Less well-known is how rival smartphone maker Huawei Technologies Co. has also cemented a dominant position in China’s intensely competitive electric vehicle market — not by making cars of its own, but by creating the intelligent driving software that’s found its way into the cockpits of marques from BYD Co. to BMW AG.