China’s Geely Automobile and local e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding this month announced a strategic partnership focused on developing smart car systems, including self-driving, according to local reports.
Geely wants to strengthen its hand in the fast-growing smart electric vehicle (EV) segment, which was one of the main drivers of growth for the country’s overall car market last year.
The deal is also Alibaba’s new attempt to gain a foothold in the self-driving market, a segment currently dominated by technology firms such as Pony.ai and Baidu, according to local reports.
While fully self-driving cars have yet to be widely adopted anywhere, the technology is seen as having great potential and attracting significant investment from technology companies and automakers.
Meanwhile, smart car systems such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) have become an integral part of modern vehicles.
Geely Automobile reported that global sales rose 8% to 1,432,988 units last year as sales of new energy, electric and hybrid vehicles reached 328,727 units.
Exports increased 72% to 198,242 units. The company targets his 1.65 million global sales in 2023.
