On December 10, a reporter from “Daily Economic News” found that Shenzhen Zhuoyu Technology Co., Ltd. underwent a business change on December 5. The company added three new shareholders: Shenzhen BYD Chuangxin Materials Co., Ltd., Jiaxing Junyu Equity Investment Partnership, and Suzhou Shenqili Green Equity Investment Partnership. They hold shares of 3.9467%, 1.8897%, and 1.184%, respectively. At the same time, Zhuoyu Technology increased its registered capital from about 67.9886 million yuan to approximately 73.1221 million yuan.
Zhuoyu Technology originated from DJI’s automotive division. It focuses on pure vision intelligent driving solutions. In 2023, Zhuoyu Technology became independent from DJI. In June 2024, it will officially use “Zhuoyu” as its business brand. So far, Zhuoyu Technology has partnered with major automakers like Volkswagen, SAIC-GM-Wuling, Chery, and FAW. Shenzhen BYD Chuangxin Materials Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of BYD, invests in Zhuoyu Technology. Established in 2007, it specializes in R&D, production, and sales of battery molds, as well as import and export of goods and technology. Observers see BYD’s investment in Zhuoyu Technology as a significant move to strengthen its presence in the intelligent driving sector. Earlier this year, at the “2024 BYD Dream Day” event, BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu signaled a major investment in smart technology. “BYD values intelligent driving and has built a comprehensive self-developed R&D system. The intelligent driving team has 4,000 engineers. Over 1,000 focus on algorithms and hardware, while more than 3,000 work on software,” Wang Chuanfu stated. He noted that future models priced above 200,000 yuan (27520$) will offer advanced intelligent driving options, while those above 300,000 yuan (41290$) will come fully equipped. At the BYD Ocean three-year anniversary and first user celebration on November 1, Zhang Zhuo, General Manager of BYD Ocean Network Sales Division, revealed that as intelligent driving technology matures, the goal is to equip the Seagull model with an intelligent driving system, achieving true equality in technology and intelligence.
Official data shows that the Seagull is the first A00-class car under the Ocean Network. Its price ranges from 73,800 to 89,800 yuan (12360$). This means BYD’s intelligent driving system will appear in entry-level models priced under 100,000 yuan (13760$). Notably, BYD’s new investment in Zhuoyu Technology enabled high-level intelligent driving in models priced around 100,000 yuan (13760$) as early as November. On November 15, the Baojun Yueyue Plus 2025 launched with the Lingmu Intelligent Driving 2.0 Max as standard. The official guide price is 103,800 yuan (14280$). SAIC-GM-Wuling’s Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice General Manager Han Dehong explained that high-level intelligent driving in Baojun models results from the scale of products from both SAIC-GM-Wuling and Zhuoyu Technology. New energy vehicle and battery expert Yang Weibin stated that under the current supply chain pricing system, equipping L2-level autonomous driving in models priced under 100,000 yuan (13760$) poses challenges. The prices of vehicles and intelligent driving components need to decrease further. A professor from a university, who wished to remain anonymous, told reporters that for models below 300,000 yuan (41290$) to feature NOA, the BOM cost must stay under 8,000 yuan (1100$). For 150,000 yuan (20640$) models, it must remain below 5,000 yuan (690$), and for 100,000 yuan (13760$) models, below 3,000 yuan (410$). The professor noted that the costs of lidar and high-performance AI chips remain high. For NOA with high-performance and lidar, the BOM cost could reach 25,000 to 30,000 yuan (4130$). However, Ji Xuehong, director of the Automotive Industry Innovation Research Center at Beifang University, stated that BYD’s products have achieved scale effects. Coupled with full-stack self-research, this may make it possible to equip intelligent driving systems in models priced at 100,000 yuan (13760$). Zhu Xichan, a professor at Tongji University’s Automotive College, told reporters that as the automotive industry enters the second half of intelligent development, competition will mainly focus on autonomous driving technology. In fact, besides BYD, automakers like Changan, Seres, and Great Wall are also increasing their investments in the intelligent driving sector. In August, Avita and Seres announced they would purchase 10% of Huawei’s Yiwang shares for 11.5 billion yuan. Great Wall Motors invested 100 million dollars in autonomous driving technology company Yuanrong Qixing on November 5.