Chery + Huawei Yinwang Sign Deepened L3 / L4 Autonomous Driving Partnership; Volume Production Targeted in 2026–2030

Chery Automobile and Huawei-affiliated Yinwang Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (“Yinwang”, or “Chinwave / Smart Driving” in some translations — the autonomous-driving spin-off from Huawei) on June 12, 2026 signed a deepened strategic cooperation agreement to accelerate volume production of L3- and L4-level autonomous driving in the “15th Five-Year Plan” period (2026–2030).

For context on Chery’s wider portfolio including its Jetour off-road sub-brand, see our Jetour Zongheng G700 PHEV facelift.

Inside the Deepened Chery-Yinwang Partnership

The agreement formalises a multi-year roadmap covering joint R&D, validation and production deployment of L3 and L4 autonomous driving across Chery group brands. Key contours:

• Technology scope: L3 (conditional autonomy under defined operating domains) and L4 (high autonomy under defined operating domains) systems, including sensor stacks, central compute, redundancy and over-the-air upgrades
• Volume target: meaningful production volume within the 2026–2030 Chinese five-year planning cycle
• Vehicle scope: Chery, Exeed, Jetour and Omoda group nameplates, with priority on flagship trims
• Production geography: China-first deployment with potential export consideration in subsequent phases

What L3 / L4 Autonomous Driving Means at Chery Volume

L3 — Eyes-Off (Limited)

L3 systems allow the driver to legally disengage attention under defined conditions (typically motorway, mapped speeds, daylight, clear weather). Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Honda have already certified L3 stacks in select markets. Bringing L3 to mid-priced Chery group products would significantly broaden the price band at which Chinese consumers can purchase eyes-off-capable cars.

L4 — Hands-Off, Mind-Off Within Defined Domain

L4 removes the requirement for a human fallback within the operating domain. In practice this enables robotaxi or “self-park / self-summon” features at extended ranges. The Chery–Yinwang agreement places this on the production roadmap — not testing or pilot but volume production within the 15th Five-Year window.

Why Yinwang Is the Right Partner

Yinwang inherits Huawei’s ADS (Autonomous Driving Solution) stack, which already powers AITO (Wenjie), Luxeed (Zhijie), Maextro (Zunjie), and Stelato (Xiangjie) under the broader HIMA (Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance) ecosystem. By deepening with Chery — already a HIMA partner via the Luxeed sub-brand — the agreement effectively extends Yinwang’s footprint into Chery’s high-volume mainstream nameplates, where the unit economics for L3/L4 hardware matter more than at HIMA’s premium trims.

Strategic Implications for the China EV/ADAS Race

• Accelerates the timeline at which L3-capable hardware becomes standard on mid-priced Chinese cars
• Strengthens Huawei/Yinwang’s dominance in the ADAS supply chain (versus Mobileye, Nvidia DRIVE, and Tesla in-house stacks)
• Pressures BYD’s in-house God’s Eye smart driving stack and Geely’s Flyme Auto / Zeekr Hello to maintain feature parity
• Adds export-grade ADAS to the Chery global expansion story (Omoda, Jaecoo, Tiggo families)

For our coverage of Chery’s growing overseas footprint, including its Australian / New Zealand rollouts, see our Chery Omoda 5 EV Australia + New Zealand report.

FAQ

Who is Yinwang Intelligent Technology?

Yinwang is a Huawei-affiliated company carrying the autonomous-driving stack (“ADS”) that powers HIMA brands (AITO, Luxeed, Maextro, Stelato) and selected partner OEMs.

What did Chery and Yinwang sign on June 12, 2026?

A deepened strategic cooperation agreement to jointly accelerate volume production of L3- and L4-level autonomous driving systems across Chery group vehicles during the 15th Five-Year period (2026–2030).

What is the 15th Five-Year Plan?

China’s national five-year planning cycle running 2026–2030. Major industrial roadmaps in autonomous driving, EVs, semiconductors and AI are commonly aligned to this calendar.

Does this affect existing Chery / Omoda / Jetour cars?

The agreement focuses on future volume production. Existing cars in dealer inventory continue with their current ADAS feature sets; new L3/L4-capable models would arrive on upcoming product cycles.

Editor’s note: Specific model timing, feature scope and operating domains for L3/L4 deployment will be confirmed in subsequent Chery and Yinwang product announcements. This article reflects the June 12, 2026 partnership signing disclosures.

Reviewed by Han Liu, Editor, iEVChina

Source: Autohome.com.cn