Mercedes-Benz Officially Invests in Chongqing Qianli Technology

According to reports, Mercedes-Benz recently announced that it has completed the integration of its autonomous driving business strategy into Geely's Qianli Technology Group, Qianli Zhijia, and has taken a stake in Qianli Technology.

This integration covers multiple aspects such as organizational structure, technical platforms, data systems, and product roadmaps, consolidating previously fragmented resources under a unified operational framework. The company stated that this integration involves collaboration across various internal systems and technical levels.

After the integration, the core management team consisting of Chairman and CEO Wang Jun, Co-CEO Chen Qi, CTO Yang Mu, and Director of R&D and Project Office Chen Baosheng will focus on the development of autonomous driving technology and product delivery.

Qianli Zhijia stated that its integrated technology approach emphasizes the use of "high modulus content" in the autonomous driving system. The company claims that this method aims to increase the proportion of algorithms and models in the system architecture, prioritize model generalization capabilities, data utilization efficiency, and reduce reliance on rule-based logic, rather than simply increasing the number of features.

The company stated that this technological approach aims to ensure consistency of the system in complex urban traffic conditions, long-tail driving scenarios, and cross-regional deployments. However, the company has not yet disclosed details such as system specifications, implementation timelines, or the models that will adopt the system.

In March of this year, Qianli Technology announced the investment in establishing a joint venture company for autonomous driving, providing an open platform for third-party vehicle enterprises. Qianli Zhijia was officially established in late June.

About three months after the initial announcement of the transaction, Mercedes-Benz announced last Thursday that it has completed the acquisition of a 3% stake in Qianli Technology for 1.34 billion yuan (approximately 191 million US dollars). Before the transaction, Chongqing Lifan Holdings held over 5% of Qianli Technology's shares. After the transaction is completed, Mercedes-Benz becomes the fifth largest shareholder of the company, but it does not change the company's control structure.

As one of the major shareholders of Qianli Technology, Geely Holding Group played a leading role in facilitating Mercedes-Benz's participation in this investment. Meanwhile, against the backdrop of increasingly fierce global competition in autonomous vehicles, this move also deepened the strategic cooperation between Geely and Mercedes-Benz.

As part of a multi-stage integration process, Geely has been incorporating its autonomous driving and intelligent cockpit resources into Qianli Technology. According to industry insiders, the internal intelligent cockpit team from Geely's Central Research Institute is expected to merge into Qianli Technology to enhance the company's technological foundation in autonomous driving and cockpit systems. Reports indicate that earlier this year, Geely also integrated several internal autonomous driving teams into Qianli Zhijia, reflecting Geely's strategy to streamline development processes and build a unified platform for autonomous driving and smart mobility technology.

Geely has integrated its autonomous driving business into Qianli Technology and positioned the company as the core platform for future autonomous driving technology development.