Chinese automotive chip firm SemiDrive will start supplying its cockpit system-on-a-chip (SoC) to an undisclosed European carmaker late next year, marking its first collaboration on the continent to push for global sales, a senior executive said.
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The chips would be used in several of the carmaker’s models including sedans and SUVs produced and sold in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, general manager Eugene Wang said. The vehicles were expected to feature its X9 SoC, which integrates high-performance CPUs, GPUs, AI accelerators and video processors designed for advanced cockpit applications, he added.
“It will be the first time we supply our chips to foreign OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] in their mass-produced vehicles overseas,” Wang said on the sidelines of the four-day International Automotive & Supply Chain Expo in Hong Kong. “Striving to be a top global chip supplier, we need to expand from the China market to the global market.”
SemiDrive, founded in 2018, specialises in developing high-performance automotive-grade chips for smart cockpits and microcontroller units (MCUs). SAIC Motor, Sequoia Capital, Walden International and Matrix Partners participated in its fundraisings since 2019. The firm is based in Nanjing in the eastern province of Jiangsu.
It has produced four chip series to date, including the X9, the smart-driving chip V9, the central-gateway chip G9 and the high-performance MCU E3. The firm has supplied more than 8 million chips since 2021, used in more than 100 models produced by Chery Auto, Chang’an Auto, SAIC Motor, GAC, BAIC and Li Auto, Wang said.
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Fewer than 10 per cent of these chips were used in vehicles bound for export markets, Wang said. As such, the tie-up with the European carmaker represented a significant milestone in its global expansion plans as the company aims to “connect with foreign carmakers and reach a bigger marketplace”, he added.