China’s Huawei plans to make electric vehicles under its own brand and could launch some models this year, sources said, as the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, battered by U.S. sanctions, explores a strategic shift.
Huawei Applied Sciences Co Ltd is in talks with state-owned Changan Vehicle and different automakers to make use of their automotive crops to make its electrical automobiles (EVs). The company is also in discussions with Beijing-backed BAIC Group’s BluePark New Energy Technology to manufacture its EVs.
The plan heralds a potentially major shift in direction for Huawei after nearly two-years of U.S. sanctions that have cut its access to key supply chains, forcing it to sell a part of its smartphone business to keep the brand alive.
Huawei was placed on a trade blacklist by the Trump administration over national security concerns. Many industry executives see little chance that blocks on the sale of billions of dollars of U.S. technology and chips to the Chinese company, which has denied wrongdoing, will be reversed by his successor.
