Didi Autonomous Driving Receives Investment from GAC Group

On October 12, Didi Autonomous Driving announced that it had received investment from GAC Group. GAC Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GAC Group, and Guangzhou Development Zone Investment Group will jointly invest in a special fund in equal proportions, with an investment of no more than US$149 million in Didi Autonomous Driving.

Didi Autonomous Driving will continue to increase its investment in technology research and development, accelerate the promotion of product applications and open cooperation in the industrial chain, build an open and sustainable industrial ecological platform, and accelerate the large-scale and commercial application of autonomous driving.

Zhang Bo, CTO of Didi Chuxing and CEO of Didi Autonomous Driving, said that GAC Group is a leading enterprise in the automotive industry and a leader in the global new energy field, with deep accumulation in the full-stack industrial chain, and is very happy to strengthen strategic cooperation with GAC Group. The strong support of GAC Group will help Didi Autonomous Driving to accelerate the construction of an open and sustainable shared travel network and provide users with safe, convenient and cost-effective autonomous driving travel services.

Yu Jun, Vice General Manager of GAC Group and Chairman of GAC Capital, said that under the national automobile industry's "New Four Modernizations" development strategy, GAC Group has made forward-looking arrangements, insisted on independent research and development and joint venture cooperation, and has always been at the forefront of the industry in terms of intelligent manufacturing and autonomous driving. Didi's leading strength in the field of autonomous driving, especially in autonomous driving technology and scene data system, is obvious to all in the industry. GAC is full of confidence in the future development of Didi's autonomous driving and looks forward to working with Didi to jointly promote changes in the transportation and automobile industries.

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Didi Autonomous Driving is one of the earliest domestic technology companies to enter the field of L4 autonomous driving. Relying on the world's leading travel platform, Didi Autonomous Driving focuses on L4 autonomous driving technology research and development, product application and related business expansion in shared travel scenarios, and has formed leading technology and operational capabilities. At present, Didi Autonomous Driving has been operating safely for more than 1,200 consecutive days, and has achieved mixed dispatching in the operating areas of Guangzhou and Shanghai.

Facing large-scale unmanned operation scenarios, Didi Autonomous Driving has innovatively built the first 24-hour autonomous driving automatic operation and maintenance center Huijugang, with a full process automation rate of 90%. Currently, Didi Autonomous Driving is actively working with industry partners to promote the large-scale and commercial application of autonomous driving, providing users with safe, economical and comfortable autonomous driving travel services, and creating greater value for society.

Founded in June 1997, GAC Group is one of the most complete automobile groups in China. It ranked 165th in the Fortune Global 500 in 2023. Its business covers seven major sectors, including R&D, complete vehicles, parts, energy and ecology, internationalization, trade and travel, investment and finance. It owns dozens of well-known companies and R&D institutions, including GAC Trumpchi, GAC Aion, GAC Honda, GAC Toyota, and GAC Research Institute. At present, the sales volume of new energy vehicles is in the top camp.

GAC Capital is the capital operation and equity investment and financing platform of GAC Group. It continues to focus on the "New Four Modernizations" of automobiles for investment layout and post-investment empowerment, with a focus on new energy, automotive chips and intelligent networking. In recent years, the company's investment in the "New Four Modernizations" of automobiles has accounted for 90% of the total, and has helped invested companies to connect orders worth more than RMB 27 billion.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.