Polestar, a Swedish electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, announced Monday 19 June that it has formed a joint venture with Xingji Meizu to build a car operating system for Polestar cars sold in China. The system will provide the latest smart technology in their vehicles.
This joint venture is a further step by Geely's group to adapt cars specifically to Chinese consumers. Meizu is owned by Geely's chairman, Li Shufu, who is also one of Polestar's biggest investors and controls Polestar's biggest shareholder, Volvo Cars.
Polestar, which is currently producing all of its cars in China, said the new operating system would be based on the Flyme Auto system of Xingji Meizu launched earlier this year, and would connect with applications in mobile cars and customer phones.
The Swedish group said it would own 49% of the shares in this joint venture, while Xingji Meizu will own 51%, by providing funding of 98 million US dollars (Rp1.4 trillion) and 102 million US dollars (Rp1.5 trillion) respectively.
Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath told Reuters he hoped the new software would soon be integrated into their vehicles, while the Google Auto system available in cars sold outside China would remain unchanged.
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Xingji Meizu has grown in the last decade in its efforts to become an Android competitor in China, but its market share is still small.
Traditional car manufacturers have faced pressure from Chinese EV manufacturers offering lower prices and smart consumer technology.
"We are indeed facing difficulties in competing in the environment," Ingenlath said, adding that partnering with companies closely related to their owners would be a positive step.
Ingenlath said this allowed Polestar, which is listed on the United States stock exchange, to use software that comes from within the home and directly meets Chinese buyers' tastes.
"This puts us in completely different positions, even exceeding our Chinese EV competitors," he told Reuters.
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