Xiaomi and Baidu-backed Hesai to offer smaller and cheaper lidar sensors for smart EVs, as it fights competition at home and eyes growth abroad
- Firm will make more ‘internationalisation’ efforts, invest lots of capital and think of ways to seek more business and orders, co-founder says
- Xiaomi, Baidu, Meituan and German automobile parts supplier Bosch are among its key investors
Hesai Group, the world’s sixth-largest maker of sensors for smart cars, aims to add cheaper and more innovative products to its line-up to overcome intensifying competition from domestic rivals and to reach bigger volumes in overseas markets.
The company will consistently build its core technical competitiveness, whether it is in terms of manufacturing capability or research and development, David Li Yifan, Shanghai-based Hesai’s co-founder and CEO, said in an interview with the Post. “We will also make more efforts in internationalisation, and we will invest lots of capital, and think of ways to seek more business and orders,” he said.
“We are making lidar sensors in various formats. For example, this year we will launch a solid-state [sensor], which will be cheaper.”
