NIO and Hisense signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation framework agreement on September 14.
NIO (Chinese: 蔚来汽车) and Hisense Group Holdings Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 海信集团) will carry out a multi-industry, all-round strategic cooperation in areas related to the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry (including vehicle air conditioning, vehicle thermal management system, intelligent transportation, vehicle-road coordination, new display and multimedia technology products), overseas market expansion and home appliance collection.
Hisense's subsidiary company Sanden CO., Ltd. (Chinese: 三电控股) serves as the prime "collaboration platform" for this strategic cooperation. On May 31, 2021, Hisense completed the acquisition of Sanden and became its first major controlling shareholder with a stake of 74.88%. Sanden is a leading global tier-one manufacturing supplier of automotive air conditioning compressors and automotive air conditioning systems, mainly serving global top-tier customers such as Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen.
Hisense was founded in 1969 and has a wide product portfolio covering multimedia, home appliances, IT intelligent information systems and modern service industry. Hisense Group has three listed companies, including Hisense Visual Technology Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 海信视像), Hisense Home Appliances Group CO., Ltd. (Chinese: 海信家电) and Sanden. Hisense is transforming from a "home appliance company" to a "high-tech company".
Founded in 2014, NIO is a pioneer and leader in the high-end smart electric vehicle market. It designs, develops, manufactures and sells premium smart electric vehicles, driving innovations in next-generation technologies in autonomous driving, digital technologies, electric powertrains and batteries.
In the future, the two sides will further their cooperation in areas such as big data, artificial intelligence, and autonomous driving, especially those related to the building of smart cities, smart communities and smart families, to achieve win-win development.