Huawei, one of the world’s largest telecom equipment and smartphone makers, has moved one step closer towards its ambition to enter the automotive industry after recently obtaining a certification that clears the way for it to sell its smart automotive service to the European market.
The company announced on Thursday that it had earned the highest Level 3 certification in the automobile security assessment Trusted Information Security Assessment Exchange (TISAX) in Europe.
Huawei claims in the announcement to be the first Chinese company that earned the certification, which valid for three years, in its first attempt. Alibaba’s cloud arm said it’s the first Asian company to obtain the Level 3 certification last month.
Founded in 2017 by the German Automobile Industry Association (VDA) and regulated by the automotive association European Network Exchange (ENX), TISAX is an automobile industry assessment mechanism that evaluates service providers’ compliance with information security requirements. A TISAX certification is required and recognized by all VDA members and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), such as Audi, Volkswagen, and BMW.
Huawei said that the certification represents a high recognition from the European automotive industry in terms of its information security level, and paves the way for the company to bring its smart automobile platform to automakers in Europe.
Despite repeatedly stating that Huawei “does not make cars,” Huawei’s ambition to enter the automotive industry has been an open secret in the industry for several years now. It has inked partnerships with many automotive companies including Audi, BYD, Beijing New Energy Automobile (also known as BAIC Group), and Changan Automobile.
Huawei set up a business unit to offer smart automobile solutions in May and debuted its Level 4 full-stack intelligent driving solution (ADS) in September, after claiming to become “a digital car-oriented and new-added components provider” by enabling car OEMs to “build better vehicles.”
The company released a white paper on autonomous driving based on its 5G core network to enhance the integration of 5G into self-driving. In the white paper, Huawei defines the concept of Autonomous Driving Network and establishes a set of classification standards based on customer experience, labor, and communication network complexity. It also states that the company is willing to work with global operators and partners to advance the development of autonomous driving technologies in 5G network.