GAC Group and Haier Sign Strategic Partnership to Build Integrated "People-Vehicle-Home" Ecosystem

On April 10, GAC Group and Haier Group signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement in Qingdao. Leveraging their respective strengths in intelligent manufacturing, technological innovation, and industrial ecosystems, the two companies will deepen collaboration around the "People-Vehicle-Home" smart ecosystem and Autohome’s automotive ecosystem. The partnership will integrate GAC’s capabilities in vehicle manufacturing and product development with Haier’s resources in smart home solutions and automotive user ecosystems to jointly build a deeply integrated "People-Vehicle-Home" ecosystem, accelerating the transformation of the automotive industry toward intelligence and ecological integration. Haier Group has previously made several moves into the automotive sector. In February 2023, Haier’s subsidiary Kaitaichi Holdings acquired a 43.0% stake in Autohome from Ping An Insurance’s YunChen Capital for approximately USD 1.8 billion, becoming its controlling shareholder. In November 2023, Avatr Technology, an affiliate of Changan Automobile, announced a partnership with Kaitaichi Holdings to jointly innovate in areas such as product customization, seamless integration between vehicles and home scenarios, and in-vehicle feature design, aiming to develop premium smart mobility solutions.