BEIJING, April 24 Reuters Chinese tech company Huawei HWT.UL unveiled on Wednesday a new software brand for intelligent driving, marking its latest push to become a major player in the electric vehicle industry.

The new brand Qiankun, symbolising a combination of heaven and the Kunlun Mountains, plans to provide selfdriving systems involving the driving chassis, audio and driver39;s seat, Jin Yuzhi, CEO of Huawei39;s Intelligent Automotive Solution IAS business unit, said during an event ahead of the Beijing auto show.

2024 will be the first year for mass commercialisation of smart driving and the cumulative number of cars on road equipped with the Huawei selfdriving system will top 500,000 by the yearend, Jin said.

He also expected within a year more than 10 car models adopting Huaweis Qiankun system would hit the market.

The Shenzhenbased tech conglomerate launched its smart car unit in 2019 with the aim that it could become the equivalent of German automotive supplier Bosch of the intelligent EV era and supply software and components to partners.

Huawei said in November that the unit would be spun off into a new company which would receive the unit39;s core technologies and resources and take investment from partners such as automaker Changan Auto.

It has also unveiled seven EV models in partnership with Chinese automakers so far and they are selling well, Jin said.

They include three Aito brand models under partnership with Seres, the Luxeed S7 sedan…