Hesai was an unknown Chinese giant in Europe. His alliance with Mercedes is about to change everything

When we talk about large car manufacturers we can fall into the error of thinking about a vehicle as a whole that Renault, BMW, Citroën or any of the Chinese brands that intend to take a place in Europe.

But nothing is further from reality. A car is the sum of many small parts. Specific parts of a combustion engine, braking systems, suspensions, seats … Many of those parts, so evident, are not manufactured or produced by large vehicle manufacturers. Bosch, Recaro or Brembo will sound, for example.

In fact, Chinese manufacturers who are arriving in Europe or point to it, like Xiaomi, have not hesitated to associate (and show off this) with great more than recognized suppliers in the car market. In their presentations, Byd or Xiaomi have highlighted the role played by companies such as The aforementioned Brembo in the components that ride in their cars. It serves to gain credibility to the most skeptical.

But when talking about another type of technology it is Europe that looks at China. Byd, for example, get great prices in its vehicles because It bases its production on verticalitymanufacturing their own batteries but also their own semiconductors or heat pumps.

Among that “other type of technology” we can put Hesai. The Chinese company is the largest laser sensor producer. And now he has reached an agreement with Mercedes.

From China to your Mercedes

As vehicles have gained acting, they have also been growing in complexity. Although Tesla has made it clear that he wants to base all his autonomous driving functions or, as little, for driving in the use of software, at the moment it is still clear that cars armed with laser sensors and other radars are still safer and more effective.

To achieve the best result, Mercedes has reached an agreement with Hesai, which triggers its possibilities to grow economically and reach new agreements with other companies explain in South China Morning Post. And it is that Hesai will supply radars lidar to the German company to map with better accuracy what their cars are around.

In Reuters They explain that the decision has been weighed for months by the German company but, finally, costs have been imposed on any other value. Keep in mind that the sensors supplied by Hesai may not be used in Mercedes cars that are sold in the United States from 2029 if the intentions of Prohibit the sale of every car with Chinese pieces in the country.

The use of Lidar sensors It is especially delicate in vehicles for several reasons. This component is always in operation, mapping everything around. It emits beams of light that bounce in an object and are received again by the vehicle. Next to the GPS positioning and the speed at which they advance, they create a three -dimensional map that takes advantage of thousands or millions of calculations per second.

This has several implications that should be remembered. The use of this type of sensor allows a car to map with maximum exactly what it has around, something that they want to limit from the United States and China in the LUCK OF COLD WAR that both countries are freeing.

In the United States they intend to Prohibit the sale of every car that uses Chinese software. In China, cars that want to use driving aid functions or Autonomous drivingwhich force the land to map, have to receive the approval of the government. A good that passes, evidently, to associate with a Chinese manufacturer.

But, in addition, Lidar sensors are very expensive. The savings obtained in his commission to Hesai would have inclined the balance in favor of the Chinese company by Mercedes, they explain in Reuters. And it is that a vehicle can offer Semi -automated driving systems Without the use of these pieces but it is shown that, for the moment, The use of Lidar makes the difference.

Although it may be more unknown in Europe, Hesai Group is a giant that is already present in 37% of vehicles that are assembled in the world, according to South China Morning Post. The company provides this type of giant sensors such as the Geely group (owner of Volvo or Polestar) and Li Auto, one of the great Chinese startups of recent years and employs more than 1,000 people, according to Electrek.

But just as it happens to Chinese automotive themselves, Hesai is trying to open up to the rest of the world. With the local market already covered, they need to continue opening new trade agreements and that of Mercedes can be just the first, according to South China Morning Post. In the middle they point out that this agreement opens the door to multiply the current economic performance of the company by 14 times.

Despite being present in almost four out of 10 vehicles that are sold worldwide (Only in February They already supplied pieces to 20 different brands and 120 models), the company gave brief benefits last year (14 million yuan, about 1.8 million euros in 2024) and He came out of losses of more than 241 million yuan (30.5 million euros) of the previous year.

However, by 2025 they already expect net benefits of between 200 and 350 million yuan (between 25 and 44 million euros) achieved thanks to a scale production that supplies their products to about 15 million vehicles. That scale economy has allowed it Five years ago Each of them cost thousands of dollars.

In view of a calculated expansion, the company, indicate in CNEVPOST Study to open its first floor to produce Lidar sensors outside China this year. Although it is not specified what places could be chosen, they do notice that they hope that the production of start in 2026.

Photo | Hesai

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