Li Shufu's big bet on intelligent driving

Author | Zhou Zhiyu

Editor | Zhang Xiaoling

While many automotive giants are still tossing and turning over whether to "give up their soul," Li Shufu's chessboard has seen a series of dazzling pieces fall into place.

In the autumn of 2025, first, the German luxury car giant Mercedes-Benz announced an investment of 1.339 billion yuan to acquire a stake in Qianli Technology; a few days later, Li Shufu personally endorsed the 37-year-old AI genius Yin Qi, publicly betting on him with the statement, "The future belongs to Yin Qi."

Li Shufu, known as a "capital hunter" famous for "snake swallowing elephant," is attempting to initiate a high-stakes gamble centered around AI genius Yin Qi in the hottest battlefield of intelligence.

The company named "Qianli Technology" is the core lever of his gamble. It was born from the bankrupt Lifan, infused with the AI soul of Megvii, and is expected to "recreate a Huawei car BU." This is undoubtedly a typical and sharp move filled with Li Shufu's personal style: through ingenious capital operations, he aims to build an AI empire within the Geely system that rivals or even surpasses "Huawei car BU."

Traditional automotive giants and emerging tech behemoths are pouring everything into this war concerning the future. Li Shufu's gamble on Yin Qi is merely a microcosm of this industry upheaval. A disruptive transformation of the industry has just begun.

The "Explosive" New Noble

At the end of September, Geely Holding Group Chairman Li Shufu did not hide his admiration for the young man beside him during a press conference. He pointed to the 37-year-old Yin Qi and told the packed audience, "I was searching for smart people nationwide, and when I met Yin Qi, it was like meeting an old friend; we hit it off immediately." He even rarely signaled full authorization, stating that the future belongs to Yin Qi and expressing hope that he could lead Qianli toward an infinitely broad future.

This rare personal endorsement from a Chinese automotive mogul brought Qianli Technology into the spotlight.

Just a few days earlier, another piece of news undoubtedly set the stage for this press conference—on September 25, Qianli Technology announced that Mercedes-Benz (Shanghai) Digital Technology Co., Ltd. strategically acquired a stake in Qianli Technology at a price of 9.87 yuan per share, investing 1.339 billion yuan and becoming its fifth-largest shareholder. Suddenly, Qianli Technology seemed to become the hottest new noble in the industry.

The rise of Qianli Technology is not without precedent.

In June of this year, former Huawei car BU President Wang Jun officially joined Qianli Technology as Co-President. His first public appearance after taking office was to represent the company in launching the "Qianli Smart Driving 1.0" solution for the entire industry, boldly declaring, "Qianli Technology is an independent smart car solution provider."

From personnel changes to business core shifts, Qianli Technology is attempting to tell a brand new story to the outside world. The script for this story has long been written: Wang Jun and Yin Qi clearly announced an aggressive product roadmap from L2+ to L3, and then to the launch of the L4-level Robotaxi solution.

The "Qianli Smart Driving 1.0" solution is divided into basic (100 TOPS), professional (200+ TOPS), and flagship (up to 700 TOPS) versions based on computing power, to meet the diverse needs of different vehicle models The 2.0 plan targets L3 and is scheduled for release by the end of this year; the 3.0 plan focuses on Robotaxi, with Qianli Technology planning to achieve a scale deployment of over 1,000 vehicles in 18 cities worldwide over the next 18 months.

Wang Jun has set grand goals for this new story: "We hope to achieve a one-third share in the global intelligent driving field."

The capital market's reaction was immediate. Under a series of intensive positive stimuli, Qianli Technology's stock price has repeatedly hit new highs, with its market value soaring from about 25.4 billion yuan at the beginning of the year to over 53 billion yuan.

It seems that the old era, which once struggled on the brink of bankruptcy under the name of Lifan, has passed. Under the endorsement of Li Shufu and the operation of Yin Qi, a new story about AI, open platforms, and globalization is gradually emerging.

New Capital Landscape

Li Shufu has been pushing for Geely's transformation, hoping to turn Geely from a pure car manufacturing company into a high-tech company that provides technical support and solutions.

Before teaming up with Yin Qi, among the more than ten listed companies in Li Shufu's hands, besides Yikatong, which provides intelligent connected vehicle software and hardware solutions, and the ride-hailing service platform Cao Cao Mobility, there were traditional manufacturing enterprises like Geely Auto. Clearly, this is still a considerable distance from Li Shufu's vision of a technology empire.

Qianli Technology is an important piece in Li Shufu's capital puzzle and a significant lever aimed at the future.

However, before Qianli Technology, Li Shufu had other plans for this company. The predecessor of Qianli Technology, Lifan, was founded in 1992 and was once the export champion of China's motorcycle era, as well as the "first private car stock" that enjoyed great glory. However, after market competition intensified, it quickly declined and entered bankruptcy reorganization in 2020.

At that time, Li Shufu, with Geely's capital, teamed up with the local state-owned enterprise Chongqing Liangjiang Industry Group, and through the Chongqing Manjianghong Fund (51% held by Chongqing Liangjiang Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. and 49% held by Geely's subsidiary Geely Maijie Investment Co., Ltd.), entered the scene as a "white knight" and led the reorganization.

In the initial years, this revitalized asset told a completely different old story. After Geely executives took over, they quickly shifted Lifan Technology's business focus to battery swapping and the B-end market, launching new brands like Ruiblu, mainly providing services for Geely's ride-hailing platform "Cao Cao Mobility."

However, the market response to this story was mediocre. In 2023, the company's revenue fell by 21.8% year-on-year, and the net profit excluding non-recurring items recorded another loss. This stage of development belonged to a typical asset revitalization model; at this time, Lifan was essentially a contract manufacturer and a platform for specific businesses within Geely's industrial landscape.

The old chess game was at a stalemate, and Li Shufu had to find a brand new, more attractive breakthrough for this A-share listed platform. AI became the new story for this platform.

In July 2024, Lifan Technology's equity structure underwent a decisive change. Geely Technology Group transferred 100% of the equity of Chongqing Jianghehui Enterprise Management Co., Ltd., which indirectly held 19.91% of Lifan Technology's shares, to Chongqing Jianghe Shunshui Enterprise Management Co., Ltd., which is actually controlled by Yin Qi, the founder of Megvii Technology, for a price of 2.43 billion yuan After the transaction was completed, Geely Capital Investment still indirectly held about 15.20% of Lifan Technology's shares through the Manjianghong Fund.

Subsequently, Yin Qi was elected as the chairman of the company, and Lifan Technology was renamed Chongqing Qianli Technology Co., Ltd. in February this year.

According to informed sources, Li Shufu's "search for talent" this time was not aimless. He met this AI genius, Yin Qi, who studied under Shen Xiangyang at Microsoft Research Asia, through the introduction of Shen Xiangyang, the former global executive vice president of Microsoft.

With personnel in place and the business framework restructured, the new story in the following six months naturally unfolded. The existing assets of Lifan Technology's originally capital-intensive and relatively low-margin terminal business were revitalized, and the predictable cash flow from the original business could be invested in higher-margin technology businesses to support its high R&D activities and share fixed costs.

The necessity of the new story stems not only from the demand for asset revitalization but also from the deep-seated anxiety of the entire Geely Group. In the second half of intelligentization, facing the dimensionality reduction impact from technology giants like Huawei, even the large Geely felt the pressure.

Geely Auto President Gui Shengyue has publicly stated multiple times that Geely wants to work with Qianli Technology to create "the second Huawei." Only in this way can Geely possibly achieve a leading position in future intelligentization and autonomous driving.

Thus, telling a new story about technology became an inevitable choice. This not only reshapes Qianli Technology's valuation logic and paves the way for subsequent capital operations (such as the planned Hong Kong IPO) but also creates a seemingly independent vanguard for the entire Geely empire in the intelligentization battle.

Industry Challenges Awaiting Resolution

Reality is far more challenging than the story suggests. This new protagonist pushed to the forefront still faces a series of challenges.

From the perspective of business development, support from Geely Group is both an advantage and a potential shackle for Qianli Technology. An executive from a leading intelligent driving solution provider analyzed to Wall Street Insights that intelligent driving solutions are the core competitiveness concerning the future for car manufacturers, and other car manufacturers will still have concerns about the background of the suppliers.

Such concerns are not unfounded. In recent years, mainstream car manufacturers have made intelligentization a core strategy. BYD has been continuously integrating its intelligentization department since last year's Spring Festival; Chery has also integrated its subsidiary Dazhuo Intelligent and established the "Chery Intelligentization Center" this year.

Moreover, global car manufacturers are increasingly forming deep equity "bindings" with mainstream intelligent driving solution providers through strategic investments. Whether it is General Motors or Toyota investing in Momenta, or many domestic car manufacturers collectively investing in Horizon Robotics, it signifies that traditional supply chain relationships are being replaced by capital-driven R&D ecological alliances.

As for the hottest player currently, Huawei, it has officially invested in Seres and Avita, while other car manufacturers have yet to invest due to valuation, funding, and strategic choices. However, some other car manufacturers have taken alternative paths, such as GAC's cooperation with Huawei through its wholly-owned subsidiary Huawang Automobile to demonstrate its control.

Clearly, vehicle manufacturers still have their own calculations in choosing the path to achieve intelligentization.

For instance, Mercedes-Benz, which recently invested in Qianli Technology, already has an equity connection with Geely Holding Group, which holds 9.69% of Daimler AG. The subsequent cooperation between the two parties remains to be observed. On the same day it invested in Qianli Technology, Mercedes-Benz also announced that a new urban and highway navigation assistance system (L2 level) developed in collaboration with Momenta is about to be released In terms of finance, the intelligent driving industry is still in a period of high-intensity R&D investment. From the financial data, Qianli Technology's R&D investment in the first half of 2025 is approximately 288 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 59.67%. Operating revenue increased from 2.988 billion yuan in the first half of 2024, growing by 40.04% to 4.184 billion yuan, mainly due to the increase in sales of automotive and motorcycle businesses.

However, the net profit attributable to shareholders, excluding non-recurring gains and losses, decreased from 16.6068 million yuan in the first half of 2024 to -134 million yuan in the first half of 2025. The main reason is that Qianli Technology has increased its R&D investment in the intelligent vehicle cockpit operating system, leading to a significant increase in R&D expenses. At the same time, the increase in asset impairment losses and deferred income tax expenses also had an impact.

In comparison to Huawei, its vehicle business unit had accumulated R&D investment exceeding 40 billion yuan by the end of 2024 and achieved profitability for the first time in the first half of this year, with revenue reaching 27 billion yuan. There is still a gap between the two in terms of R&D investment and revenue.

Moreover, the intelligent driving market has long passed the "blue ocean" stage, and competition has become fierce. According to data from Zosi Automotive Research, from January 2023 to October 2024, Huawei and Momenta accounted for nearly 90% of the market share in the urban NOA solutions provided by third-party suppliers. As a latecomer, how Qianli Technology breaks through and secures more external orders is essential for realizing its ambitions.

The Endgame of "Gambling"

From the call for software-defined vehicles to the sweeping arrival of AI large models, it has only been a few short years. The cornerstone of the automotive industry, which has lasted for a century, is being uprooted. In this new industrial chess game, the players are no longer just traditional car manufacturers; the presence of tech giants is everywhere, and the rules of the game are being rewritten by code rather than steel.

In this game, Li Shufu, through dazzling capital operations, has pushed Qianli Technology to the forefront, undoubtedly marking a brilliant opening move. It showcases the highest strategic layout and resource integration capabilities that a capital hunter can achieve in the face of a changing era.

However, as Geely's own history proves, any brilliant capital operation is merely the beginning of a long journey. The once "snake swallowing an elephant" feat also underwent nearly a decade of arduous integration before finally welcoming the value return of Volvo.

For today's Qianli Technology, the challenges it faces are far more complex than those of Volvo back then. This is because it attempts to touch upon the most sensitive and core issue of "soul" ownership in this industry. What it aims to build is not just a company, but a brand new model of industrial trust.

For Yin Qi, whether he can lead Qianli Technology to establish a new model of industrial trust is the key to Qianli Technology's breakthrough.

Yin Qi has stated that the soul of the AI system is data, which determines that suppliers and car manufacturers must form a deep link of "you have me, I have you," rather than just a simple client relationship. However, whether this theory of deep linkage, rooted in technological idealism, can break the deeply entrenched gatekeeping in the traditional automotive industry is a huge unknown Even Huawei, with its more open equity structure, faced hesitation when seeking partners like FAW. It is easy to imagine the difficulty for Qianli Technology to get its competitors to lower their guard.

In addition, Qianli Technology is now a listed company on the A-share market and plans to go public in Hong Kong. Investors will scrutinize its most authentic operating data with a more critical eye: the growth of orders from external clients (non-Geely), the improvement of gross margins in its technology business, and when its net profit excluding non-recurring items can turn positive.

In the past, Li Shufu was adept at driving growth through capital, using aggressive means such as mergers, restructuring, and public listings to integrate resources and build platforms in the shortest time possible, pursuing rapid value amplification. However, in the process of industrial implementation, he had to adhere to the lengthy rules of technological research and development, product rollout, and market validation, pursuing long-term value accumulation.

If Qianli Technology succeeds, Li Shufu's gamble on Yin Qi will no longer be merely a matter of his personal capital landscape's success or failure, but rather a concrete example of how industry and capital can collaborate to rejuvenate the industry.

The outcome of this gamble can no longer be simply measured by the success or failure of a single company. It is more like a mirror reflecting Geely as a company, and even the entire Chinese automotive industry, in its ambitions and dilemmas during the intelligent transformation.

In the endgame of intelligence, what truly defines an empire is not the size of its capital landscape, but the depth of its technological foundation. The cornerstone of a trillion-dollar empire in the new era will always be reliable technology, observable scale, and sustainable performance