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BEIJING, July 15 (TMTPOST)— Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD Co. may enhance application of intelligent technologies by in-house chips.

Source: Visual China

BYD was planning to develop proprietary chips for intelligent driving, and its semiconductor team, leader of the project, had sent relevant requirements to potential chip designers, and started recruitment for talents working on board support package (BSP) technologies, Chinese digital tech media outlet 36Kr cited people familiar with the matter, as an evidence for BYD to improve its weakness on intelligence. “If the proceeding fast, (BYD) can see chip tape-out in the year end,” one source said.

BYD didn’t respond 36Kr’s inquiry to confirm the news, but its management has suggested adjustment of strategy. “The first half of game in new energy vehicles (NEVs) is all about electrification, while the next half focuses on intelligence,” BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu said at a shareholders meeting last month. “Just like dealing with electrification, BYD will figure out all the core technologies about intelligence and conduct complete verification.”

The news came as BYD was entrapped by the market speculation about a major shareholder’s exit. Exchange data showed 99.93% of BYD stakes entered in the Central Clearing And Settlement System (CCASS) as of Monday, shockingly increasing 20.94 percent points from the proportion on July 8, and the 20.94% stake was exactly the same with the BYD position that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway last reported in last December. The development made market speculate that Berkshire would liquidate BYD shares it held for more than a decade since shares have to enter CCASS before sales transaction settled. BYD denied any major share sales after its shares crashed nearly 12% Tuesday. The company said all the major sharesholds should disclose sales and no disclosure about sales had been found on the system of the Hong Kong stock exchange yet. It added its sales of NEVs including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids recently set record high.

Earlier this month, BYD announced to its delivery in June increased 224% year-over-year (YoY) to a new record of 134,036 units. For the first half of year, the company sold 641,350 vehicles, up 314.9% from a year earlier. The data suggests BYD is very likely to achieve its annual sales target of 1.5 million units.