Source | Yuan Media Group

Apart from Momenta, it is unlikely that any other supplier could have such an impressive array of automakers rallying around for its public listing.

On July 8th, Momenta made its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, billing itself as the “pioneer in physical AI stocks,” with an initial listing price of HKD 295.6 per share. As an intelligent driving solutions provider with a customer base comparable to Huawei ADS, Momenta received public congratulations on social media from nearly 20 automakers on its first day of trading. This group included SAIC Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Cadillac, and GAC Toyota, according to incomplete statistics.

Screenshot sourced from Weibo

Don't dismiss these gestures as mere formalities from Momenta's clients. A closer look at its prospectus reveals that some automakers have also made financial contributions to its IPO.

Information indicates that SAIC Motor, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz Group, Toyota Motor, and Jinxing Investment (a subsidiary of BYD) are among Momenta's top ten shareholders. Notably, Mercedes-Benz Group and Jinxing Investment (a subsidiary of BYD) made additional cornerstone investments of USD 25 million and USD 15 million, respectively, for this IPO.

Meanwhile, BYD Group, General Motors, SAIC Motor, and Mercedes-Benz Group are Momenta's key clients for 2025. BYD Group alone accounted for 21.6% of Momenta's total annual revenue in a single year. According to the prospectus, the top five clients of Momenta in 2025 will contribute 62.6% of its total annual revenue.

With major automakers serving as both significant shareholders and clients, it is evident that Momenta has a group of valuable “patrons.” Consequently, the high expectations these patrons have for Momenta are understandable. The returns they seek far exceed mere investment gains.

01. One Million Vehicles Equipped, Yet Still “Holding Back” a Perennial Blockbuster

“Today, we have delivered a safer and more reassuring driving experience to over 1 million users.”

As Momenta CEO Cao Xudong stated at the listing ceremony, this intelligent driving solutions provider headquartered in Suzhou has installed its assisted driving system in over 1 million mass-produced vehicles, with deliveries exceeding 100 models. Notably, the first mass-produced passenger vehicle equipped with Momenta's assisted driving solution was delivered in June 2022.

Four years and 1 million vehicles—such figures place Momenta at the forefront globally among intelligent driving solutions providers. If one must nitpick, it can only be said that among these 1 million mass-produced passenger vehicles equipped with Momenta's assisted driving solution, there is not yet a consistently top-selling blockbuster.

According to industry standards, unless it's a model priced in the millions, whether a model can be considered a blockbuster mainly depends on whether its monthly sales exceed 10,000 units. Among the mass-produced passenger vehicles equipped with Momenta's assisted driving solution, there have been models with monthly sales exceeding 10,000 units, but most have not sustained this level for long.

For example, the Nissan N7 from Dongfeng Nissan, as Nissan's first model equipped with Momenta's assisted driving solution, saw its sales rise steadily after its launch in April 2025, achieving 10,148 units in August of the same year (terminal retail data from CAAM/China Passenger Car Association), becoming Momenta's first blockbuster case.

However, 10,148 units also marked the peak sales figure for the Nissan N7 from Dongfeng Nissan to date, with sales starting to decline from September 2025, totaling 7,446 units from January to June this year.

Similar to the Nissan N7 from Dongfeng Nissan, the GAC Toyota bZ3X and Chery Arrizo A9L, both equipped with Momenta's assisted driving solution, achieved monthly sales exceeding 10,000 units for 2-3 months after their launches in 2025, followed by significant sales fluctuations.

Of course, it's unfair to blame Momenta for a model's failure to achieve stable monthly sales exceeding 10,000 units, as Momenta's role is merely that of an intelligent driving solutions provider. However, it's undeniable that, with assisted driving becoming a core selling point for new vehicles, if a consistently top-selling blockbuster could emerge from the collaborative new models between automakers and Momenta, it would be immensely beneficial for both parties.

This, perhaps, explains the difference in consumer perception between Momenta and Huawei ADS.

02. Addressing Shortcomings vs. Elevating Value

As Momenta's most representative industry counterpart, Huawei ADS cannot guarantee a 100% success rate in transforming automakers' models into blockbusters, as even within the “Five Realms” of HiPhi, there are models with lackluster sales. Nevertheless, perennial blockbusters like AITO M5 have indeed positioned models equipped with Huawei ADS's assisted driving solution differently in consumers' minds.

When it comes to consumer choices, Huawei ADS is currently one of only two assisted driving solutions on the market that require additional payment from vehicle owners for full functionality activation, the other being Tesla's FSD. However, this has not hindered Huawei ADS from becoming the supplier with the most installations of domestic assisted driving solutions.

It's worth noting that the cost of activating Huawei ADS's full functionality is not cheap, priced at RMB 12,000 (including automaker subsidies) before a price hike in July this year, and currently priced at RMB 15,000.

From a consumer perspective, Huawei ADS has become a high-value-added element of vehicles, with consumers willing to pay a premium for it, creating a win-win situation for both automakers and suppliers. In contrast, Momenta is currently more often viewed by automakers as a cost-effective alternative to address shortcomings in assisted driving.

This perception is not conducive to Momenta forging a high-value image in the market.

Take Momenta's collaboration with GAC Group as an example; the latter has rolled out Momenta's assisted driving system on relatively entry-level models like the Trumpchi Xiangwang S7 and Hyper Hyper S600. However, at the same time, GAC has chosen Huawei ADS for flagship models like the Trumpchi Xiangwang S9 and Hyper Hyper A800.

In fact, models like the previously mentioned Nissan N7 from Dongfeng Nissan and the GAC Toyota bZ3X, which once achieved monthly sales exceeding 10,000 units in collaboration with Momenta, have also been associated with Momenta due to their reputation for cost-effectiveness, linking Momenta with the notion of “abundance at a low cost.”

In the long run, this is not a positive signal for Momenta or its clients.

03. Learning from the “Battery King”

Returning to Momenta's collaborating automakers, even major shareholders like SAIC Motor, Mercedes-Benz, and BYD, believe that selling cars successfully through collaboration is their absolute top priority. To meet this demand, Momenta needs a more valuable label.

In this regard, perhaps CATL can provide some inspiration for Momenta.

Through continuous C-end investments, such as sponsoring major sports events like the Olympics and dominating advertising spaces at airports and high-speed rail stations, the slogan “For electric vehicles, choose CATL batteries” has been etched in the minds of a significant proportion of consumers, influencing their purchasing decisions.

Screenshot sourced from Weibo

One of the best-selling pure electric models currently—the Li Auto L6—is a prime example.

In the early stages of the Li Auto L6's launch, due to the manufacturer's desire to quickly ramp up production, the vehicle offered two battery options: CATL and Sunwoda. If consumers chose the Sunwoda battery, not only would the delivery time be significantly shortened, but the automaker would also offer an extended vehicle warranty worth RMB 3,999.

However, even so, according to media reports, over 80% of prospective Li Auto L6 owners still chose CATL, forgoing the faster delivery time and extended warranty benefits.

CATL's unique appeal among consumers is not solely based on advertising; product differentiation supporting marketing efforts is also key. For example, CATL's Qilin Superfast Charging Battery and Xiaoyao Range-Extended Hybrid Battery have set industry records for battery charging speed and the pure electric range of range-extended hybrid models, respectively.

In contrast, consumer perception and product differentiation are precisely the areas where Momenta urgently needs to strengthen.

Although assisted driving is generally becoming homogeneous, with safety and reliability being the ultimate pursuit for solution providers like Momenta, this does not conflict with creating differentiated concepts. In the field of assisted driving, Huawei ADS's “parking spot to parking spot” concept and XPENG's driver incapacitation assistance concept allow consumers to intuitively perceive the highlights of their respective intelligent driving brands, yet from a technical perspective, the barriers are not as high as imagined.

For Momenta, collaborating with “old hands” in the automotive market that are relatively slow in intelligent transformation and entering the market through cost-effective models in the early stages of company development to seek larger and faster mass production and installation scales is a defensible strategy. Indeed, Momenta has quickly established itself in the market through this approach.

However, as the company surpasses milestones like one million installations and deliveries and lists on the stock exchange, Momenta has entered a new stage of development. Helping automakers sell more and more expensive cars has become its new challenge. Only in this way will automakers become thoroughly reliant on Momenta.

Note: The article's materials are sourced from official reports and publicly available information, with views provided for reference only. Some images are generated by AI/sourced from the internet; please notify us for removal if there is any infringement.