(Yicai) Sept. 21 -- Huawei Technologies has promoted Richard Yu, who has played a notable role developing and expanding the Chinese tech giant, to chairman of its smart auto solutions unit, Yicai learned from a source at the company.

Yu’s promotion can help Shenzhen-based Huawei achieve commercial success in the field of smart cars, the insider said, adding that in the future “Huawei will continue to increase its investment in automobile-related fields.”

Jin Yuzhi, president of Huawei's optical fiber business, is taking over Yu’s previous role as chief executive of the Intelligent Automotive Solution Business Unit.

Yu joined Huawei in 1993 and occupied various leadership positions, including sales and marketing director, before being made CEO of the Consumer Business Group. He became CEO of the IAS business unit in May 2021.

He will coordinate the relationship between different arms of Huawei’s auto business from a higher level after the management changes, the insider added.

“The department led by Jin in the past has performed very well, so he might know how to increase operating income and alleviate the financial pressure on the auto business,” the person added.

According to public information, Huawei's optical product line ranks first in the world in the field of optical transmission and access. The line is also diverse, covering various applications. It has been reported that Huawei invests as much as USD1 billion in research and development for the optical product line every year.

But the auto business unit is facing considerable pressure to become profitable. Since its establishment, the unit has invested over USD3 billion in research and development, but its revenue was only CNY2.1 billion (USD288.2 million) last year and CNY1 billion in the first half of this year.

In a public speech in the first half, Yu expressed his hope that the unit would be profitable by 2025. “The auto BU will be profitable if we help the car plant sell over one million vehicles,” he said.

Editor: Tom Litting