Hesai Technology to Be Removed from US DoD Blacklist, Boosting Overseas Expansion
TapTechNews August 14th news, The Financial Times reported on Monday local time, citing several people familiar with the matter, that one of the world's largest manufacturers of smart car lidar - Hesai Technology will be removed from the blacklist of the US Department of Defense, and this ruling is expected to boost its overseas expansion and demonstrate the strength of the Chinese mainland in developing electric vehicles (EVs).
The US Department of Defense added Hesai Technology to the list in January this year. In May this year, Hesai Technology sued the US Pentagon, claiming that there was no evidence that the company had a connection with the military, and called this move arbitrary and capricious.
People familiar with the removal decision said that US government lawyers were worried that the reason for including Hesai on the list could not stand up to legal review according to the standards outlined in the 2021 legislation. In addition, Hesai requested a summary judgment from the US Federal Court in Washington last month, and the hearing was originally scheduled for next month.
The report also mentioned that in 2021, after the court ruled that there was not enough evidence to justify the rationality of its inclusion in the blacklist, the Pentagon removed the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi from the blacklist.
In response to the change of Hesai's removal from the list, the Pentagon's latest response said that due to the ongoing litigation, it could not comment on Hesai. The White House did not comment. Hesai officially said that being included in the blacklist was a mistake.
Hesai has always insisted that our inclusion in the list was a mistake, Hesai Technology said in a statement to The Washington Post on Tuesday local time.
TapTechNews learned from the official announcement of Hesai Technology that the company achieved revenue of 360 million yuan in the first quarter of 2024; the total delivery volume of lidar reached 59,101 units, an increase of 69.7% year-on-year; among them, the delivery volume of ADAS products was 52,462 units, an increase of 86.1% year-on-year. The combined gross margin of the Robotaxi business and the ADAS business is 38.8%.
Among the top 10 international auto manufacturers with the highest global revenues in the Fortune Global 500 list, 6 auto manufacturers or their joint venture partners have already reached mass production fixed-point cooperation relationships with Hesai.