(Yicai) Aug. 25 -- Kuaishou Technology, the firm behind the main competitor to Douyin, China's version of TikTok, has joined hands with brands under Xpeng Motors, Li Auto, and Chery Automobile to market their electric vehicles, said the head of its auto business.

The carmakers will livestream and post short videos on Kuaishou, Liu Xiao, who is also vice president of the firm's marketing service platform Magnetic Engine, said yesterday. The platform will provide them with marketing solutions and leads by integrating user-related data, he added.

Short video platforms used to promote cars through online celebrities, but long-term marketing will make that business model less credible, Liu told Yicai. It is not easy to successfully advertise fuel cars via celebrity livestreaming, but it can be even more challenging to market EVs, he said.

Moreover, livestream marketing may trigger a conflict of interest between a carmaker's e-commerce department and its traditional distributors, according to Liu. So compared to such a strategy, it is more likely to succeed by providing marketing lead services through a short video platform, he added.

The solution model is of more direct help than livestream sales for carmakers, he noted. Only those with their own centralized e-commerce department and the ability to deliver products directly through a central warehouse can successfully livestream sales, but few domestic carmakers have that capability, Liu stressed.

Beijing-based Kuaishou will try to work closely with mainstream EV makers this year, especially with plug-in hybrid producers, by providing solutions such as marketing leads, Liu said. But the company's tie-ups are still in the early stage, as Chinese EV producers are still accustomed to using their own independent distribution systems, he pointed out.

Shares of Kuaishou [HKG: 1024] was trading down 3.5 percent at HKD65.55 (USD8.36) apiece as of 3.33 p.m. local time today.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev