The $180 million investment is the biggest single investment in Mobvoi which has been backed by Google and Sequoia.

Mobvoi is valued at over $1 billion.

Mobvoi was founded by ex-Google employee, John Hopkins graduate,  Li Zhifei who also has a partnership with Google to market the Ticwatch smart watch.

Mobvoi developed its ‘Ticmirror’  – a smart rearview mirror that provides navigation, search, instant messaging, and on-board infotainment through voice command.

“We want to enable voice interaction and personalised services and accelerate driverless cars,” says Zhifei.

VW has a 16.4% share of the China car market.