Representatives of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and SAIC Motor Corp sign on a jointly developed internet-enabled vehicle, which was launched on June 6, 2016 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, while Alibaba's Executive Chairman Jack Ma (left) looks on. [Photo/China Daily]

It seems a long shot to replace smartphones with cars. But Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is heading in that direction. It unveiled on Wednesday a new internet-enabled vehicle equipped with the e-commerce giant's YunOS operating system.

The car, which is dubbed the first internet car to go into mass production, is part of a partnership that Alibaba and SAIC Motor Corp, one of China's major car manufacturers, inked about two years ago.