It's all thanks to Aito! Huawei HarmonyOS Drive has won big.

Year-End Especially in the upcoming period, sales largely depend on the heavyweight new cars released in the first three quarters to drive momentum.

Hence, the automotive industry generally uses "Golden September, Silver October" to describe the market's fever,
because in September and October,
many car companies intensively release new models.
Taking HarmonyOS Intelligent Driving as an example, it has carried out a comprehensive reform of its existing product line in the first three quarters of this year,
and simultaneously introduced new products such as Xingjie S9 and Zhijie R7.

In less than a year's development, HarmonyOS Intelligent Driving has achieved top two rankings in the new force sales charts,
even calculating from its origin—Huawei's Smart Selection Car model,
its development is less than three and a half years. Nevertheless, its achievements have been quite remarkable,
with total sales of 312,067 units in the first nine months of this year, and continuously holding the top spot for car market transaction average price for five months,
since April, the average transaction price has exceeded 360,000 yuan. It can be said to have both volume and price rising, with unmatched momentum.

AITO M7/9 has become a "cash cow," while M5 urgently needs to prove itself. The cooperation between Seres and Huawei is the closest,
with AITO being the established brand series in HarmonyOS Intelligent Driving.
This year, both AITO M5 and AITO M7 have been revamped,
and AITO M9 launched a new five-seat version with more outdoor features,
further consolidating AITO's position in the high-end new energy SUV market.
The cumulative sales of AITO M7 have exceeded 160,000 units,
and AITO M9 competes with traditional luxury car brands like BBA with its own strength,
making these two models the main "cash cows" for HarmonyOS Intelligent Driving.

Logically, entry-level models should be the main force of brand sales,
but for the most basic AITO M5, the sales performance is underwhelming and surprising.
Electric Vehicle Connection believes this is mainly due to overlapping product price positioning.

AITO M5 is positioned slightly lower, but the starting price is also 249,800 yuan,
compared to the entry-level version of AITO M7 at the same price,
its only advantage is in low energy consumption and Huawei's QianKun ADS SE version.
However, in terms of space performance and comfort, the entry-level version of AITO M7 is better.
Therefore, AITO M5 mainly attracts users who need advanced intelligent driving and have limited budgets,
while those who are not very sensitive to energy consumption and have a relatively sufficient budget for car purchase,
are more willing to choose AITO M7.

Market Challenges and Strategies Faced by AITO M5

The competitive pressure on AITO M5 in the market is increasing. It not only has to face competition from medium-sized new energy SUVs like Lynk & Co 08 EM-P, BYD Tang DM, Zeekr 7X, and Xpeng G6, but is also affected by the overall market environment. Although the new AITO M5 was launched in April, with monthly sales exceeding 5,000 units in May, June, and July, sales have gradually declined since August, reaching only 2,686 units in September.

Price and Configuration Strategy
In reality, AITO M5 can attract more consumers by lowering its price. However, Yu Chengdong pointed out that due to high costs, it's difficult to significantly reduce prices. Therefore, increasing configurations has become the main method to enhance cost-effectiveness. Analysis suggests that AITO M5 has the ability to reduce prices, but excessively cutting configurations to lower prices may affect the brand image. In the future, AITO M5 may introduce some configurations from AITO M7 or M9, but significant price reductions are difficult.

Solving Delivery Issues with iJET S7 and R7

This year, iJET launched two new models, iJET S7 and iJET R7. iJET S7 initially had the potential to become a market leader but encountered issues in the delivery phase, affecting sales and market perception. After resolving delivery issues, iJET S7 held another launch event, maintaining the original price but enhancing the entry-level model's battery capacity and range, as well as introducing Huawei's ADS Basic Edition.

Facing Market Challenges
The same market challenges are present for iJET S7. Although it had around 5,000 deliveries in April and May, sales began to decline from June, maintaining around 2,500 units in September. Huawei's influence and advanced intelligent driving configurations were not enough to significantly boost sales. Compared to popular models like Xiaomi SU7, BYD Han DM, and the strong-performing Zeekr 001, the competition in the mid-to-large pure electric vehicle market is intense.

The market performance of iJET R7 remains to be evaluated, with deliveries set to start on October 15. Although specific delivery figures have yet to be announced, it has received over 20,000 orders within 14 days of its launch, indicating a relatively enthusiastic market response.

Although iJET S7 was unable to seize the growth opportunity, the company hopes to achieve greater growth by launching iJET R7, aiming to better compete with Tesla Model Y.

Industry observers suggest that the primary task of iJET R7 is not to defeat Tesla Model Y but to first establish a foothold in the market, allowing more time and space for iJET S7, thereby improving overall market performance.

The Strategy of Xiangjie S9 Using Pure Electric Technology to Target the Luxury Car Market

The cooperative brand between Huawei and BAIC, Xiangjie, chose this year to launch the Xiangjie S9 into the mid-to-large executive sedan market led by BBA.

Xiangjie S9 is equipped with highlights such as the HarmonyOS cabin and Huawei ADS 3.0, which traditional luxury car brands cannot surpass. Especially in the experience of rear seats, Xiangjie S9 introduces zero-gravity seats and one-touch privacy mode, providing excellent support for business meetings. With features like rear screens, laser projection, and seat linkage, this car shows significant competitiveness in the high-end car experience.

From a product advantage perspective, it is clear that while Xiangjie S9 incorporates successful elements of traditional luxury brands, it continues to lead in intelligence. Although it is a pure electric car priced at over 400,000 yuan, with sales in September of just 2,169 units, it will take time to challenge models like the Audi A6L, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, which have sales of over ten thousand units.

According to Electric Vehicle Enlightenment, if consumers wish to purchase an executive sedan in the 400,000 to 500,000 yuan price range for business receptions, the more well-known BBA brand models might be more readily accepted. Additionally, range is also one of the criteria for evaluation. Although Xiangjie S9 has a pure electric range of up to 816km and supports an 800V high-voltage platform, there are still some shortcomings in recharging infrastructure, causing occasional inconvenience for owners.

To alleviate consumers' range anxiety, Xiangjie S9 plans to launch an extended-range version in November, which can not only improve user experience but is also expected to lower the price, thus providing substantial market impact against BBA brands.

Zunjie — Hybrid Technology Aiding Market Impact in the Million-Level Segment

During the Beijing Auto Show, Yu Chengdong revealed that Huawei is collaborating with JAC to create its fourth "Jie" brand, Zunjie, with a plan to launch next year.

The "Environmental Impact Report on JAC's Annual Production of 200,000 Units of Mid-to-High-End Intelligent Pure Electric Passenger Vehicles" revealed JAC's new energy vehicle factory product planning and production targets. Among them, a model with an annual production capacity of 35,000 units is positioned as a mid-to-large MPV with a car length of 5.2 meters and a wheelbase of 3.2 meters. This indicates that Zunjie will introduce its first million-level product, set as a mid-to-large MPV.