TMTPost -- Huawe Technologies Co. Achieves a milestone with the first premium electric sedan of Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA), an automotive alliance initiated by the Chinese tech behemoth.   

Credit：Stelato

Huawei and Chinese state-owned automaker BAIC Group unveiled Stelato S9 at an event held on Monday, marking Huawei is foraying into the luxury electric vehicle (EV) market. The Stelato S9 has two variants available-- the Max and Ultra, starting at RMB 399,800 (US$55,700) for the former and RMB 449,800 (US$62,600) for the later. Both models are equipped with a powerful 100 kWh battery, providing an impressive range of up to 507 miles for the Max and 448 miles for the Ultra in the CLTC testing. Both variants support can also recharge rapidly doing the 30%-80% charge in just 15 minutes.

The Stelato S9 is Huawei's first model to feature Advanced Driving System 3.0, an assisted driving system that aims to deliver a more facilitated and intelligent driving experience. It is also the first to be empowered by the omnidirectional collision avoidance system CAS 3.0, offering greater flexibility for complex road conditions and enhancing driving safety.

The cooperation is BAIC’s core strategy as well as its first priority, which brings together all the advantageous resources of BAIC's entire industry chain, including vehicle R&D and production, auto parts development, services and trading experiences, BAIC chairman Zhang Jianyong said. " We are all in on Stelato S9," Zhang said.

The Stelato S9 outperforms traditional luxury cars in space efficiency, drag coefficient, 0-100km/h acceleration time, battery life, and energy consumption, said Yu Chengdong, chairman of Huawei Intelligent Automotive Solution Business Group. The model joins the AITO M9 as the two flagships of HIMA and is ready for sale right after being released, Yu added.

Yu also disclosed development of AITO models. The new AITO M7 model has accumulated preorders of 150,000 units since rollout last November, preorders of M9, a flagship six-seter SUV, reached 230,000 units since launch last December. AITO has received preorders of 120,000 units since the SUV model AITO M9 went on sale seven months ago.

Huawei and BAIC was reported last month that they plan to start sales of Stelato S9 from 2025 with an annual target of 120,000 units. The mass production of this model, aiming to rival the Mercedes-Benz EQS, was reported to kick off in December 2024.

Huawei announced last November a plan to create a new venture with Chongqing Changan Automoile (Changan) , effectively spinning off its Intelligent Automotive Solution (IAS) unit. Huawei plans to integrate its core technologies and resources of the intelligent automotive solution business into the new company, Changan and its affiliates. As the first automaker that the new venture plans to reach partnership, Changan plans to invest in it with an up to 40% stake in it and carry out strategic cooperation. The new company will gradually allow investors like existing strategic partners and valuable automobile manufactures to hold its stakes and eventually become a company with diversified equity holders. In the mean time, the new company, as a public platform, will provide intelligent system and component solutions for the intelligent car business. Smart car will be the new company's key customer and Huawei’s partners of the business are also welcome to actively join this open platform.

The new venture is currently positioned as an "intelligent open platform for automobile electrification", which  marks a rare move for a leading auto tech player like Huawei to embrace original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) as their shareholders. Besides partnership with Changan, Huawei will work with more auto companies to continuously explore new models for opening up and win-win results, and jointly seize the opportunities of the electrification and intelligent transformation of the auto industry, said Yu Chengdong.

The venture was reported late November to be set for a valuation of up to RMB250 billion after sales of stakes to investors including Changan. Huawei could remain the largest single shareholder with a 40% to 50% stake at least in the coming two to three years, and Changan and its parent,China Ordnance Equipment Group--also known as China South Industries Group, are weighing to hold about 35 % and 5 % respectively. Potential minority shareholders such as state-owned FAW Group and Dongfeng Motor are said to be in advanced talks with Huawei to own up to 5% each.