BEIJING, October 17 (TMTPost)— Huawei Technologies Ltd is doubling down output at automobile industry as its latest co-developed model gained traction.

Credit：Visual China

AITO, a brand jointly developed by Huawei and Chongqing Sokon's brand Seres, announced it has accumulated more than 60,000 preorders in the first month following the launch of its updated M7 model. These preorders come from customers who have strong interest in purchase and are very likely to convert into sales as any shopper has to pay a non-refundable deposit of RMB5,000 to place the order.

M7’s orders increased very well and initial sales topped 60,000 units, said Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group and Chairman of Huawei Intelligent Automotive Solution Business Group. “We are working overtime to deliver high-quality production and delivery,” Yu said. “We have now invested RMB10 billion more for the entire supply chain and 20,000 workers were added to the entire industrial chain and supply chain. The factory has also added new production shifts, running 22 hours a day. We are going all out to let everyone drive their new cars home as soon as possible.”

The increase in order highlighted new AITO M7’s sales boom. Yu Chengdong revealed last week that new M7 has received orders of more than 50,000 units since the model unveiled on September 12. M7’s orders in two days alone topped 10,000 vehicles, of which October 5 and 6 saw 3,500 units and 7,000 units respectively. M7 was “brought back from the dead, which is by no means easy,” Yu said. “I appreciate workers at (Huawei) Intelligent Automotive Solution Business Group and related departments, thank you for your hard work, and congratulations!” Yu said on WeChat Moments.

The orders from October 5 to 6 made up about one fifth of first three weeks’ order volume. Initial sales reversed downward trend of M7 this year. Prior to launch of new M7 version, AITO sold over 400 M7 vehicles in June, around one third of monthly sales in the beginning of the year, and sales of the model were less than 1,000 units for fourth straight months.

The turning point came as AITO unveiled new variants of M7 on September 12. The new M7, priced at between RMB249,800 and RMB329,800 (US$34,270 and US$45,250), is RMB40,000 cheaper than the original version. The updated model features Huawei's ADS 2.0 system, which enables high-level autonomous driving in both urban areas and on expressways without reliance on high-definition maps. The intelligent driving function will cover the whole country by the end of the year, said Yu Chengdong said at the launch event. The model is also empowered by Harmony operating system, which enables a smooth connection with the Huawei mobile phones. Huawei invested RMB500 million in the new model to improve intelligent driving and comfort, Yu said at the event.

At its autumn new product event on September 25, a slew of offerings ranging from tablets to smart watch, but kept silence on the highly-anticipated Mate 60 series and the Kirin Chip that empower the flagship smartphone. Huawei announced Luxeed S7, its first electric vehicle model under the brand Luxeed co-developed with Chery, will roll out in the late November. Yu Chengdong claim the model, backed by HarmonyOS 4 and ADS 2.0 high-end smart driving system, is superior to Tesla’s Model S in various aspects. Huawei also forecasted the electric SUV Aito M9 will be launched in December. Yu called it the best SUV under the price tag of RMB10 million. 

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