A new D-class sedan has been spied testing in China, but no one seems too sure what the car actually is. From the lone spy shot, it is apparent that the new car is at least 5.2 meters long and has a fastback-type design at the rear. Also apparent are the large wheels, which some Chinese media are comparing to those of a Rolls Royce and claiming that the car has a strong sense of dignity.
Some bloggers are claiming that the car is the first model of the Maextro brand which Huawei and JAC created under the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA) ecosystem. Huawei has three operating models for the auto industry, with HIMA being the most involved and under which Huawei not only provides an intelligent cockpit and intelligent driving solution but is also involved with elements including the design, production, sales, after-sales, and other vehicle stages but stops short of producing the car. There are three brands In the HIMA ecosystem that are currently selling cars. Most successful is Aito which is a collaboration between Huawei and Seres, there is also Luxeed with Chery, and Stelato, a collaboration with BAIC.
At the end of last year, JAC Motors signed a smart new energy vehicle cooperation agreement with Huawei, which lasts for 10 years. Earlier this month, it was announced that the new brand created by JAC and Huawei would be known as Maextro (ε°η β Zunjie in Chinese). This month Stelato launched the S9, an executive luxury sedan with two trim levels priced 399,800 and 449,800 yuan (55,900 and 62,900 USD), respectively, and positioned as a Mercedes Benz EQS competitor.
Richard Yu (Yu Chengdong), chairman of Huaweiβs smart car unit, mentioned on August 14 at the China Electric Vehicle 100 Forum (2024)Β that the maximum price of the brand with JAC would reach 1 million yuan (140,100 USD). This suggests that models from the new Maextro brand will be positioned higher still than Stelato. Earlier reports suggested that the first model from Maextro would be an electric MPV; however, according to people familiar with the matter, this is not correct, and the first car will actually be a sedan aimed at competing with cars like Maybach.
Sources suggest that we should first see the car before the end of this year. Recently JAC has accelerated recruitment for the Maextro project with roles such as quality system experts, quality review experts, product line quality experts, production quality experts, vehicle quality experts, etc. Itβs said that these roles require more than eight years of relevant experience in high-end car projects with models that sell for more than 300,000 yuan and preferably from joint venture brands.
Source: Fast Technology
