Huawei’s EV brand Aito hits sales jackpot with new SUV, will compensate buyers for delivery delays in sizzling market

Chinese buyers ordered 60,000 M7s in a month, underlining the strong demand for domestic EVs in the sizzling market long dominated by Tesla

The company, jointly launched by Huawei and carmaker Seres in late 2021, will pay buyers 200 yuan (US$27.35) for each day of delay, up to 10,000 yuan

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Car shoppers check out the Aito M7 at a Huawei store in Shenzhen, in south China’s Guangdong Province, on September 11, 2023. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 8:32pm, 17 Oct 2023

Aito, the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker backed by telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies, is offering compensation to buyers of its M7 sport-utility vehicle (SUV) after the revamped model hit the bullseye with consumers, resulting in delivery delays.

The EV brand, jointly launched by Huawei and carmaker Seres in late 2021, said on Tuesday that every buyer will be awarded 200 yuan (US$27.35) for each day of delay, up to a maximum of 10,000 yuan.

“We have stepped up production [of M7 vehicles],” Aito said in a statement on its app. “We will try our best to hand the vehicles to you with quality ensured.”

The strong demand for the new model – Aito has received more than 60,000 orders in the month since the M7 hit the market – ratchets up the pressure on US-based Tesla, which has long led the sizzling mainland EV market, and its Chinese rivals such as Li Auto, Xpeng and Nio. Beijing-headquartered Li Auto recently broke its monthly sales record for the sixth straight time this year, and Chinese EV makers overall appear to be on track to smash a 2023 sales target of 8.5 million electric cars.

The M7 uses an infotainment system driven by Huawei’s HarmonyOS. Photo: Simon Song

For Aito buyers who ordered an M7 on or before October 16, the current waiting time is four weeks for the Plus version and six weeks for the Max version, Aito said.

At present, Aito is able to produce about 10,000 vehicles a month, and it will have to add shifts to execute all the orders quickly, according to Phate Zhang, founder of Shanghai-based EV data provider CnEVPost.

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