Huawei sees below-target sales for Aito in 2022 after high-profile foray into EV market amid pressure from US sanctions
- Telecoms giant admitted original goal was too difficult considering the severity of a global chip shortage for the automobile industry
- High-profile foray into EVs is part of efforts to look for new sales streams after Washington put Huawei on its Entity List in 2019
Huawei Technologies Co made a lukewarm foray into electric vehicle (EV) production in 2022, as the US sanctions-hit giant delivered a below target 76,180 cars with partner Aito, amid cutthroat competition and a weaker domestic economy.
Deliveries of the Aito series, which includes three models Huawei developed in partnership with Chinese electric carmaker Seres, amounted to 10,143 units in December, Aito said in a statement on January 1. The December figure, the second-largest monthly delivery in 2022, was up from 8,260 units in November.
Initially launched in December 2021, Aito started deliveries last March, and sold a total of 76,180 units by the end of 2022, according to Aito’s data.
The deliveries achieved compare with an ambitious goal of 300,000 deliveries for 2022, set out by the head of Huawei’s car unit Yu Chengdong in December 2021.
Just a few months later Yu admitted the goal was too difficult considering the unexpected severity of a global chip shortage for the automobile industry.
“It would be a miracle to achieve 100,000 to 200,000 units in the first year,” Yu said in a video interview with Chinese racer and auto influencer Wu Pei in April. “We were new to the industry … we did not know how bad the chip shortage was across the industry.”