Introduction: In the face of the throne of the car industry, Huawei seems to have only one crown left from being crowned.
In ancient Greece, there was a philosophical problem known as the "ship of Theseus": the planks on the ship were removed piece by piece, and the new planks were filled one by one until there was no more original planks on the whole ship. So is this modified ship the original one or a brand new ship?
Perhaps, today's Huawei is also thinking about such a problem.
"Huawei doesn't build cars, it wants to build good cars for customers." This decision has been repeatedly emphasized by Huawei's senior management several times, but it is in the "re-reading" over and over again that the global ICT leading enterprise has taken its own technological achievements and business into all corners of the upstream and downstream of the automotive industry chain.
Following the release of the new high-end brand AITO at the beginning of the month, on December 23, Huawei officially unveiled the first model of the new brand, the Q&I M5, at the winter flagship new product launch conference, and opened pre-sale. The AITO M5 is positioned as a mid-size luxury electric extender SUV and is also the first car to be equipped with the Harmony OS smart cockpit. The new car launched a total of 3 models with rear-drive version and four-wheel drive version, and the pre-price after subsidies was 250,000, 280,000 yuan and 320,000 yuan respectively.
Since the opening of pre-sales today, aito M5 will be displayed in 180 Huawei stores in 42 cities. From January 20 next year, new cars will be opened to make test drives and reservations, and users can make reservations through the AITO official website and the "My Huawei" APP.
Although the production of automobiles belongs to Jinkang Cyrus, in the AITO brand and the M5 model, the DNA derived from Huawei can be seen everywhere. In terms of appearance, the overall shape of aito inquisitive M5 is smooth, and the wind resistance coefficient is only 0.32Cd, which has both the sense of sport of supercaring and the sense of stability of the SUV. The body length, width and height of 4770/1930/1625mm, wheelbase of 2880mm, rear stretch space of 870mm, further enhance the comfort of the ride, and has a 369L large volume trunk.
The interior of the new car adopts an integrated eco-friendly cockpit design, and in the center is a large 2K HDR central control screen with a size of 15.6 inches. As the first model equipped with Huawei's Harmony OS smart cockpit, there is no doubt that the intelligent networking capability is the biggest highlight of the AITO Q&A M5. Yu Chengdong, managing director of Huawei, CEO of consumer BG, and CEO of smart car solution BU, said at the press conference that the Harmony OS smart cockpit breaks the information gap between different devices, so that the vehicle is no longer an island, but a super terminal that can seamlessly flow with people, mobile phones, smart homes, smart watches, etc.
In this smart cockpit, many technologies, including the intelligent voice interaction system called Xiaoyi, the on-board map Petal Maps, and the all-round digital car key, are directly reflected in the degree of car intelligence under Huawei's Harmony OS ecosystem. More importantly, the Huawei application market equipped with aito M5 is specially built for smart in-vehicle scenarios, and users can download more third-party applications through the Huawei application market, complementing the Harmony OS system.
In addition, the sound system of the new car is also based on HUAWEI SOUND, equipped with a 15+4 speaker theater configuration. The car also carries HUAWEI SuperCharge charging technology, including 40W wireless fast charging and 66W wired fast charging, mobile phone charging 60% only takes 30 minutes, notebook charging 30 minutes can be used for 4 hours.
In order to live up to the product positioning of luxury cars, the high-end design of the interior of aito inquisitive M5 can also be seen everywhere, the center console is covered with leather material and wood grain trim, and the seat is covered with Nappa leather material; the interior provides a total of three colors, which can be freely matched with the five colors of the paint to highlight the personality of the owner; the cockpit is surrounded by RGB 18-color mood lights, supplemented by the ICAS air purification system and the exclusive fragrance system to ensure the fresh environment in the car. The new car's control of NVH through hardware and software further enhances the overall comfort and grade of the interior space. The roof is also equipped with a panoramic canopy made of micron silver-plated insulated glass, with a field of view ratio of 97.7% and an insulation effect of more than 40%.
In terms of power, the AITO Q&I M5 is equipped with huawei's HUAWEI DriveONE pure electric drive range extender platform. It is composed of a combination of 1.5T four-cylinder range extender 3.0 and front asynchronous AC motor + rear permanent magnet synchronous motor, with a peak power of up to 365kW, supplemented by oil-cooled technology for heat dissipation, oil-co-renewable, so that its CLTC comprehensive working condition cruising range reaches 1242 kilometers, and the acceleration time of 100 kilometers is 4.4s. In addition, the platform can be different according to various working conditions, providing a total of 5 driving modes, 3 range increment modes and 4 gears of recovery force adjustment.
In addition, the chassis of the new car is made of all-aluminum alloy, and the suspension uses a combination of front double wishbone rear linkages, combined with 20-inch high-performance tires and the Bosch iBooster intelligent braking system, which can reduce the body center of gravity, adjust for better tilt control when cornering, and improve grip. At the same time, the new car is also equipped with sensors including 8 cameras, 12 long-distance ultrasonic radars and 3 millimeter-wave radars, which can realize L2+ level intelligent assisted driving and support reverse external charging.
Yu Chengdong said at the press conference that Huawei focuses on the all-scenario smart life strategy, empowers the automotive industry with more than 30 years of ICT technology and leading smart travel experience, brings the digital world to every car, and helps car companies build and sell good cars. As the latest witness to Huawei's continuous innovation and professional strength, aito M5 will open a new era of smart mobility.
Take a look:
With the birth of the AITO brand, Huawei's true understanding of intelligent and connected electric vehicles has slowly surfaced. If the Previous Xilis SF5 customized with Jinkang is only a test of Huawei's layout and car building, then the appearance of the Q&A M5 shows that Huawei is only a fraction of a centimeter away from personally going down.
Huawei's decision-making and layout are also based on the consideration of sustainable development of the enterprise. In the ever-changing international environment, the main mobile phones in the past have been blocked, making Huawei face the reality test of "elephant turning". As an industrial outlet, the electrified and intelligent networked vehicle has become the main path for Huawei to change lanes.
In fact, since 2013, Huawei has entered the Internet of Vehicles by releasing in-vehicle modules, and is also committed to promoting the establishment of international standards for the Internet of Vehicles. Since 2018, Huawei has successively reached cooperation with automakers such as Dongfeng, Changan, BAIC, SAIC, BYD, Audi, and Volvo in emerging fields such as 5G Internet of Vehicles, digital cockpit, and autonomous driving, and has deepened research and development in the fields of three electricity, chips, and charging and refueling, paving the way for Huawei to lay the groundwork for the automotive industry chain ecology.
In April this year, Huawei officially announced its HI brand automotive intelligent parts products and solutions on the eve of the Shanghai Auto Show, including core components such as 4D imaging radar, AR-HUD, MDC810 intelligent driving platform, and thermal management system TMS, which gave Huawei a more realistic basis for "helping car companies build good cars".
Subsequently, Huawei has cooperated with automakers such as Changan Automobile, BAIC Jihu, and Jinkang Xilisi to launch a new brand and exclusive models bearing the HUAWEI INSIDE logo through smart car solutions equipped with software and hardware. Among them, the Xilis SF5, which was also listed in April, entered huawei online and offline experience stores to open sales after binding Huawei solutions. From January to November this year, the cumulative sales of the Xilix SF5 exceeded 7,000 units, an increase of 871% year-on-year, which initially showed the role of the Huawei brand in promoting the sales of this unpopular model.
From building cars, to helping car companies build good cars, to providing integrated solutions, until launching a co-brand and personally selling cars... Facing the throne of the car industry, Huawei seems to have only one crown left from being crowned. After the release of the AITO brand, Huawei and Xilis are determined to make the new brand in the first echelon within five years. Although this is a difficult task for emerging brands, it is certain that with the entry of Harmony OS into the carrier of the car, Huawei's advantages in the smartphone market are still expected to continue, and its ecological construction in the Internet of Vehicles will also receive new boosts.
For Huawei and AITO, the pre-sale of the M5 is just the beginning. In the bustling Chinese intelligent network new energy automobile industry, the originally quite crowded track has added a new player, and the entire industry will usher in another iteration in the increasingly intensifying competition.
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.