Smartphone maker Huawei has partnered with the China-owned Chery Automobile on the electric vehicle (EV) brand Luxeed, set to unveil its first vehicle in the coming months. The brand will debut a Tesla Model S rival near the end of November, according to a company executive.
The Luxeed S7 will be unveiled in the Chinese market in late November, according to a statement from the head of Huawei’s car department, Richard Yu Chengdong, in a report from the South China Morning Post. The vehicle enters a competitive market with a number of other EVs from market leaders Tesla and BYD, in addition to smaller EV startups like NIO, XPeng Motors, Li Auto and others still.
“The car will make its debut in late November,” Chengdong said during a launch event held on Monday. “It will be superior to Tesla’s Model S in various aspects.”
Photo of the Luxeed S7 from a handout. Credit: Luxeed (via South China Morning Post)
Chengdong did not elaborate on the price, driving range or intelligent features of the S7. According to details the SCMP found on China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology website, the EV will be built on the Chery Auto E0X platform, designed for all-wheel-drive, dual-motor vehicles.
While the company didn’t disclose specific features, common functions unique to EVs often include semi-autonomous driving, self-parking, voice controls and more. These features have generally been well-received by Chinese consumers in the middle class, and the Chery-Huawei partnership could be poised for success, some analysts say.
“Chery is an automotive powerhouse and Huawei’s strongest partner in developing smart cars so far,” said Gao Shen, a Shanghai-based independent auto analyst. “High hopes have been pinned on Luxeed because of the marriage between Huawei’s technological clout and Chery’s manufacturing heft.”
Based in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui, Chery has also announced a major shift to EVs, even founding subsidiary Jetour in 2018. Last year, Jetour sold over 180,000 EVs, representing an increase year over year of 17 percent.
The U.S. government expanded sanctions on Huawei earlier this month after initial sanctions were placed on the company in 2019. In 2021, one Huawei executive was fired after calling Tesla’s vehicles “killing machines” resulted in the company receiving complaints from the U.S. automaker’s legal team.
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