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Our reporter Lu Xiao (chinatimes.net.cn) reports from Chengdu

On the eve of the Chengdu Auto Show, Hongmeng Intelligent Driving, which was upgraded from Huawei's automotive BU's smart car selection business, has expanded its lineup again.

On August 26, Hongmeng Intelligent Driving's new M7 Pro was officially launched, with a starting price of 249,800 yuan. On the same day, Hongmeng Intelligent Driving's first coupe SUV, the R7, was also officially unveiled. So far, Hongmeng Intelligent Driving has four series: AITO, LUXEED, STELATO, and MAEXTRO.

While Hongmeng Zhixing continues to expand its product lineup, Huawei's automotive business unit is also continuing to expand its circle of capital friends. Following Avita, on August 25, Seres also announced that it would invest 11.5 billion yuan to invest 10% of the shares of Shenzhen Yinwang Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yinwang"), which is wholly owned by Huawei. As many models in cooperation with Huawei are gradually put on the road, the car manufacturers who are still waiting and watching have reached the moment to make up their minds, which also raises a question: how many shares of Yinwang does Huawei intend to take out?

Accelerate the expansion of the lineup

Hongmeng Intelligent Driving's lineup is expanding rapidly. 20 days after launching the Enjoy S9 with BAIC, Hongmeng Intelligent Driving released the new M7 Pro version. Yu Chengdong, Huawei's executive director, chairman of the terminal BG, and chairman of the intelligent vehicle solution BU, positioned this car as "the best SUV in the 250,000-level".

According to a reporter from China Times, the new M7 Pro is the first model of Huawei's ADS (autonomous driving system) 3.0 version. Yu Chengdong also said that day that Shenzhen's commuting roads are congested, and compared with Huawei's ADS 2.0, which always gave way in the past, the 3.0 version, which can intelligently handle more complex road conditions, has greatly improved efficiency.

The intelligent driving system was once one of the important labels of new car-making forces, and it is also an important direction for Hongmeng Intelligent Driving. When communicating with a reporter from the China Times, a consumer once said that he was willing to pay for intelligent driving, but not for a refrigerator or a leather sofa. In August this year, Yu Chengdong also said on the social platform that all models under Hongmeng Intelligent Driving will be equipped with Huawei Intelligent Driving as standard.

The new M7 is one of the main models of Hongmeng Intelligent Driving. According to reporters, the new M7 was launched at the Chengdu Auto Show in September last year, and the Max version and Ultra version were subsequently launched. It was this car that brought a large number of orders to the new M7 series. Yu Chengdong announced in his speech on August 26 that the new M7 series has exceeded 240,000 units since its launch. He also disclosed a set of data that the new M7 has sold more than 400,000 units so far, of which more than 300,000 units have been sold in the past year.

Hot orders must have production capacity to match. He Liyang, president of SERES, who came to the platform recently, revealed that the cumulative delivery of the new M7 has exceeded 210,000 units, and the monthly peak production capacity has exceeded 30,000 units. He also said that SERES launched high-temperature technical transformation in August this year, which caused some fluctuations in delivery. "Nothing has happened to us. We are just making all preparations to create new speeds and records in the future."

It is worth mentioning that high cost is a problem that every new energy vehicle has to face. Yu Chengdong took the entry-level version of the new M7 Pro as an example that day, saying that selling a car would lose more than 20,000 yuan, close to 30,000 yuan. He said that selling at such a price is to allow more users to experience the technology and fun of smart driving. In contrast, Xiaomi disclosed its automotive performance for the first time in Q2 this year. In that quarter, it delivered a total of 27,307 Xiaomi SU7s, with an adjusted net loss of 1.8 billion yuan.

Who is after Seres?

Hongmeng Intelligent Driving is just one of the cooperation models between Huawei Automotive BU and automakers. According to the reporter, in addition to Hongmeng Intelligent Driving, which is an all-round cooperation, Huawei Automotive BU also cooperates with automakers in the Huawei HI (HUAWEI INSIDE) model, which provides intelligent solutions, as well as parts supply.

As car manufacturers are eager for intelligence, in order to let them down, Huawei not only repeatedly emphasized that it would not build cars, but also wanted to build the car BU into an open platform with multiple parties holding shares. In November last year, Huawei announced that it would establish a new company and integrate the core technology and resources of the smart car solution business into the new company. The outside world believed that this was a signal that the car BU would go its own way. It was established in January this year.

Recently, the external investors of Yinwang have gradually emerged, making the outside world realize that its valuation has exceeded 100 billion yuan. In addition to Changan Avita, which cooperates with Huawei in the HI mode, on August 25, Seres also announced that it plans to purchase 10% of Yinwang's shares for 11.5 billion yuan. Seres is currently the car manufacturer with the most in-depth cooperation with Huawei. In addition to the new M7, it has also launched two major models, M5 and M9, in cooperation with Huawei.

SERES's announcement on August 25 also disclosed the current operating status of Huawei's Automotive BU. The financial statements issued by Daxin Accounting Firm (Special General Partnership) show that the operating income of Yinwang in 2022, 2023 and the first half of this year will be 2.098 billion yuan, 4.7 billion yuan and 10.435 billion yuan respectively, and the net profit attributable to the parent company will be -7.587 billion yuan, -5.597 billion yuan and 2.231 billion yuan. It should be mentioned that the first half of this year is also the first half of the year that Huawei's Automotive BU has a positive profit. The report also estimates that Yinwang's net profit attributable to the parent company in 2024 will be 3.351 billion yuan.

In addition to Avita and Seres, other partners such as BAIC, Chery, and JAC are also considered by the outside world as potential investors. In addition, last November, Yu Chengdong also expressed his welcome to partners and more powerful car manufacturers such as FAW to join in the construction.

Jiang Han, a senior researcher at Pangu Think Tank, told a reporter from China Times that Huawei established a new company for the automotive BU and attracted car companies to invest in it because the competition in the automotive market is becoming increasingly fierce and traditional car companies need to find new growth points and market opportunities. Secondly, Huawei's technology and resources in 5G, AI and other fields can provide important technical support and innovation in the automotive field. He believes that there are two main types of car companies that are interested in investing in it: one is car companies that have a strong demand for automotive intelligence and digital transformation, and the other is car companies that hope to improve their own technical strength and market competitiveness through cooperation with Huawei.

Who will be the next investor in Yinwang? The car manufacturers that are still waiting may have to take a look at the car sales performance outside the industry. Their investment speed also affects the time when Huawei's car BU is loaded into Yinwang.

Editor-in-charge: Huang Xingli Chief Editor: Han Feng