Gasgoo Munich- On May 27 in Shenzhen, the all-new AITO M9 made its official debut under the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA).
The new model already boasted compelling selling points, but Richard Yu—Huawei's executive director, chairman of the Product Investment Committee, and chairman of Consumer BG—sent the hype into overdrive at the launch event. "This is the most powerful SUV on earth among any vehicle currently on sale, bar none," he declared, adding pointedly: "I'm not very modest, so go ahead and compare."
Indeed, there is no shortage of contenders. In the roughly two years since the previous AITO M9 hit the market, dozens of "9-series" SUVs have rolled out, with rivals scrambling to catch up and competition in the segment intensifying exponentially. Yet, while many competitors are still mimicking the design and tech of the outgoing M9, Yu made a bold claim: the new M9 has "pulled ahead by another two years." It was a blunt, almost aggressive reassertion of confidence in AITO's technological moat.
The all-new AITO M9 has certainly arrived with force. Official figures show that within just one hour of launch, firm orders surpassed 11,000 units. In the premium SUV market of 500,000 yuan and up, that number sends a suffocating pressure signal to every competitor.
Image source: Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA)
As the industry remains mired in a deepening price war and a race to stack configurations, the all-new AITO M9 emerges armed with 140 new technologies and over 40 industry-firsts. The competitive logic here has shifted beyond simple comparisons of range, acceleration, or screen count. It has evolved into a comprehensive "war" defined by full-chain technical integration, deep user ecosystem lock-in, and generational leadership in product definition.
A New Technological Generation Gap?
The core competitiveness of the all-new AITO M9 stems first and foremost from the systemic advantages offered by Huawei's technological ecosystem.
While competition for most models remains stuck in the phase of "isolated technological breakthroughs"—faster charging, more powerful chips, or larger screens—the AITO M9 leverages the end-to-end leadership of Huawei's Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance to achieve vertical integration from underlying architecture to user experience.
This is not merely a stacking of features; it is a fundamental revolution shifting from passive response to active perception.
The most striking evidence is its holographic spatial perception network. By fusing StarFlash technology, IR sensors, RGB sensors, DMS sensors, UWB sensors, and seat sensors, the new AITO M9 shatters the rigid logic of the traditional automotive cabin. This capability goes far beyond simple voice commands or touch controls, endowing the vehicle with a preliminary ability to anticipate environmental conditions and user status.
Consider the active welcome system based on the Xingshan tech: with a recognition distance of 3 meters and 99% accuracy, the vehicle opens its doors autonomously. Active lighting tracking and automatic ventilation systems further transform comfort features from manual operations into system services. This leap from feature stacking to full-stack perception is difficult for most products to replicate; it requires not only robust hardware pre-installation but also the collaborative computing power of multiple devices and sensors within the HarmonyOS ecosystem.
On the intelligent driving front, the new AITO M9 debuts Huawei's Qiankun ADS 5.0 and all-direction collision avoidance system CAS 5.0 across the lineup. Huawei is currently prioritizing protection that is "all-speed, all-direction, all-scenario, all-target, all-weather, and all-time domain." Notably, the inclusion of a forward dual-redundancy LiDAR matrix and an all-direction 4-unit solid-state LiDAR matrix constructs a higher level of safety redundancy at the hardware level.
The new AITO M9 carries a total of 40 sensors, making its intent clear: to lay sufficient hardware groundwork for Level 3 autonomous driving. In this window period before L3 becomes widespread, the uncompromising nature of safety capabilities holds more value for users than takeover frequency statistics. Official data indicates that HIMA's active safety systems have already averted over 4.29 million potential collisions to date.
A similar depth of technical integration is evident in the powertrain and chassis. Huawei's Tuling Dragon Platform features a domain-wide fusion architecture enabling autonomous judgment and control of everything from the 800V fully active suspension and dual-valve continuous variable damping shock absorbers to the dual-chamber air suspension. With ±8° rear-wheel steering and a minimum turning radius of just 5.1 meters, the handling agility of this full-size SUV effectively breaks the limits of its physical dimensions.
It is precisely these comprehensive, hardcore technological breakthroughs that give Yu the confidence to claim it is "the best vehicle under 10 million yuan."
New Challenger Versus Old Order in 500,000-yuan SUV Market
With a starting price of 479,800 yuan, the new AITO M9 has positioned itself directly in the heart of the traditional luxury brands' profit stronghold.
Data shows cumulative deliveries of the previous AITO M9 have surpassed 285,000 units, securing the top spot in the 500,000 yuan-plus SUV segment for sales, Net Promoter Score (NPS), and quality performance. This fact demonstrates that the breakthrough of Chinese brands in the high-end market no longer relies on a narrative of value-for-money, but on a genuine ability to command a technology premium. Moreover, for HIMA, a crucial point has been proven: when Huawei enters the premium market with its full-stack technology, it exerts immense market pressure on both established traditional giants and the "kings" of the new EV forces.
The launch of the all-new AITO M9 is set to accelerate this shift further.
In terms of product layout, the new AITO M9 essentially standardizes core functions across the lineup. The introduction of the Ultimate Lingshi Extended Edition—measuring 5,402 mm in length with a 3,236 mm wheelbase—directly targets million-yuan luxury full-size SUVs. Priced at 649,800 yuan (659,800 yuan for the six-seater version), it offers a smart experience that traditional internal combustion luxury cars struggle to match at any price. With a 43-unit, 2,920-watt HUAWEI SOUND system, four zero-gravity seats, and an industry-first central air-supply 18-point full-body massage, this "dimension-reduction attack" is fundamentally reshaping the decision-making logic of high-end users. The historical heritage and brand halo that traditional brands rely on are rapidly dissolving in the face of the perceptible experience differences delivered by Huawei's full-stack technology.
Even more noteworthy is AITO's design of benefits for existing owners. Owners of the 2024 AITO M9 upgrading or trading in receive a 50,000 yuan deduction off the final payment, while owners of other model years get 30,000 yuan, and owners of other HIMA models receive 20,000 yuan.
This strategy clearly shows that AITO is building a highly sticky user ecosystem. In the premium market, repurchase rates and brand loyalty are core metrics for long-term competitiveness. By offering highly attractive trade-in benefits to existing owners, AITO is not just maintaining relationships with its user base, but also sending a signal: the trust of early adopters will be rewarded with tangible benefits. This operational mindset of treating users as assets mirrors the high-stickiness logic of the Apple ecosystem, holding far more long-term strategic value than simple price concessions.
Currently, Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance has built a five-brand matrix comprising AITO, LUXEED, STELATO, MAEXTRO, and SAIC Shangjie, with cumulative deliveries surpassing 1.39 million units. Deliveries since the beginning of 2024 have reached 190,000 units, a 27% year-on-year increase. This growth momentum is inseparable from the strong pull of flagship models—specifically, the AITO M9. As the highest-positioned and most tech-intensive benchmark SUV in the matrix, the M9 serves as the core engine driving the brand upward and breaking through sales ceilings. The success of the M9 contributes not just volume, but more importantly, it establishes a mental anchor for "high-end intelligence" for the entire HIMA system. In the future, as consumers recognize the 140 innovations and pricing of the new M9, the premium capability of lower-tier models like the M8, M7, and M5 will naturally be elevated.
This top-down transmission of brand momentum may well be the underlying logic that puts the most pressure on competitors when Yu claims a lead of "more than two years."
Future Trends in Segment Competition?
The release of the all-new AITO M9 marks the point where competition in intelligent electric vehicles officially enters the era of "systemic warfare."
Systemic warfare means that competition for a single model no longer depends solely on the superiority of its parameters, but increasingly on the depth of the underlying technological ecosystem, the speed of data iteration, and the ability to manage user lifetime value. Yu's definition of the AITO M9 as the "strongest SUV on earth" is, on the surface, a controversial slogan. But beneath it lies Huawei's ambition to reshape the rules of the automotive game through systematic, institutional capabilities.
In terms of technological ecosystem, Huawei's HIMA system has demonstrated a unique flywheel effect. Features such as the HIMA ALPS Smart Cabin 3.0, Huawei Xinghe Intelligent Network 2.0, and the Huawei Zhiqing 800V high-voltage dual-silicon-carbide power platform are not isolated technological modules. They are extensions of Huawei's full-scenario smart ecosystem—spanning HarmonyOS Smart Home, Office, Audiovisual Entertainment, and Sports Health—into the mobility scenario. This means that when a user chooses an AITO M9, they are choosing not just a car, but entry into a full-scenario life covered by Huawei's device and service ecosystem.
This seamless, cross-device, cross-scenario experience is a core competency that no traditional automaker or independent EV startup can currently match. When Yu says "go ahead and compare," he is effectively inviting all competitors into a battlefield of ecosystems where Huawei has already laid the groundwork. Here, isolated technological advantages are easily replicated, but ecosystem-level synergy requires long construction cycles and a massive user base.
In a short span of about two years, the new AITO M9 has achieved 140 technological upgrades over its predecessor. Such iteration speed is only possible under the dual drive of a highly centralized R&D system and massive amounts of real-world driving data.
In the future, competition in the premium auto market will not be about who releases a feature first, but who can convert laboratory technology into tangible user value faster via OTA updates.
Of course, the all-new AITO M9 is not without challenges. As more traditional luxury brands accelerate their electrification transition and domestic new energy brands launch more competitors in the same class, competition in the 500,000 yuan-plus price bracket will only intensify.
Furthermore, many high-end configurations on the new vehicle remain optional. Balancing the competitiveness of the starting price while ensuring users perceive the value of an "entry-level full-spec" experience is a subject AITO will need to further refine.
A more profound issue lies in the expectations Yu has set. By positioning the product at the extreme height of "Strongest on Earth," he has simultaneously raised the threshold for consumer anticipation to an unprecedented level. Whether Huawei's speed of technological innovation and iteration can consistently fulfill these lofty market expectations will directly determine the ceiling of AITO brand's long-term competitiveness.
Summary:
The launch of the all-new AITO M9 is not merely a vertical product replacement; it is a landmark event signaling the shift of China's intelligent electric vehicle industry from a follower to a definer of the market.
With over 140 technological innovations and market feedback of 11,000 firm orders in one hour, the new vehicle sends a clear signal: in the new automotive era where success is determined by software definition, ecosystem drive, and data iteration, Chinese technological power represented by Huawei already possesses the capability to redefine high-end luxury vehicles.
Yu's high-profile declaration may seem lacking in humility to traditional automotive insiders. Yet, when the new AITO M9 gains a foothold in the market with hard-core specs like 6 LiDARs, 903 horsepower, and a 0-100 km/h time of 3.99 seconds, the claim of "Strongest SUV on Earth" may well evolve from a controversial slogan into a fact gradually verified by the market. For the entire industry, this serves as both an inspiration and a warning: the moats of the old era are being leveled, and the war of the new era has begun in earnest.
