End of 2021, while major new energy vehicle companies are preparing to showcase their new cars at the Beijing Auto Show, the brand “AITO” created by Siles and Huawei Smart Selection has been born. Its first model, the WENJIE M5, was officially unveiled on December 23.
Siles’ “0-1”
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I believe readers are familiar with the Siles brand. In April 2021, at the Shanghai Auto Show, Jinkang Siles, a new energy vehicle brand under Xiaokang Group, and Huawei jointly launched the Siles Huawei Smart Selection SF5. The early pre-order volume after its pre-sale and listing reached 10,000 units at one point. The SF5 is equipped with Huawei DriveONE triple-motor electric drive system, HUAWEI Sound audio system, Huawei’s HiCar vehicle system, and other product highlights that have earned it numerous attention.
However, data shows that from its launch in April to the end of the year, only 8,169 units of the SF5 were sold, which did not meet expectations.
“Students of the same school” but also “unique”
On December 23, 2021, Huawei officially released the WENJIE M5, a midsize SUV with a smart cockpit powered by HarmonyOS. It is known by Huawei as the “first Hongmeng car”. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business, once said that the SF5 only “used some technology” and “could be better”, while the WENJIE M5 was built by Huawei’s industrial design team, software team, and user experience team.
From the early planning, design to later marketing and sales, Huawei wholly managed the development of WENJIE M5, and adopted a full-set Huawei smart car solution.
Highlight Review
Zhang Xinghai, founder of Xiaokang shares, also mentioned in his 2022 New Year’s message: “In 2022, our urgent task is to mobilize all of Siles’ and the group’s strength to ensure high-quality and mass delivery of WENJIE M5.” This indicates that the AITO WENJIE M5 is crucial for the transformation and breakthrough of Xiaokang Group’s development! Within 96 hours after the launch of AITO WENJIE M5, its pre-order volume had exceeded 6,500 units.Let’s review the hardware information of the WENJIE M5:
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The length, width, and height are 4,770 mm, 1,930 mm, and 1,625 mm respectively, with a wheelbase of 2,880 mm;
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It features a 15.6-inch horizontal screen with a screen-to-body ratio of 90\%, the same as the one unveiled at HDC 2021;
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In terms of power, the WENJIE M5 is based on the HUAWEI DriveONE pure electric drive-extended range platform and is available in three power types: rear-wheel drive standard version, four-wheel drive performance version, and four-wheel drive flagship version. It has a range of up to 1,195 km under the NEDC test cycle, and can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.4 seconds;
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Regarding handling, the front suspension of the WENJIE M5 uses “four-ball double-wishbone independent suspension,” while the rear suspension uses multi-link independent suspension. The four-ball double-wishbone front suspension effectively suppresses brake nod and pitch during acceleration and deceleration.
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Equipped with HarmonyOS, the smart cockpit of the WENJIE M5 adopts Huawei’s self-developed leading end-cloud combination architecture, supporting continuous voice input and four-tone zone voice recognition. It has intelligent perception functions such as smart environment, location, and scene, as well as self-learning capabilities;
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By logging in to the same Huawei account on both your phone and vehicle, Harmony OS’s distributed technology supports navigation, music, video, and other services between your phone and vehicle, and supports more application extensions within the open Hongmeng ecosystem;
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The AITO WENJIE M5 features a familiar Huawei terminal user interface and interaction methods. With a large-scale visual interaction area and customized UI design, most settings and information can be accessed directly. The Smart Dock can also independently recognize and analyze vehicle conditions and owner status;
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The panoramic sunroof is made of silver-plated heat-insulating glass, which can achieve 99.9\% ultraviolet isolation.
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HUAWEI SOUND, a professional-grade speaker with a peak power of 1,000W, 19 units, and 7.1 \& 5.1 surround sound.
- 1 Type A \& Type C interface on the driver’s side, 1 Type C on the passenger’s side, and 2 Type C interfaces facing the rear seats. The wired charging has a maximum of 66W fast charging, and the wireless charging has a maximum output of 40W. It’s worth mentioning that the AITO WENJIE M5 also has a “seat ventilation” function for wireless charging. Many automakers know that wireless charging can easily cause phones to overheat, but they have not prioritized solving this problem. AITO WENJIE has already taken this product feature into account and made a great user experience by doing so.
- AITO WENJIE M5 incorporates 1 CMS camera, 1 DMS camera, 1 DVR camera, 1 visual perception camera, 4 APA cameras, 12 long-distance ultrasonic radars, and 3 millimeter-wave radars, with L2+ level advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) capabilities. It’s a pity that the current version of AITO WENJIE M5 is not equipped with the strongest Huawei Inside ADAS solution.
Summary
The L2+ level ADAS system advertised by AITO WENJIE M5 may seem unremarkable in today’s era of intense competition among new energy vehicle brands. The lack of Huawei’s ADS system may also reduce the public’s expectations for AITO WENJIE M5. But looking at the car itself, the powerful HarmonyOS system and Huawei’s ecological experience will still be strong advantages for AITO WENJIE M5.
In 2022, Yu Chengdong has set a sales target of 300,000 Huawei Smart Selection vehicles, and the AITO WENJIE M5 is temporarily carrying this entire goal. From GAC Aion Huawei Smart Selection SF5 to AITO WENJIE M5, Huawei is gradually deepening its influence on GAC Aion. From AITO WENJIE M5, we can see that whether it is product sales channels, feature promotion, or even reservation channels, they are all under the firm supervision of Huawei.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.