Author: Su Qin
If you have read the following words of Richard Yu, you might agree more with Yang Mi’s “explosive” endorsement!
“M7 will bring the standard of exceeding the experience of million-dollar luxury cars to everyone,” “M7 is the world’s first model that allows leaders and bosses to rest comfortably, even surpassing all luxury SUVs and MPVs!”
Huawei’s scenery is the best, and Richard Yu, aged 53, is as bold as ever.
At the opening ceremony of the Greater Bay Area Auto Show on May 28th, Richard Yu, who never fails to surprise with his words, made the above remarks that made He XPeng want to curse him.
If these remarks stopped here, would there be no twists and turns?
Richard Yu also said that buying a fuel-powered car now is like buying a feature phone in the era of smartphones; when experiencing the traditional car companies’ smart cabins, he said, “there are ten thousand alpacas running wildly in my heart, wanting to curse.” He also asked whether the comfort of the Waijia M7 will completely surpass that of million-dollar luxury cars such as Toyota Alphard and Lexus LM.
Richard Yu’s title of “big mouth” has been around for a long time. Whether it is a marketing strategy or his true nature, this kind of practice of lowering others to elevate oneself is really inconsistent with the style of Huawei as a leader in China’s technology circle.
From 300,000 to 100,000
At the end of 2018, Meng Wanzhou was arrested; in May 2019, the United States placed Huawei on the “Entity List,” forbidding companies from doing business with Huawei; subsequently, the United States imposed four rounds of sanctions against Huawei.
In the end, even a giant like Huawei, with deep roots and a tall tree, could not withstand the United States’ continuous pressure. In 2021, Huawei’s defense line collapsed, with its consumer business declining by 49.6%. Due to chip restrictions, Huawei cannot even release the latest 5G phones! At the opening ceremony of the Greater Bay Area Auto Show, Richard Yu even exclaimed, “I have been beaten up!”
In 2020, Richard Yu was appointed as the CEO of Huawei’s Intelligent Automotive Solution BU at the moment of the company’s decline, assuming the responsibility of leading Huawei’s consumer business from smartphones to smart cars amidst danger and difficulty.
Although Huawei has repeatedly emphasized that it will not engage in car manufacturing, perceptive people can see Huawei’s curve of making cars. In April 2021, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., Ltd. announced the start of Huawei edition pre-sales; in May, Huawei joined hands with Changan and Ningde Times to create a high-end new energy brand, Avita; in December, Huawei and Seres joined forces to launch a high-end new energy brand, Aito, and released the first model, Waijia M5.
With the cooperation of Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., Ltd., Huawei provides its own HI intelligent automotive solution; with Avita, it is responsible for developing the full-stack intelligent solution, and Waijia M5 is almost entirely developed by Huawei except for the backend.
Huawei’s entry into car manufacturing is already like a “Sima Zhao’s heart scheme”!In the leadership of Yu Chengdong, who claims to be a car enthusiast, Huawei’s performance in the automobile industry is becoming more and more reminiscent of its corporate culture: ruthless, roaring, and trying to replicate the shining glory in the mobile phone market in the past!
However, no matter how domineering Huawei is, there are always people who don’t give Huawei face. At the SAIC shareholders’ meeting in June 2021, Chairman Chen Hongming clearly stated that SAIC would not cooperate with Huawei. Otherwise, once the cooperation is made, Huawei will inevitably become the soul and SAIC will become a zombie.
This statement is by no means an exaggeration and has become an industry consensus!
Any new brand that wants to expand its influence must first maintain its basic brand independence. How can it sleep peacefully when eight bright red petals are always shining next to it? As seen at the Wanjie Liangxiang event, Huawei was the center of attention but where was its partner, Cyrus?
Yu Chengdong also knows very well that these eight bright red petals, nurtured by Huawei for more than 30 years, are now blooming in the Chinese market where competition is intense. He is so proud of how much effort Huawei staff have poured into these eight bright red petals, that he becomes somewhat arrogant!
Therefore, in a blind self-confidence seen by amateurs, Yu Chengdong announced that AITO would sell 300,000 units in 1000 stores in 2022. This number is roughly equivalent to twice the sales volume of Tesla in the Chinese market in 2021 and the total sales of Wey, XPeng, and Li Auto.
With such a bold statement, who can match him! However, reality is ruthless and extinguished Yu Chengdong’s burning passion.
Yu Chengdong has also recently admitted with bitterness, “When I first entered this field, I didn’t know much about the supply situation in this industry and didn’t know that the industry was so short of chips.” “In the global automotive industry, 300,000 deliveries per year are impossible because they cannot be supplied due to the chip shortage.”
Even without the chip crisis, and even if M5 is warmly welcomed by the market, with the production capacity of 100,000 units per year at the two rivers factory of Cyrus in Chongqing, AITO’s sales volume has nothing to do with 300,000 units. It is difficult to shake a big tree with a small branch. Even if Yu Chengdong has the intention and M5 has the strength, he can only sigh helplessly!
This time, Yu Chengdong finally overstated his claim!
However, it is not easy for Yu Chengdong. Within Huawei, there has been reflection on his “irrational hype” in the automotive industry.
At the 19th Huawei Global Analyst Conference, Huawei’s rotating chairman Hu Houkun said, “Even if this target (300,000 units) cannot be achieved, please be more tolerant and understanding. Huawei is still a newcomer in the automotive industry and may make many mistakes.”
Yu Chengdong’s Million-Dollar Car
What about the million-dollar luxury car M7 that Yu Chengdong is talking about?## M7: The Latest Addition to Huawei’s Smart Car Lineup
There are currently only sporadic images and information available online, but we can see that the M7 has adopted a design that is radically different from the M5, with fewer curves and more bold lines. The split grille and conventional headlights make the front end look more conservative than the M5.
As for the interior, it is not yet known, but judging from the interior design of the M5, the M7 shouldn’t have too many stunning surprises.
The image above is the only photo of the M7 currently available on the AITO official website. From the design of the lines to the taillight design, except for the fact that the chassis looks slightly higher than the M5, everything looks like a copy of the M5.
The exterior of the M7 is certainly not ugly, but it is far from being attractive. Compared to the Toyota Alphard and Lexus LM, there is almost nothing about the M7’s appearance that can be described as love at first sight.
It is reported that the M7 is equipped with a large six-seat layout and an extended range power system. However, the design and configuration seem to be far from the million-dollar luxury car experience standard touted by Richard Yu. Nevertheless, since it is backed by Huawei, the M7’s intelligent system is undoubtedly the main attraction!
Huawei has been deeply involved in the ICT field for 30 years, which is the strongest foundation for Huawei’s layout in the intelligent automobile field. Based on ICT technology, Huawei has a great innate advantage in intelligent cabins, intelligent driving, and so on.
So far, Huawei has already developed seven major intelligent automobile solutions and more than 30 intelligent automobile components. For example, the M5 not only comes with a brand-new HarmonyOS system, but also has tuning from the HUAWEI DriveONE pure electric-driven extended-range platform and HUAWEI SOUND audio system.
Among them, the HarmonyOS system is Huawei’s ace in the hole. With HarmonyOS, as long as you log in to your Huawei account, you can achieve multi-scenario interconnection between cars, phones, smart screens, smart homes, and more, truly realizing people-oriented, all things interconnected.
In addition, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers has established the SDV working group in collaboration with 22 enterprises. This working group aims to standardize the interface of intelligent automobile software and hardware by coordinating with vehicle manufacturers and parts suppliers. Huawei, as one of the important members of the SDV, has already completed pre-integration with 15 manufacturers and 22 devices, increasing efficiency by tenfold.If ten times the efficiency is focused on the development of the M7 car, the level of intelligence system of M7 will be a great test of people’s imagination!
Huawei’s mobile phone business used to start early and arrive late, having studied ICT for many years, but the mobile phone business relied on OEM for a long time. Until 2013, under the leadership of Yu Chengdong, Huawei established a solid position in the market, joining Apple and Samsung as the top three.
And now, here comes Yu again! This time, he is riding on the crest of a wave! The Ask World M7 will be released at the end of June. It remains to be seen whether Yu will succeed or fail, but please be prepared with your shoes!
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.