To conduct crash tests, the association, at its own expense, bought an electric crossover of a Chinese brand from a regular dealer.
JSC MB Rus (formerly JSC Mercedes-Benz Rus) is part of the Avtodom group. At the beginning of this year, we reported that the company signed a direct distribution agreement with Seres: the document gave it exclusive rights to import and distribute AITO brand cars on the Russian market. As Kolesa.ru reported earlier, this “celestial” brand was the result of a partnership between Huawei and Seres (formerly SF Motors), which is a subsidiary of Sokon Corporation.
In the photo: AITO M9 crossover
Earlier it became known that MB Rus would bring several models of the brand to the Russian market; the first-born were the M5 and M7 crossovers; the company held their local presentation in April of this year. According to the official website of the brand in the Russian Federation, today the recommended retail price of the M5 crossover is 5.39 million rubles, and for the larger M7 they are asking at least 6.15 million rubles.
Initially, another model was announced – the flagship SUV Seres AITO M9. It is known that its Russian premiere will take place before the end of this year. As the MB Rus company said, the Seres AITO M9 crossover was recognized as the safest car in the entire history of tests by the independent safety research association C-NCAP (this Chinese analogue of EuroNCAP).
It is reported that, based on the results of crash tests, the M9 model was assigned a security rating of 93.9% — this is the highest rating for the entire existence of the association (tests have been conducted since 2006). Thus, the crossover received 96.98% for the safety of the driver and adult passengers, 75.38% for the safety of pedestrians, and 97.79% for the operation of active safety systems.
In the photo: interior of the AITO M9 crossover 1/3 
In the photo: interior of the crossover AITO M9 2/3 
In the photo: interior of the crossover AITO M9 3/3
The association emphasizes its own independence: representatives noted that the crossover for crash testing was purchased incognito in the showroom of a regular dealer at their own expense. The Seres AITO M9 achieved an overall safety score of 11.2% better than the average crash test results conducted over the past three years. In addition, it is 2.6% higher than the result of the previous C-NCAP record holder, which was the Li Auto L9 crossover.
The model debuted on the domestic market at the end of last year. Its overall length is 5230 mm, width – 1999 mm, height – 1800 mm, and the distance between the axles – 3110 mm. The three-row cabin is designed for six passengers, with up to 9 displays and 41 storage compartments. In China, AITO M9 is offered in two versions — plug-in hybrid and fully electric.
The hybrid installation includes a 1.5-liter gasoline turbo engine with a power of 152 hp, which operates as a generator, and a pair of electric motors rotate the wheels. The total output of the installation in the Russian specification is 490 hp. The capacity of the traction battery is 52 kWh. The range in hybrid mode (on one charge and with a full tank) is 1,400 km (when calculated using the CLTC cycle).
A fully electric modification has not yet been announced for the Russian Federation. In China, such a crossover is equipped with a dual-motor unit (one on each axle), the total combined output is 530 hp. (673 Nm). The capacity of the traction battery is 100 kWh, and the range without recharging is 630 km (according to the same CLTC cycle). The hybrid crossover takes 4.9 seconds to accelerate from zero to “hundreds”, and the “electric” – 4.3 seconds. The maximum speed is the same and equal to 200 km/h.