The AITO automobile brand, owned by the Chinese IT giant Huawei, will soon introduce the flagship crossover M9, today it appeared in the electronic database of the Chinese Ministry of Industry , some technical characteristics have become known.
Huawei, famous for its smartphones and resistance to American sanctions, wants to become a major player in the Chinese car market and is attacking it from several directions at once, collaborating with other startups and with established automakers. The AITO brand (which stands for Adding Intelligence to Auto, which in Russian means “bringing intelligence to the car”) was launched in 2021 as part of a joint venture with Seres, but last summer AITO completely came under the control of Huawei.
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Technical ties with Seres remain, but Seres is no longer AITO's exclusive partner. The first two AITO models — the mid-size crossovers M5 and M7 — are built on the Seres platform, but the very fresh flagship crossover M9, the official premiere of which has not yet taken place, may have already been developed independently or with another partner — there is no exact information on this matter yet. It is only obvious that in terms of design, the AITO M9 from the front is very similar to the debut model of the Luxeed brand launched last month (the joint brainchild of Chery and Huawei).
Overall length of AITO M9 — 5230 mm, width — 1999 mm, height — 1800 mm, wheelbase — 3110 mm. There are two power plants to choose from for the new product: plug-in hybrid and all-electric. The hybrid consists of a 1.5-liter gasoline turbo engine producing 152 hp. and two electric motors: the one installed on the front axle produces 165 kW (224 hp), the rear one — 200 kW (272 hp).
Purely electric version — twin-engine all-wheel drive, front motor power — 160 kW (217 hp), rear motor — 230 kW (313 hp).
Batteries for AITO M9 will be supplied by CATL, their capacity has not yet been announced. There are no photos of the interior yet, it is only clear that it will be three-row.
The AITO M9 is expected to go on sale before the end of this year, so new details will not be long in coming.