Huawei "builds cars": with new love, give up old love

Text/Leju Finance Li Shanshan

"Huawei does not build cars, only helps car companies build good cars." This is Huawei's consistent response to the outside world whether to build a car. Having said that, Huawei has been honest in its actions. On the one hand, it claims not to build cars, but on the other hand, it is not willing to be only a parts supplier.

Last month, Huawei's second car, the AITO M5, was officially released, equipped with the latest Huawei Hongmeng smart cockpit.

This car, which is regarded by the outside world as "inheriting" Huawei's "bloodline", is mainly responsible for huawei's early planning, involving design, brand positioning, post-marketing and so on. It can be said that in addition to the name without Huawei, the others are all made by Huawei.

However, some rejoice and some are sad. When Huawei's deeply involved Q&A M5 trumpeted more than 6,500 orders in 4 days, the owners of Cyrus Huawei's smart SF5 directly called for being "cut leeks" on the Internet, and the call for rights protection became higher and higher.

On the afternoon of January 5, the official Weibo of Xilix published a letter to the users of Xilis SF5, indicating that Xilis SF5 will continue to accept user orders. After the user places an order, the company will arrange a special person to follow up and assist in delivery in a timely manner. For users who have already been delivered, it is promised that their first owner will be upgraded to enjoy a lifetime warranty of the vehicle and range extender in addition to the normal warranty.

Cyrus SF5 "discontinued" storm

Recently, a large number of Huawei Xilis car owners have spoken out through multiple social media platforms, questioning the problem that the newly purchased car has not yet arrived but will face the problem of "disguised suspension".

According to the owner of Theilis SF5, a large number of Xilis stores are currently being renovated, and many store logos have been replaced with "AITO" logos. Some car owners said that the SF5 exhibition car in the Xilis store was removed, and the new car was even branded.

Some Huawei store sales staff said: "Since the release of the M5, Cyrus SF5 has stopped accepting reservations. On the issue of whether to stop production, another Huawei store sales staff said that only the pre-sale was suspended, not the suspension.

In addition, there is news that Xilis stores will be upgraded to AITO brand stores to prepare for the sales of M5.

Leju Finance searched for the keyword "SF5" in the Huawei official mall, and the product that appeared was the Q&I M5; open the official XILIS APP, the opening screen page is still the picture of Huawei Smart Selection SF5, but all the official service outlets displayed in the APP have become AITO user centers; on the official website of Cyris and the APP, the SF5 model can be booked.

In addition to the uproar caused by the suspension of production and sale, complaints about the quality of the SF5 have also surged.

Some owners who have just picked up the car for two months complained on social media that they were the first owners of the leeks to be cut, and also listed a series of problems that occurred in the car after driving SF5 for two months, such as large fuel consumption, short mileage, easy to run off, and cramped space in the car. Some car owners even said that nearly 300 car owners have been found to jointly defend their rights.

In the face of overwhelming doubts, on December 25, 2021, Cyrus released a letter to Cyrus SF5 users, saying that from now on, the first owners of Cyrus SF5 will receive a new upgrade of exclusive benefits. Including: 1. The warranty of the vehicle and the range extender is upgraded to the lifetime warranty; within 2 or 4 years, any model under the AITO brand will be able to enjoy an additional exclusive discount of 10,000 yuan on the basis of enjoying the promotion rights of the new car to be purchased.

However, many car owners do not recognize this, believing that this is just a "new routine".

Huawei's "Car Building Classic"

Whether it is accusations, complaints or doubts, the Cyrus SF5 has become an "outcast" of Huawei.

It is reported that Xilis is a new energy vehicle brand under Xiaokang Shares. Eight months ago, the Xilis SF5 created by Huawei and Xiaokang was officially unveiled at the Shanghai International Auto Show, with a price range of 216,800 to 246,800.

In fact, the car has been on the market as early as 2019, but its market performance has been lackluster. The data shows that the sales of the Cyris SF5 in 2020 were only 791.

However, after labeling it as "Huawei Smart Choice", its sales were once hot, and the order exceeded 3,000 vehicles within two days of sale. At the same time, Xiaokang shares also hitched a ride on Huawei's express train, the stock price rose 10 times, and the market value exceeded 110 billion yuan, which was the same for a while.

At that time, Huawei had high hopes for the Cyrus SF5, not only deeply involved in its product research and development, but also in publicity and sales. In the second quarter of 2021, Yu Chengdong, CEO of smart car solution BU, has repeatedly promoted SF5 with pictures on Weibo, and Huawei even hopes that Cyrus can replace the reduced mobile phone business and become a new traffic and growth point in Huawei's consumer business.

However, the good times are not long, since the release of the new car M5, SF5 is no longer the "darling" in Huawei's eyes.

On December 23, 2021, Huawei's new product launch conference mainly introduced two products, one of which is the first model launched by the AITO brand, the Q&A M5.

It is reported that AITO is a high-end smart car brand cooperated by Xilis and Huawei, with Xilis as the brand side and Huawei as the supplier. However, it is rare for Huawei to release vehicle products instead of the brand side.

At the two-and-a-half-hour-long press conference, more than 60 minutes were used to introduce the M5, "a domestic car comparable to a million luxury cars," Yu Chengdong said.

At the same time as the high-profile release, the eye-catching release of the M5 has become a one-man show for Huawei.

Throughout the press conference, not only did the relevant personnel of Cyris appear on the stage, but even Yu Chengdong's speech rarely mentioned Cyris. Focusing on the car, the M5 from the audio to the smart cockpit and even the charging pile, almost all the components are printed with Huawei's logo.

In stark contrast, at the Cyrus AITO brand conference in early December 2021, Yu Chengdong made a video speech, Huawei executives took the stage to speak, and the speeches of Cyrus related people also frequently mentioned Huawei.

The car company's binding to Huawei failed

Why did Huawei abandon the Cyrus SF5 in favor of the High Question M5? The reason is actually there.

"This time, we used the industrial design team, software team, and user experience team of Huawei's consumer business to create this product together." Yu Chengdong said at the press conference.

However, in this regard, the relevant personnel of Xilis then said: "AITO's vehicle technology and R & D design are all manufactured by Xilis, and Huawei only brings new cars and machines in, including some interior configurations, but these must not be called Aito Huawei." ”

Although the speech at Huawei's press conference caused dissatisfaction from Xilis, Huawei has already regarded the M5 as a "pro-son", and Huawei has also come to the front of the stage from behind the scenes of the automotive industry through AITO.

On the other hand, although the Xilis SF5 wears the title of Huawei, Huawei is only a latecomer, and it is only after its listing that it adds Huawei's electronic drive system and HUAWEI HiCar and other primary functions, and Huawei only participates in sales, not responsible for after-sales. The SF5 model is not enough "Huawei".

In fact, the surge in sales of the Xilix SF5 after the Huawei label is only short-lived. According to the data, the cumulative sales of the Xilix SF5 from January to November 2021 were only 7080 units. Far less than the new car-making forces such as Wei Xiaoli, the sales volume can exceed 10,000 in a single month.

It is understood that Huawei is not satisfied with the quality and quality control of the Sf5. Huawei's requirements for factories are extremely high, especially in terms of durability, but Chongqing Jinkang Cyris Liangjiang factory has not met Huawei's requirements.

At this point, Xilis, who originally wanted to deeply bind Huawei, not only did not have a significant improvement in brand influence and sales, but also was eventually snubbed by Huawei. On the day of the release of AITO Q&A M5, Xiaokang shares fell by more than 7%, and the market value evaporated by nearly 25 billion yuan in three trading days.

In addition to the Xilis that was left aside, the cooperation between BEIQI Polar Fox and Huawei also frequently "cooled down".

During the November 2021 Guangzhou Auto Show, Jihu revealed that the alpha S new HI version of the large-scale delivery tasting event will be held in Shenzhen on December 25. As we all know, Shenzhen is Huawei's base camp, because of Huawei's thighs, the Polar Fox Alpha SHI is more selling. But in the end, the delivery event was held in the Baiqi Blue Valley Magna intelligent manufacturing production base, that is, the Zhenjiang factory.

In fact, the cooperation between the two sides is not harmonious. According to people familiar with the matter, the Jihu factory adopts Magna's design concept, management method, and work process, and Huawei hopes to replace it with its own thinking. However, because the two are completely incompatible, Polar Fox did not agree, so Huawei became dissatisfied with Extreme Fox.

In addition, at the official media communication meeting held on December 22, Jihu only left the last one for Alpha SHI's three titles: "the world's first mass production car equipped with Huawei's HI full-stack intelligent driving solution", "the world's first pure electric car equipped with Hongmeng OS" and "the world's first mass production car that supports high-end intelligent driving on urban roads".

It is undeniable that Huawei's golden signboard and huge user base can indeed bring the blessing of halo to partners, and the stock prices and market value of BAIC, Changan, GAC, and Xiaokang shares have soared.

However, the main engine factory that wants to rub Huawei's traffic is likely to become the end of the foundry. Chen Hong, chairman of SAIC, once published a "soul theory" about Huawei: "It is difficult for SAIC to accept a supplier like Huawei to provide us with an overall solution, which will become 'he is the soul, I am the body', which we cannot accept." Our souls must be in our own hands. ”

As far as Huawei's current cooperation with these car companies is concerned, Huawei has far exceeded the role of suppliers, and even has the momentum of anti-customer. Previously, Xilis was rumored to be "Huawei's car foundry", to which Xiaokang responded: Xilis under Xiaokang is a long-term partner of Huawei, not a foundry.