Is there still room for a new automotive brand?
This question resurfaces whenever competition intensifies. But the answer may be less important than it seems. Consumers don’t necessarily need a new brand. What they need is simply a good car.
Consider the Maextro S800, which sold 8,000 units in just 60 days, despite a price tag that may exceed RMB 1 million (USD 140,000). Huawei’s Aito M8 and M9, both priced above RMB 400,000 (USD 56,000), are each now hitting monthly sales of over 30,000. The message is clear: if the product delivers, buyers will come.
Timing in business is paradoxical. What seems like a missed opportunity can also signal a maturing supply chain. The market may not need more players, but it does need the right product, delivered by a capable team that can meet unmet demand, mobilize resources, and spark renewed momentum.
That’s the rationale behind Shangjie, the new brand jointly launched by SAIC Motor and Huawei. Built on the foundations of two industrial heavyweights, Shangjie enters during a volatile yet promising stage of China’s smart electric vehicle boom. The segment is saturated with low-cost options, but still lacks well-engineered, intelligent vehicles. That’s where Shangjie sees an opportunity.
Before Shangjie, Huawei’s Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA) had already launched four premium brands with partners Seres, Chery, BAIC, and JAC Motors. Each targeted the high-end market. Shangjie, in contrast, aims for the mass market, and specifically the RMB 200,000 (USD 28,000) segment.
Its first model, the H5, has been registered with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The large SUV, available in both pure electric and extended-range versions, is expected to launch in September. According to Huawei executive Richard Yu, the H5 will be the first vehicle at this price point to ship with Huawei’s latest advanced driver assistance system as standard.
Disrupting the RMB 200,000 SUV segment
Tencent co-founder and CEO Pony Ma once noted that failing companies often didn’t make obvious missteps; rather, they failed to recognize emerging technologies or lost touch with younger consumers.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the century-old automotive industry. Since 2014, waves of Chinese smart EVs have disrupted legacy brands and outdated strategies, leading to a more sophisticated industrial ecosystem and increasingly discerning buyers.
EV brands are expanding across all price tiers. Growth is strong, and the field remains open.
This instability creates openings. Shangjie is targeting a high-demand but underserved niche: the premium mass market around RMB 200,000.
With a 2,840-millimeter wheelbase and 4,780 mm in body length, the H5 is a midrange SUV priced to compete with household names like the Volkswagen Tiguan, Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Haval H6, and BYD Song. Each of them sell over 200,000 units annually in China. This is core market territory.
But innovation in this space has stalled. Many offerings rely on brand legacy rather than product performance. Others are constrained by outdated powertrains or legacy EV platforms.
Today’s top-tier EVs offer six- or seven-seat configurations and electric ranges above 600 kilometers, with some approaching 700 km. Extended-range EVs typically provide 250–300 km of electric-only driving. They also compete on ride quality, noise and vibration control, suspension tuning, battery tech, and safety features.
In the high-end segment, competition is intense. But at the RMB 200,000 level, that intensity hasn’t arrived—largely due to a lack of technological muscle.
Developing smart cockpit features and driver assistance systems requires integrated teams, capital, and engineering talent. Huawei alone has more than 2,000 engineers dedicated to autonomous driving. That’s a threshold many automakers can’t reach.
This is why the H5 stands out. It combines SAIC’s latest EV platform with Huawei’s top-tier driver assistance and smart interaction systems. It also follows Huawei’s product definition model, which has yielded a string of HIMA successes.
This is a vehicle built without compromise, whether on intelligence, electrification, or quality.
A brand born mature
SAIC has proven to be astute in the smart EV transition. Over the past decade, it has built a comprehensive industrial footprint in both China and Silicon Valley, covering electric drivetrains, software ecosystems, and more.
As a leading Chinese automaker, SAIC already owns a complete vertical supply chain in areas like power batteries and centralized vehicle architecture. These capabilities are now deployed in Shangjie.
For instance, SAIC’s Z-One software arm has developed a proprietary service-oriented architecture. The company also operates a joint venture with Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), ranking among CATL’s top five customers. Battery costs have dropped to roughly RMB 0.3 (USD 0.04) per watt-hour, improving margins for domestic EV makers.
SAIC’s Huayu unit is also a key Tesla supplier, adding another layer of industrial strength.
These assets support a deep talent pool. SAIC recently restructured its R&D framework to enhance execution. Over 5,000 specialists are now working on Shangjie, in close coordination with Huawei across product design, production, marketing, and sales.
Unlike newer entrants hampered by manufacturing delays, Shangjie benefits from SAIC’s decades of experience with Volkswagen and General Motors. SAIC president Jia Jianxu said the company has assigned its most advanced factory to produce the H5 and is building a new plant intended to rival Huawei’s Aito facility in Chongqing.
Huawei, for its part, brings a tested playbook of its own.
Its smart vehicle capabilities have advanced rapidly, from piloting high-level driver assistance in 2023 to rolling out mapless navigate-on-autopilot (NOA) and the ADS 3 and 4 systems.
It has built more than ten exaflops of computing capacity for autonomous driving, supported by multibillion-RMB annual R&D spending. Its HarmonyOS cockpit platform integrates infotainment and driving systems into a seamless interface.
Huawei’s extended-range powertrain routinely delivers more than 200 km of electric driving. NVH performance is so refined that users often can’t hear the engine start, even at highway speeds.
Just as crucial is Huawei’s vehicle development program. HIMA has produced multiple bestsellers through Maextro and Aito, and has now turned around sales at both Stelato and Luxeed. It follows an integrated annual refresh cycle that few rivals can match.
Its quality system is equally rigorous, drawing from high-end manufacturing and design benchmarks. These will be applied across the Shangjie program as well.
The real difference, insiders say, stems from Huawei’s culture of intensity—a determination to outwork and outbuild rivals. Five years of iteration have only sharpened this edge.
Combined with SAIC’s industrial depth, this partnership is uniquely positioned for success. Dealer recruitment has already begun, with more than 1,000 partners signing up in a matter of weeks.
When quality meets scale
In today’s cutthroat car market, brands survive only through product excellence and operational efficiency. One misstep and the decline is swift. The only advantage that counts: a great product.
SAIC has delivered both. Through joint ventures and its own Roewe and MG brands, it has built a national presence. Its Maxus brand pioneered customizable manufacturing, helping SAIC top China’s car sales charts for 18 consecutive years.
But volume alone no longer suffices. Sustainable growth requires consumer focus, resilient sales channels, and high-margin, high-value products.
The H5 fits that mold. Its body size exceeds most competitors in its price class.
The pure electric version offers a CLTC range exceeding 655 km. The extended-range version pairs a 32.6 kilowatt-hour lithium iron phosphate battery with a CLTC-rated electric-only range of 181 km, for a total range over 1,300 km. That’s comparable to Li Auto’s L6, but priced at least RMB 50,000 (USD 7,000) lower.
It also includes Huawei’s full-stack smart vehicle suite.
In terms of positioning, the H5 undercuts larger, more advanced rivals on price, while outpacing comparably priced models on tech and space. It lands squarely in a segment where consumer needs are unmet, and that could be a winning formula.
The SAIC-Huawei alliance is strategic on both sides.
Huawei offers SAIC the technological strength and consumer brand appeal needed to move upmarket. Xiaomi’s rapid rise in EVs has proven how influential a strong tech brand can be. Huawei is the only company positioned to match that momentum.
Meanwhile, SAIC contributes scale, manufacturing prowess, and industrial infrastructure. Huawei supplies the tech DNA and marketing engine. Together, they aim to deliver a mass-market success with premium qualities.
For Huawei, Shangjie fills a gap. HIMA has lacked a brand built for scale. In automaking, scale is survival. Huawei’s R&D-heavy business model requires volume to remain viable, especially as artificial intelligence-driven vehicle intelligence demands even greater capital.
A scalable brand also expands Huawei’s ecosystem, offering layered entry points across price tiers without sacrificing quality.
As Chinese consumers increasingly value experience over specs, the Shangjie H5 could yet become one of the most anticipated vehicles of late 2025.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by 36Kr Brand.