(Yicai) April 24 -- Aito, an electric car collaboration between China's Huawei Technologies and carmaker Seres Group, has debuted the new edition of its M5 series.

The New M5 has a higher-level intelligent driving system with laser radar and upgraded seats, audio equipment, and chassis control, Huawei announced at a launch event in Beijing yesterday. It starts at CNY249,800 (USD34,475), the same price as the prior version, it added.

Huawei premiered the M5 at the end of 2021 and delivered 70,000 units in the first seven months after its launch, but sales began to shrink starting in August 2022. It sold on average less than 3,000 a month last year.

Huawei sees the New M5 as a key product under its Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance in the next three years, said Richard Yu, chairman of its Intelligent Automotive Solutions business unit. The old M5 version will likely gradually stop being made and sold, Yicai learned.

Aito launched its second model, the M7, in 2022. However, monthly sales have failed to exceed 2,000 since the sixth month of its debut.

To reverse this downturn, Huawei invested CNY500 million (USD69 million) in developing the New M7 and lowered its price by between CNY40,000 and CNY50,000 (USD5,520 and USD6,900) to less than CNY250,000. The new version got 60,000 orders in 31 days since its debut last September, becoming the most successful new energy vehicle in China last year.

The New M7 has only one major rival, Li Auto's L7, but its starting price is around CNY60,000 lower than that of the L7. The New M5 faces fierce competition from multiple models, including Li Auto's L6, BYD's Tang, and Tesla's Model Y.

Huawei has sold more than 100,000 HIMA-based vehicles this year.

Editor: Martin Kadiev