Maextro Luxury Sedan Takes Aim at German Flagships

Maextro, the high-end automotive brand born from the collaboration between Chinese telecommunications and electronics giant Huawei and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group (JAC), lifts the veil on its first production model, the Maextro S800.

Positioned as a high-end luxury competitor to established heavyweights such as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7-Series, the new battery-electric sedan is expected to be priced between RMB 1 million ($138,000) and RMB 1.5 million ($207,000) when it goes on sale in China in 2025.

Prospective buyers can already secure their order with a RMB 20,000 ($2,800) deposit, according to Huawei’s Richard Yu, who oversees the company’s smart car solutions business.

Huawei and its partner JAC have remained tight-lipped about the car’s specifications but confirm the S800 is built on the company's second-generation Tuling Longxing BEV platform and incorporates L3 autonomous driving technology through Huawei’s self-developed lidar system.

While the company did not provide an official release date, Yu reveals in a Weibo video that the S800 stretches to over 18 feet (5.5 m) in length, making it longer than the existing S-Class and 7-Series models.

Mercedes-Benz and BMW have faced challenges in the Chinese market due to increased competition from domestic electric-vehicle manufacturers and a general slowdown in luxury vehicle demand. In the third quarter of 2024, BMW’s sales in China declined 33%, while Mercedes-Benz reported a 13% decrease, according to company reports. Within those declining numbers, though, Mercedes S-Class sales, for example, have remained strong with few domestic choices to challenge the German automaker’s flagship for prestige.

Maextro is the latest brand launched by Huawei as part of its HIMA (Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance). It is positioned as the most premium offering within its automotive portfolio, which also includes the Aito, Luxeed and Stelato brands operated in partnership with Seres, Chery and Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC), respectively.