Aion goes it alone in new cockpit design

By CHEN Xiaotong

Aion, a Chinese EV marque belonging to Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC), has decided to part ways with tech giant Huawei. GAC has been developing its new model, the AH8, alongside the telecommunications superpower, but will now forge ahead with the design of a proprietary smart-car solution alone.

The new Aion car will not use Huawei’s smart car solution or smart cockpit, GAC Group announced Monday night. Huawei will only participate in the development of the new Aion car as a key supplier, the carmaker added.

Aion signed up with Huawei in July 2021. The two said at the time that they would build a series of EVs mounted with the Huawei Inside (HI) solution. The two were so close that the Huawei logo was to be marked on the vehicle body.

As the development partnership with Huawei is apparently at an end, Aion has pumped up its own investment in the new EV project. The company now expects to spend more than 1.2 billion yuan (US$180 million) on the project, up from 925 million yuan.

In February, Huawei suspended its auto business chief operating officer WANG Jun, who also served as the president of its self-driving product line. Wang was in charge of the HI project.

Richard YU Chengdong, now also CEO of the consumer business, took over as head of car development. Yu was a firm supporter of the Huawei Ecosystem, another EV OS Huawei has been working on with EV maker SERES. Since deliveries of the range-extended electric SUV began in late 2021, the SERES Wenjie has sold more than 75,000 units, making it the fastest-selling EV.

In an interview with Jiemian News soon after his appointment, Yu insisted that there was “no need for Huawei to make its own cars.” A better way to do it would be to lead a consortium of car companies and make cars with them.

AH8 was the first model GAC and Huawei had worked on together. Mass production was due to start by the end of this year.

The cracks first appeared in August last year when XIAO Yong, deputy director of Aion, publicly criticized Huawei. Prices of Huawei, he claimed, were too high and Aion had no “bargaining room” beside such a mighty partner.

Last year, Aion sold 270,000 cars, twice the amount sold in 2021. The company plans to double that number again this year to 500,000 units. But in the first two months, just 30,000 have been delivered, only around 6 percent of the target for the year.

The problems don’t all lie with the carmaker. The Huawei Inside is not doing well. The two models on the market that use the system (Acrfox by BAIC and Avatr 1 with Chang’an Automobile, CATL and Huawei) – have both met with very frosty receptions.

Only about 10,000 Arcfox were sold in 2022. The car was billed as the first EV with a smart cabin based on Huawei’s HarmonyOS and has a full set of smart and autonomous features.

Less than 3,500 Avatr 11, a fully-electric mid-size luxury crossover SUV, have been delivered since late last year when it was released.