Huawei Isn’t the Android in the Automotive World; NIO Aims to Be the Real Apple
Huawei Isn’t the Android in the Automotive World; NIO Aims to Be the Real Apple
https://eu.36kr.com/en/p/3828179914445703
Publish Date: 2026-05-27 20:52:00
Source Domain: eu.36kr.com
On May 27th, what’s interesting in the Chinese automotive industry isn’t the launch of two new cars.
It’s the presentation of two completely different answers to car – building.
At 14:30 in the afternoon, Huawei launched the new – generation AITO M9. It starts at 479,800 yuan, with the highest price reaching 649,800 yuan. The extended – version directly enters the 650,000 – yuan class.
Yu Chengdong reported a series of figures on stage: The cumulative delivery of HarmonyOS Smart Mobility has reached 1.39 million units, and the cumulative delivery of AITO M9 is 285,000 units, remaining the sales champion in the 500,000 – yuan class for 21 consecutive months.
At 19:30 in the evening, NIO launched the ES9. It starts at 498,000 yuan, and with the BaaS plan, it starts at 390,000 yuan. The special Horizon Edition costs 628,000 yuan. Li Bin, the founder of NIO, said on stage:
I’ve staked all of NIO’s resources accumulated over eleven years.
The price ranges of the two cars almost completely overlap.
But after watching both press conferences, my biggest takeaway isn’t that there’s a new pair of competitors in the high – end market.
It’s only then that I realized that the Chinese automotive industry is answering a deeper question for the first time:
In the AI era, what should an automaker look like?
1. One car has Huawei, the other doesn’t
Let’s first see what’s inside the AITO M9.
The ADS 5.0 intelligent driving system is developed by Huawei. The HarmonyOS cockpit is also developed by Huawei.
The Ascend computing power platform uses Huawei’s chips. The HUAWEI XMOTION vehicle control system is Huawei’s electric drive system. The SOUND audio system is from Huawei.
The six lidars and the entire set of perception algorithms are also from Huawei.
What does SERES do?
It is responsible for the factory, assembly, manufacturing, and delivery.
Now, let’s look at the NIO ES9.
The Shenji NX9031 intelligent driving chip is a self – developed 5nm automotive – grade chip by NIO.
The…
