Stelato, the electric vehicle (EV) brand jointly created by Huawei and Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC), said it will invest RMB 20 billion ($2.8 billion) over the next three years to strengthen its position in China’s competitive EV market.
The investment will support advances in product design, assisted driving, smart cockpits, and quality, according to a company statement. Huawei and BAIC will form a dedicated Stelato business unit under a strategic alliance model, covering operations from design to sales services.
The two companies also plan to build a dedicated manufacturing and supply chain system for Stelato, along with exclusive sales and service channels. Stelato is part of Huawei’s Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA), which also includes Seres Group’s Aito, Chery’s Luxeed, JAC’s Maextro, and SAIC’s Shangjie.
Stelato’s first model, the S9 sedan, was launched in August 2024. Pre-orders began last month for its second model, the S9T, with a starting price of RMB 328,000. The S9T will be officially launched on Saturday. Both the S9 and S9T are offered as battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and extended-range EVs (EREVs), using Huawei’s 100-kWh Whale Battery and Xuexiao range-extending system.
The S9T BEV variant delivers up to 801 km of range, while the EREV provides 354 km of battery range and a combined range of 1,305 km.
The announcement comes weeks after Huawei and Chery expanded their Luxeed brand partnership, pledging more than RMB 10 billion of investment and an enlarged R&D team to advance into what they described as “phase 2.0.”