Following AITO and LUXEED, HIMA is about to welcome its third series of vehicles.
Yesterday, the first product of the cooperation between Huawei and BAIC, the STELATO S9, appeared in the latest issue of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's filing information. According to the filing, the STELATO S9 belongs to the "Huazhang" brand of automobiles, is a pure electric sedan with a length of 5160 millimeters, and bears the words "BAIC New Energy" and "STELATO S9" on the rear of the vehicle. The car is equipped with power batteries produced by CATL, and the engine provided by Huawei Digital Power. The vehicle comes in two versions: single-motor and dual-motor, with the single-motor version having a maximum power of 227 kilowatts, and the dual-motor versions having maximum powers of 158 kilowatts and 227 kilowatts, respectively. However, official information regarding the pricing of the car has not been disclosed yet.
In 2019, after years of precipitating ICT technology, Huawei established the Intelligent Car Solutions BU department to enter the automotive industry. In 2021, Huawei and Seres Auto pioneered the Smart Select Car business. In November 2023, Huawei officially launched a new strategic solution for intelligent travel and upgraded its automotive ecosystem to "HIMA," collaborating with other Chinese car manufacturers to create high-end intelligent electric vehicles. Currently, under HIMA, there are "Four Realms," including LUXEED in cooperation with Chery, AITO in cooperation with Seres, STELATO with BAIC, and Aojie achieved through cooperation with JAC. Among them, AITO was the earliest member to appear and currently has the best sales performance. Following it, the pre-sales of LUXEED S7 began in November 2023. Now, STELATO has completed its filing, marking the successful launch of three models under the HIMA layout. According to the plan, there is still another "Realm" from JAC Motors waiting to be unveiled.
BAIC Bluepark, which cooperates with Huawei this time, is a green and intelligent integrated solution provider controlled by BAIC Group. The company's main business includes the research and development, manufacturing, and sales services of pure electric passenger cars. Keeping in step with the new energy trend, BAIC Bluepark is accelerating the promotion of related strategies and business progress. According to relevant sales data, in 2023, subsidiaries of BAIC Bluepark sold a total of 92,172 new cars, an increase of 84% year-on-year. In February of this year, BAIC Bluepark stated that the first model of cooperation with HIMA is positioned as high-end vehicles, and that the company plans to establish distribution and service networks in Asian and European markets by 2024. After the public announcement of the STELATO S9 on March 13th, the stock price of BAIC Bluepark rose strongly, hitting the daily limit that day, and closing with a 9.96% increase in stock price. Other data also indicates that, since ushering into 2024, the stock price of BAIC Bluepark has increased by 26.10%.
The tremendous popularity of AITO in the past two years has demonstrated the potential of HIMA to the market, and enhanced confidence among investors and cooperating automotive companies as well. As to how STELATO will perform after its launch, the market will have to wait and see.