Huawei turns up heat in EV race

Cici Cao and agencies

Huawei unveiled its Luxeed S7 sedan yesterday, an electric vehicle co-developed by Chery Automobile.

The EV comes in three versions with prices ranging from 229,800 yuan (HK$247,078) to 319,800 yuan.

With the price set based on loss-making, the company expects to reduce costs through economies of scale, said Richard Yu Chengdong, chief executive of Huawei Technologies Consumer Business Group.

The new S7 will be rolled out for delivery on December 1.

Meanwhile, Geely's (0175) EV subsidiary Zeekr said it has no intention to follow Tesla China's price cuts.

Zeekr's weekly sales have continued to hit record highs in the second half of the year, with last week's sales exceeding 6,200 units, as new models have been released in the third quarter and contributed to rapidly increasing deliveries, deputy director Jason Lin said.

Tesla China earlier announced price-cutting plans - offering 10,000 yuan off the final payment of the Model Y sold in the mainland for a limited time - in a move aimed toward meeting its year-end sales target amid an intensified price war in China's EV market.

Additionally, Tesla's vehicles would be shut out from consumer rebates under a proposal by California Governor Gavin Newsom, pitting the prospective Democratic presidential hopeful against Republican power player Elon Musk.

In other news, FAW Toyota, the Japanese carmaker's joint venture in China, is reportedly proposing to close its sales headquarters in Beijing and relocate it to Tianjin as it faces local rivals including BYD (1211) in the fiercely competitive Chinese car market.