AITO M9: The Huawei-Backed Luxury SUV From 2023 to the 2026 Second Generation

The AITO M9 is a full-size luxury SUV made by Seres and sold under the AITO brand, developed alongside the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance. It has been on sale since 2023 in battery electric and extended-range forms, and the second generation followed in 2026. It remains the largest and most expensive vehicle the brand has offered.

Where did the AITO M9 come from?

The first-generation M9 was previewed at a Huawei product event in April 2023, when pre-orders opened on 17 April. Public sales began on 26 December 2023 at Huawei's winter conference in China. Its design concept was called Kunpeng Zhanyi, and the electric version was styled to a drag coefficient of 0.264 Cd.

The car was developed with the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, known as HIMA, a group that pools several car brands and their sales networks under Huawei's technology. Much of the technology came from Huawei, including the HarmonyOS cockpit and the driver assistance software. The extended-range version measured 0.279 Cd.

A Seres-built luxury SUV with Huawei driving technology that became one of the fastest-selling cars above 500,000 yuan.

What technology did the first M9 use?

The M9 sits on the Huawei Tuling platform, and its driver assistance software began as ADS 2.0 before being upgraded to ADS 3.0 and then ADS 4 in late 2024 and 2025. At launch the sensor array comprised a single lidar, three millimetre-wave radars, twelve ultrasonic sensors and eleven cameras.

The cabin centres on a 12.3-inch instrument cluster, a 15.6-inch centre display and a 16-inch passenger screen, with up to four optional 10-inch screens for the rear rows. A 75-inch augmented reality head-up display and a 25-speaker sound system complete the front, while a retractable screen with a 32-inch laser projector serves the rear seats.

The body is largely aluminium, with the chassis and about 80 percent of the body-in-white made from it. Air suspension offers an 80 mm (3.1 in) range of ride-height adjustment. Seating options include Shuyun Dual Seats and the Zero Gravity Seat 2.0, and the lighting is supplied by Huawei's Xpixel system.

How did the first-generation powertrains compare?

The range-extended car used a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol unit as a generator, rated at 112 kW (150 hp; 152 PS). Both versions take their cells from CATL. Two electric motors shared the work in all-wheel drive, reaching 365 kW (489 hp; 496 PS) in total.

At the front, the motor produced 165 kW (221 hp; 224 PS), with 315 Nm of torque, and at the rear the unit made 200 kW (270 hp; 270 PS) with 360 Nm. Batteries of 42 kWh or 52 kWh came from CATL, giving electric-only ranges of 225 km and 275 km (140 and 171 mi). Combined range stretched to 1,362 km or 1,402 km, equal to 846 mi or 871 mi, and the car covered 0-100 km/h in 4.9 seconds.

The battery electric version runs an 800-volt architecture with two motors that together deliver 390 kW (523 hp; 530 PS). It uses a 100 kWh NMC pack from CATL and offers a range of 615 to 630 km (382 to 391 mi). The front motor delivers 160 kW (215 hp; 218 PS), along with 277 Nm of torque, while the rear unit's output is 230 kW, or 308 hp (313 PS), with 396 Nm of torque, and the 0-100 km/h sprint takes 4.3 seconds.

What changed in the 2025 update?

The M9 received a light update for the 2025 model year. Sales restarted on 20 March 2025 after a pre-order window that had opened two weeks earlier. Visually the car changed little, with a new red and beige two-tone colour, a 21-inch wheel choice, power-retracting running boards and gesture-controlled doors.

The driver assistance system moved to ADS 3.3, which brought three short-range lidar sensors on the front fenders and at the rear, giving four lidars in all and five millimetre-wave radars. The software can move unmanned between levels in multi-storey car parks and handle roundabouts and gates, and two extra external microphones help it detect emergency vehicles.

The range extender was refreshed, with its 1.5-litre engine lifted to 118 kW (158 hp; 160 PS). The 42 kWh pack was dropped, so the 52 kWh pack became the only option, with electric ranges of 266 to 290 km (165 to 180 mi) and combined ranges of 1,417 to 1,474 km (880 to 916 mi).

How safe is the AITO M9?

In July 2024 the M9 earned a super five-star certification from C-NCAP under the 2021 protocol, with a score of 93.9 percent. That result made it the highest-scoring model in the programme's history. The rating body published the score that month, and it applied to the first-generation car.

The five-seat variant followed in September 2024. It offered 1,220 mm (48.0 in) of second-row legroom and dual Zero Gravity seats.

What did the second generation bring in 2026?

HIMA previewed the second-generation M9 in April 2026, and pre-orders opened on 22 April at its Spring New Product Launch Conference. The range went on sale on 27 May 2026, offered in eight exterior colours that included Obsidian Black, Spruce Green and Golden Red, with a choice of five-seat or six-seat layouts.

Drag coefficients were 0.249Cd for the battery electric car and 0.26Cd for the extended-range model. The two trims, Max+ and Ultra, were priced at 479,800 yuan and 539,800 yuan respectively, while the six-seat cars cost 489,800 yuan and 549,800 yuan.

The cockpit was redesigned around HarmonyOS, with the Celia intelligent assistant, a 360-degree viewing system and a full-colour display. HUAWEI SOUND Ultimate audio used 39 speakers as standard, and the top Ultimate grade had 43 speakers. A single-lens dual-focal-plane augmented reality head-up display and a full-colour lighting projection system complete the cabin changes.

The chassis brought the most change. The second generation was the first HIMA 9-Series model to use the Tuling Longxing fully active chassis, with 800V fully active suspension that adjusts height by 111 mm (4.4 in). Steer-by-wire with 8 degrees of rear-wheel steering, Road Preview System 2.0 and the Jujing battery platform are part of the package, which also introduces HUAWEI ADS 5 and vehicle-to-vehicle communication.

The sensor suite grew to six lidar units, including an 896-line dual-optical-path image-level lidar, an in-cabin lidar and four solid-state units. Three distributed 4D millimetre-wave radar arrays, two angular radars, twelve ultrasonic units, along with eleven high-definition cameras and six outside microphones, support the system.

What is the M9 Ultimate?

The M9 Ultimate was announced at the April 2026 conference as an extended-wheelbase variant of the second generation, with pre-sales starting at 669,800 yuan. It went on sale on 27 May 2026 at 649,800 yuan for the five-seater and 659,800 yuan for the six-seater, and the first deliveries began on 12 September.

The Ultimate's wheelbase is 3,236 mm (127.4 in), 111 mm more than the standard car, and its length of 5,402 mm (212.7 in) is 117 mm greater. It carries an exclusive two-tone finish, a floating backlit logo and unique lettering on the pedals and rear. Power comes from an extended-range three-motor system with a 2.0-litre range extender, or from the same dual-motor electric drive as the standard car.

Inside, rear occupants get four zero-gravity recliners, a rotating seat with intelligent control, central air supply massage, wraparound privacy glass and a starry sky canopy. The chassis has steer-by-wire throughout and dual-chamber active suspension.

How fast did the AITO M9 sell?

Pre-orders opened on 25 September 2023 and passed 20,000 by 3 November of that year. HIMA reported orders above 60,000, all firm and placed within 86 days of launch in March 2024, and cumulative sales went past 100,000 by June 2024. By December 2024 deliveries had exceeded 200,000, a record for cars priced above 500,000 yuan (US$69,300).

The 2025 model drew strong demand. Pre-orders opened on 6 March 2025 and attracted 3,800 orders in the first hour, with 11,000 more within six hours. Orders passed 60,000 on 23 May 2025, which put the car first in China's segment above 500,000 yuan that year.

Yu Chengdong said at a March 2026 HIMA conference that deliveries between January 2024 and January 2026 had outsold the combined BMW X5, X7, GLE and GLS over the same period. Cumulative deliveries were above 280,000 by 3 March 2026 and reached 300,000 by 4 July 2026.

The second generation sold quickly as well. It took 11,500 pre-orders in the first hour, reached 50,000 pre-orders by 18 May 2026, and exceeded 40,000 deliveries in 16 weeks, with monthly sales above 10,000 units by late September. Buyers could choose between five-seat and six-seat layouts.

Where is the AITO M9 sold outside China?

In February 2026 AITO agreed to work with Performance Plus Motors, which belongs to the Abu Dhabi Motors dealer group. The car is called the AITO 9 in the United Arab Emirates. It became the first AITO and HIMA vehicle sold outside China, and deliveries and test drives began on the day the deal was signed.

What are the AITO M9 specifications?