"Customers found their newly picked-up vehicles turned into old models just 20 days after delivery. Huajing is now facing collective rights protection actions launched by hundreds of car owners, with many complaining that 'Wuling is not fit for the high-end market'. The official gave a harsh disappointing response that no compensation can be provided."

The Huajing S, co-developed by SAIC-GM-Wuling and Huawei Qiankun, has recently been embroiled in a controversy where long-time existing owners of the model feel betrayed by the brand.

The Huajing S was just launched in May this year. Only four months later, a new version of the Huajing S was released, with major upgrades to both the hardware and software of the vehicle infotainment system. Many owners had taken delivery of their cars for less than a month when their vehicles became the old model. The car owners have directed their dissatisfaction at the official side, claiming that relevant parties deliberately concealed information about the upcoming iteration and update, saying that "Wuling is only fit to produce vans".

In response, the customer service team of SAIC-GM-Wuling told the *Next-Generation Automotive Research Institute* column that the underlying hardware and circuit layout of the new infotainment system are different from those of the current existing models, and retrofitting is not supported. The newly added configurations are normal measures to meet order delivery and respond to market changes, and no user compensation will be provided.

Data shows that from January to August this year, the cumulative sales volume of SAIC-GM-Wuling decreased by 8.39% year-on-year. By launching the Huajing S in cooperation with Huawei Qiankun, the company hoped to get rid of its low-end label, but the current controversy over disappointing existing car owners has made its path to moving upmarket full of difficulties.

"The car you just picked up immediately becomes an outdated model"

Recently, multiple Huajing S car owners reported on the Black Cat Complaint platform that they felt betrayed by Huajing Automobile, as the official launched a new version shortly after they took delivery of their cars, making their newly purchased vehicles outdated immediately.

One car owner stated that he took delivery of the Huajing S two-wheel drive Qiankun Premium Edition on September 2, and it has only been more than 20 days since he got the car. During the car purchase process, neither the dealer nor the official manufacturer gave any prompt to users to inform them that the core hardware of the vehicle's cockpit would be iteratively updated in the short term. According to his description, the manufacturer has now launched the new Hongmeng+ version of the model, with the cockpit RAM upgraded from 12GB to 16GB, enabling full-performance large model 2.0, external expansion screen and other functions. The new and old models have the same cockpit system version, but the old model he purchased is limited by hardware, and even after subsequent OTA upgrades, it cannot unlock all the above high-level functions, resulting in unequal software rights and interests.

"Consumers will basically choose the new model, so the market recognition of the old model has dropped significantly, and there has been an additional second-hand depreciation loss of 3,000 to 5,000 yuan compared with the new model. At the same time, this set of cockpit hardware will no longer be used as the main configuration. I have concerns about the long-term residual value of the vehicle and the maintenance and supply of cockpit accessories many years later. The manufacturer's cold treatment has broken our hearts! We hope the manufacturer can provide an upgrade channel!" he said.

The *Next-Generation Automotive Research Institute* column found that old Huajing S car owners have launched a collective complaint on the Black Cat Complaint platform, and nearly a hundred car owners have participated so far. On social media, many car owners have also called on SAIC-GM-Wuling and Huajing Automobile on this issue, demanding that the official give a formal response.

Many car owners also gathered to complain in the Baojun Auto App under SAIC-GM-Wuling, saying "This is the first time I have encountered such a disappointing situation after buying a car in decades", "You are only fit to sell vans", "A few days ago I was still saying that Huajing is pretty good, but today you tell me I've become an old owner. Wuling, you really slapped me in the face!"

Official statement: Old models cannot be upgraded, no compensation will be offered

According to public information, Huajing Automobile is an independent high-end intelligent vehicle brand launched by SAIC-GM-Wuling in cooperation with Huawei Qiankun in 2026. It is led by SAIC-GM-Wuling, and adopts the HI Plus cooperation model with Huawei, where Huawei provides full-stack intelligent solutions. Its first model, the Huajing S, was launched on May 8, 2026, positioned as a full-size large six-seat SUV.

At the time of its launch, the Huajing S offered four configurations, with a super trade-in price ranging from 149,800 yuan to 193,800 yuan. As a large six-seat SUV, with the Huawei Qiankun ADS Pro enhanced intelligent driving system, HarmonySpace 5 Hongmeng cockpit and Qiankun vehicle-cloud service as standard across all trims, this price was indeed considered very cost-effective by many car owners.

However, the awkward thing is that on September 12, Huajing S launched the Hongmeng+ version again, adding four new configuration models, with a super trade-in price starting at 152,800 yuan. With the price only 3,000 yuan higher than the previous version, the Hongmeng+ version is equipped with the HarmonySpace 5.2 Hongmeng cockpit, adding MoLA 2.0 large model, recognition of ten major dialects, external expansion screen and other functions, and has also been greatly upgraded in hardware configurations such as infotainment chips and memory.

In response to the incident of disappointing existing car owners, the SAIC-GM-Wuling customer service team told the *Next-Generation Automotive Research Institute* column that the underlying hardware and circuit layout of the new infotainment system are different from those of the current existing models, with high retrofitting cost and long time consumption, and the modification cannot guarantee the stability of subsequent vehicle use. After comprehensive evaluation, retrofitting is not supported. "The infotainment system of the current models is already at the first tier of the industry. We will continue to push OTA optimizations and add practical functions to ensure everyone's daily car use experience."

In fact, what many car owners care about is that the official did not give advance notice before the new version was launched, concealing the information about the new model release. The SAIC-GM-Wuling customer service team said that in terms of newly added configurations, product pre-research is a normal part of planning, but the plan may be changed during pre-mass production testing, component preparation and regulatory approval. Disclosing unconfirmed configurations in advance will mislead consumers, and the new configurations will be officially launched only after they are finalized and ready for mass production. "In the future, we will continue to take into account the rights and interests of old car owners. Thank you for your understanding."

However, the customer service team stated directly that there will be no compensation for old car owners. The customer service said that the launch of the four new configurations sold alongside the existing models is a normal measure to meet order delivery and respond to market changes, and no user compensation is involved.

Sales decline, the attempt to move upmarket with Huawei's support hits a wall

According to data from Dongchedi, the domestic retail sales of Huajing S from May to August this year were 3,603 units, 5,689 units, 7,203 units and 7,306 units respectively. Although the sales still maintain growth, it has obviously entered a bottleneck period for growth.

Chip shortage may be one of the important reasons. On September 5 this year, Huajing Automobile released an official statement to explain to users the adjustment of the delivery cycle of its first model, the Huajing S. Huajing Automobile stated that due to fluctuations in the industry's chip supply chain, there has been a phased shortage of supply for the infotainment chips supporting the Huajing S Hongmeng cockpit, leading to extended delivery cycles for some users' orders.

Regarding the reason for this extended delivery, Huajing Automobile stated in the statement that its manufacturing capacity is fully ready, but its prediction and contingency plans for the overall chip supply challenge in the industry were not sufficient. At present, Huajing S has launched a special supply guarantee work, including communicating with core partners to expand chip supply channels and promoting diversified supply solutions. For users who have locked in orders but have not yet taken delivery of their cars, exclusive consultants will continue to follow up, and the production scheduling updates and order progress will also be updated synchronously through the official App.

It can be seen that the chip shortage may be the reason why Huajing S launched the new version in a short period of time, but the company obviously did not handle the issues properly in terms of new product launch rhythm and communication with users, which is also the reason for this large-scale rights protection by old users.

In addition, SAIC-GM-Wuling is currently facing sales challenges. The *Next-Generation Automotive Research Institute* column sorted out the sales trend of SAIC-GM-Wuling and found that from January to August this year, its sales volume declined year-on-year in 5 months. Among them, the sales volume in April this year plummeted by 30.80% year-on-year.

In August this year, SAIC-GM-Wuling's monthly sales volume was 127,122 units, with a year-on-year increase of only 1.51%; from January to August this year, SAIC-GM-Wuling's cumulative sales volume was 916,523 units, down 8.29% year-on-year, and it still failed to reverse the downward trend of annual sales.

For a long time, SAIC-GM-Wuling has long relied on vans and microcars to support its sales, and has been trapped in the low-end market. By cooperating with Huawei Qiankun to launch the Huajing Automobile brand, it hopes to rely on Huawei Qiankun's technology and traffic to break into the mid-to-high-end market. Judging from the price of the Huajing S, the top trim reaches the 200,000-yuan price range, which is quite a big breakthrough for SAIC-GM-Wuling.

However, the awkward thing is that this controversy of disappointing existing users has undoubtedly brought a negative impact on Huajing Automobile's brand image and reputation, and the subsequent sales of Huajing S may also be affected. SAIC-GM-Wuling's path to moving upmarket is still full of twists and turns.

This article is from the WeChat Official Account "Sina Tech", author: Zhang Jun, published with authorization from 36Kr.