Jianghuai Automobile: The "Other Half" of China's New Energy Luxury Cars?

The Shanghai Auto Show is in full swing. On the first day of the show, behind the HarmonyOS Smart Mobility booth in Hall 5.2, in front of a mysterious exhibition hall, executives from luxury car companies such as Mercedes - Benz, Porsche, BMW, and Bentley could often be seen queuing up to wait for a visit.

The model that attracted these established luxury car companies to come and experience is the ultra - luxury flagship product jointly created by Huawei and Jianghuai Automobile - the Zunjie S800.

This is the brand with the highest positioning under Huawei's HarmonyOS Smart Mobility system. The pre - sale price of the first model, the Zunjie S800, is between 1 million and 1.5 million yuan, and it is expected to be delivered in the second quarter of this year. It can also be said that it is currently one of the top - tier products among Chinese new energy vehicles and a masterpiece of Huawei's technological luxury.

Of course, Huawei is only one of the "mothers" of the Zunjie S800. It is responsible for product definition, design, and the injection of the intelligent soul. The other "mother" is Jianghuai Automobile Group (also known as Jianghuai Automobile), a Chinese independent car brand with a 61 - year history.

The two parties jointly completed the overall vehicle development of the Zunjie S800. At the same time, Jianghuai Automobile also built an exclusive super factory for Zunjie, which was completed at the end of 2024.

Before Zunjie, another high - end new energy vehicle brand in China jointly developed by Jianghuai was NIO. The cooperation between the two parties lasted for nearly 7 years.

From NIO to Zunjie, in the wave of new car - making in China that emerged in 2014, Jianghuai Automobile has successively joined hands with two high - end new energy vehicle brands in China.

What is less known is that the "other half" of these high - end new energy vehicles in China has its own complete set of intelligent electric vehicle technical and tactical capabilities.

In Jianghuai Automobile's exhibition hall, in addition to the eye - catching Zunjie S800, two prototype cars built by Jianghuai Automobile based on the leading DEFINE platform also made their debuts. Products such as the Ruifeng RF8 PHEV and the Hantu PHEV were also exhibited simultaneously.

Particularly worthy of attention are the two prototype cars, which are evidence of Jianghuai Automobile's flagship technology and capabilities. It is reported that the two prototype cars of the DEFINE platform are the flagship representative works of this platform. With safety and intelligence as the foundation, they target the global markets of sedans and SUVs from the two attributes of sports and space.

It can be seen on - site that the DEFINE - S retains the super - car styling of the DEFINE concept car. Driven by three motors, it can burst out a total power of 590kW, comparable to the acceleration performance of a super - car.

A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier. In other words, without a strong foundation, solid intelligent electric vehicle technology capabilities, and an industrial system, it would be difficult to continuously empower the two most prominent high - end new energy vehicle brands in China.

At the same time, through cooperation with brands such as Huawei, Jianghuai is also rapidly achieving intelligent evolution and improving its industrial capabilities. This is a typical path of symbiosis and win - win cooperation.

From NIO to Zunjie, why is Jianghuai the other half?

Hefei, located at the forefront of the inland and the hinterland of the coast, has always been the best gathering place for manufacturing resources in the Yangtze River Delta region of China. With a high - speed rail journey of less than 3 hours to Shanghai, it has made the industrial connection between the front - end and back - end easily accessible.

Jianghuai Automobile, located in Hefei, is in such a pivotal position. NIO places its design and R & D in Shanghai, while it arranges its manufacturing and industrial layout in Hefei where Jianghuai is located.

Jianghuai Automobile has 61 years of manufacturing experience. In 2024, its total sales exceeded 400,000 units, and its revenue exceeded 42 billion yuan. It has a large number of industrial chain resources, management experience, and a mature workforce.

It is understood that during the cooperation between NIO and Jianghuai Automobile, hundreds of engineers were often stationed on - site to promote the transformation of Jianghuai Automobile's capabilities towards high - end vehicle manufacturing.

Of course, more importantly, Jianghuai Automobile has the determination and courage to transform towards intelligent electric vehicles, as well as a forward - looking technological vision.

In the project of cooperating with Huawei on Zunjie, Jianghuai Automobile invested 4 billion yuan in the factory. The factory was completed almost half a year before the product was delivered. In addition, there were also many tangible and intangible investments, which was quite a difficult step.

According to media reports, on December 16, 2024, the Zunjie Super Factory was officially completed in Hefei, with an expected annual output value of over 100 billion yuan. The Zunjie Super Factory is a newly - built high - end new energy intelligent vehicle production base of Jianghuai Automobile. The project is located in Feixi County, Hefei, with a planned annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles.

The project's planning and construction content includes a brand and user experience service center, four major process workshops for stamping, bodywork, painting, and assembly, as well as auxiliary facilities such as an energy center, a sewage station, a PDI, and a shipping yard. Additionally, it is equipped with a battery PACK, a comprehensive performance test site, and a high - speed test track.

To ensure high - quality production of products, the Zunjie Super Factory is equipped with over 1,500 intelligent robots, achieving 100% full automation in key processes such as connection, painting, and gluing. It widely uses artificial intelligence technology, setting up 86 quality review gates and over 25,000 quality control points, realizing full - process, traceable, and timely quality control.

It is evident that Jianghuai and Huawei have made sufficient manufacturing preparations and established a quality - assurance technology system for the million - level luxury brand Zunjie.

You know, the great success of AITO has driven the partner car company SERES from losses to profits, and its market value has soared to 200 billion yuan.

This is enough to show how much strategic space there is in cooperating with Huawei, and seizing the opportunity to cooperate with Huawei especially tests Jianghuai Automobile's strategic sense and determination.

According to official disclosures, after the official debut of the Zunjie S800, the pre - order volume reached 2,108 units within 48 hours. As a luxury car with a price of over one million yuan, such a pre - sale result is quite astonishing.

If the Zunjie S800 can gain a foothold in the million - yuan - level market after its launch, and Zunjie follows up with more popular product lines later, the improvement of Jianghuai Automobile's revenue and profits is quite predictable, and it will undoubtedly help Jianghuai Automobile further establish its position in the ultra - luxury market in China.

In addition, Jianghuai Automobile can also apply the experience of cooperating with Huawei to the products of its own brands such as Sihao and Yiwei, as well as the new products of the future DEFINE platform.

In other words, high - end intelligent manufacturing is only the strategic starting point for Jianghuai Automobile, not the end.

Developing through cooperation while evolving independently

Jianghuai Automobile has been constantly exploring the path of intelligentization.

On April 12, 2023, Jianghuai Automobile officially launched a new brand strategy of "Leading intelligence with intelligence", marking its official entry into the era of "No intelligence, no car - making".

In July 2023, Jianghuai Automobile signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Hongjing Zhijia to jointly explore the development and scenario application of autonomous driving technology and in - vehicle software and hardware products, and to create competitive intelligent driving solutions.

In 2024, after starting the Zunjie project cooperation with Huawei, Jianghuai Automobile signed an all - round cooperation agreement with Huawei again.

On April 22, Jianghuai Automobile and Huawei Digital Energy signed a comprehensive deepening strategic cooperation agreement in Shanghai. The two parties will focus on comprehensive and in - depth cooperation in areas such as the development and application of new energy vehicle models/platform technologies, the application and joint definition of intelligent electric motion domain components, development, manufacturing, and joint market expansion, the construction and operation of new energy vehicle charging networks, the joint development of ultra - fast charging technology for heavy commercial vehicles, and the internationalization of new energy vehicles.

According to industry insiders, Jianghuai Automobile has provided unprecedented support in the cooperation with Huawei and is comprehensively learning Huawei's product and organizational systems.

That is to say, Jianghuai Automobile is leveraging its own industrial accumulation and rapidly accumulating its own intelligent technology, product, and organizational management capabilities through "symbiotic" cooperation with high - end automobile brands.

The report shows that in 2024, Jianghuai Automobile's R & D investment was 3.464 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 55.03%, accounting for 8.23% of its revenue, indicating its high degree of emphasis on technological innovation. The number of its R & D personnel also increased from 4,843 at the end of 2023 to 6,240, a year - on - year increase of 28.85%, and the proportion of R & D personnel in the total number of the company increased from 21% to 29.15%.

Growing through cooperation is an inevitable path for traditional Chinese automobile companies. Intelligent electric vehicles require Internet - based marketing, product, and user thinking, artificial intelligence technology and talents, and new - type commercial channel capabilities, all of which are disconnected from the decades - long experience accumulation of traditional automobiles in the past.

Therefore, all major automobile companies are actively transforming in the era of intelligent electric vehicles. Leveraging a huge resource pool like Huawei is undoubtedly the fastest way to turn around.

While using Huawei to boost its industry influence, Jianghuai Automobile is also rapidly upgrading its high - quality industrial ecosystem.

During the auto show, the signing ceremony of the academician team and supply - chain partners held at the Jianghuai booth became another highlight of this auto show.

According to the strategic cooperation agreement, Jianghuai Automobile will deepen cooperation with the team of Academician Li Yadong in the field of single - atom catalysis platform technology; deepen cooperation with the team of Academician Zhong Zhihua in the fields of intelligent driving, advanced vehicle bodies, and vehicle architectures; deepen cooperation with Academician Xiang Changle and the team of ALT Automotive in the fields of low - altitude unmanned intelligent equipment and core components; and jointly establish a joint laboratory with the team of Academician Su Donglin to deepen cooperation in the field of electromagnetic safety of intelligent new energy vehicles.

At the same time, Jianghuai Automobile will also deepen cooperation with Baoshan Iron & Steel in the fields of steel, aluminum, magnesium, carbon, and new forming processes; deepen cooperation with Yanfeng International in multiple fields such as intelligent, safe, and comfortable cockpits; deepen cooperation with CATL in the field of advanced battery technology; deepen cooperation with Schaeffler in the fields of rear - wheel steering and active suspension; and deepen cooperation with ZF in the fields of steer - by - wire, brake - by - wire, and chassis motion control.

In the theory of the origin of life, there is a "primordial soup" theory. That is, life on Earth originated from a primordial soup of inorganic mixtures: in the environment of the primitive Earth, simple inorganic substances were transformed into organic substances through chemical reactions, and organic substances developed into biological macromolecules until the emergence of the simplest and most primitive cell, which eventually evolved into the colorful life forms on Earth.

Jianghuai Automobile's strategy seems to follow such a path, building a rich "fishpond" through cooperation. As long as there are enough fish in the pond, more results can naturally be obtained.

Take the chassis used in Zunjie as an example. This is the latest and most advanced "Tuling II Dragon - running Platform" jointly polished by Huawei and Jianghuai for 5 years, which can achieve the integration of "three intelligences" of intelligent driving, intelligent cockpit, and intelligent domain control.

These capabilities are empowering Jianghuai Automobile.

From "symbiotic" to "native"

The chassis is the starting point of a car and also a testing ground for automobile technology. Usually, a new chassis platform is also the starting point of a new product and technology era for