Zhijie, Supported by Yu Chengdong: Once Challenged Xiaomi SU7, Now Monthly Sales Less Than a Thousand

Each of the "Five Realms" in HarmonyOS Smart Mobility has its own unique characteristics.

WENJIE is responsible for "earning money to support the family" and has always been the top - selling model. XIANGJIE is in charge of "looking beautiful", propping up the appearance and aura of HarmonyOS Smart Mobility's executive - class sedans. ZUNJIE is like a "dominant CEO", engaging in close - range competition with BBA in the million - level market...

Currently, the outside world still has the impression that ZHIJIE is hard to sell.

On the first working day of March, the latest production and sales report released by Chery Automobile showed that ZHIJIE sold 945 vehicles in February this year, a 90.6% decline compared with 10,004 vehicles in the same period last year.

Is it because of the Spring Festival or the "poor economic environment"? It seems not. After all, the overall sales of HarmonyOS Smart Mobility in February still reached 28,000 vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 31%.

According to estimates by media such as "Electric Car Home", WENJIE is still the mainstay, selling about 18,000 vehicles. Even ZUNJIE, a million - level model, sold 2,000 - 3,000 vehicles.

What's more disheartening is that just a year ago (January 23, 2025), Anhui ZHIJIE New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd. was established, and ZHIJIE completed its independent operation, with an investment of over 10 billion and a R & D team of 5,000 people. This forms a sharp contrast with the latest monthly sales of less than 1,000 vehicles.

Yu Chengdong, the leader of HarmonyOS Smart Mobility, has personally stepped in, from live - streaming to disclose the cost details to personally delivering keys. It can be said that he has shown great favor to ZHIJIE.

With heavy investment, resource inclination, and high - level support, and full - fledged configurations, why is ZHIJIE still hard to sell?

Showered with Favors

Although ZHIJIE is selling poorly now, it was born with a "chosen one" script.

Looking at the strategic investment first, the specifications of ZHIJIE are extremely high.

At the beginning, HarmonyOS Smart Mobility clearly regarded ZHIJIE as a "pet project". The most core elements such as the HarmonyOS cockpit and Kunpeng Intelligent Driving were directly incorporated into ZHIJIE's products. Chery was not just a simple contract manufacturer but promoted ZHIJIE as an independent front, providing exclusive resources from R & D, manufacturing to channel services.

In the 2.0 era of ZHIJIE's independence, the investment was further increased: A capital investment in the tens of billions, a R & D team of 5,000 people, and the implementation of an independent operation framework of "integration of production, sales, and service". At the same time, Zhao Changjiang, who once led DENZA, was introduced to strengthen the brand's operation ability.

In addition to capital operation, Yu Chengdong's attention to ZHIJIE is also remarkable.

Not only did Yu Chengdong personally participate in ZHIJIE's press conferences several times to support the new models, but also to make ZHIJIE S7 easier to sell, Yu Chengdong didn't hesitate to use harsh words such as "going all out", "fiercely competitive", "selling at a loss". In the live - stream of the R7 extended - range version, he even disclosed the cost details, saying "losing 10,000 - 20,000 yuan per vehicle", emphasizing the vehicle's unparalleled cost - effectiveness.

More rarely, Yu Chengdong also personally stepped in to fight an opinion war for ZHIJIE.

"We can see that some companies from other industries have a single model that becomes a huge success. Although their products may not be that good, whether in terms of quality or intelligent driving ability... But because they have strong brand power, traffic advantages, and powerful marketing capabilities, a single product of theirs can be a big hit... Our products are better in terms of quality, experience, performance, and all aspects. But we still can't sell as well as them, not even a fraction of their sales. This is the reality of this era."

This speech by Yu Chengdong at the "Future Auto Pioneers Conference" on May 31, 2025, was widely interpreted as a reference to Xiaomi SU7. He believes that the opponent has brand influence and communication efficiency, while the Huawei system emphasizes product completion and technological depth.

The tension between the two strategies was directly put on the table in that speech.

Even at the delivery stage, Yu Chengdong personally showed up as a "delivery manager". At the end of 2024, when the new ZHIJIE S7 started delivery, Yu Chengdong personally handed over the keys to the first - batch owners, performing the actions of "handing the keys and opening the door" in one go.

ZHIJIE has received such "favoritism" from Yu Chengdong because this battle is too difficult.

ZHIJIE was born at the end of 2023, and its initial target was to directly challenge Tesla Model 3. But in just half a year, a phenomenon - level opponent like Xiaomi SU7 emerged.

On the left, Model 3 holds the high - position with monthly sales of 30,000 vehicles. On the right, SU7 rewrites the industry pattern with nearly 90,000 sales in a single day.

Caught in the middle, ZHIJIE S7, as the "first sedan" of HarmonyOS Smart Mobility led by Huawei, bears a task of extremely high difficulty.

Therefore, the outside world can see that HarmonyOS Smart Mobility has over - exerted on ZHIJIE: Although ZHIJIE S7 was already launched, it was re - launched in April 2024: not only was the price reduced, but also the ADS intelligent driving system was upgraded.

Even, such "re - launches" of ZHIJIE S7 happened three times: On November 26, 2024, ZHIJIE S7 was launched for the third time, with the price reduced by another 20,000 yuan, the number of versions increased to three, and the configurations upgraded.

For any other automaker, such resource inclination and repeated high - level support are almost unimaginable. But even so, the sales still haven't really picked up.

Is ZHIJIE really under some kind of curse?

Is It All Because of the Low Price?

Of course, the question of "why ZHIJIE can't sell well" has been discussed for a long time. Product rhythm, brand perception, channel ability, marketing strategies... Almost all variables have been analyzed.

But if we remove all these complex factors and compare with the best - selling models of HarmonyOS Smart Mobility, we may get a very counter - intuitive answer:

ZHIJIE is sold too cheaply.

Looking at other "Realms" of HarmonyOS Smart Mobility, generally, the more expensive the models are, the better they sell, while the cheaper ones are harder to sell.

For example, for WENJIE, the main volume - selling models are M9, M8, and M7, all of which are mid - to large - sized luxury SUVs with an average price of over 300,000 yuan. Among them, WENJIE M9 has been outperforming BBA in recent years, and the most expensive top - end models have made the greatest contribution.

Then look at ZUNJIE, a luxury sedan in the million - level range. In December 2025, it delivered 4,223 vehicles, setting a monthly record for Chinese brands in the market above 700,000 yuan.

There is also XIANGJIE S9, with a starting price of 300,000 yuan. After the extended - range version was launched, it finally got out of the quagmire of "monthly sales of a thousand vehicles". The cumulative delivery in the first two months of 2026 has exceeded 10,000 vehicles.

On the contrary, the situation in the "low - price camp" is completely different.

In addition to ZHIJIE, there is also SHANGJIE, a similar struggling model. During the pre - sale, it launched a "group - buying" activity, and small deposits could unlock cash benefits. After the launch, it offered direct subsidies, limited - time discounts, financial interest - free loans, and replacement subsidies, squeezing the price range of 150,000 - 200,000 yuan to the limit.

But in February this year, the sales of SHANGJIE H5 were only about 3,200 vehicles. It's not bad, but it's still far from being a real "blockbuster".

Why does the strategy of "large - volume and low - price + price discounts" that often stimulates sales quickly for other automakers not work for HarmonyOS Smart Mobility?

This may be related to three things: certainty, ultimate experience, and new luxury substitution.

Let's talk about certainty first. Chinese families are willing to spend over 300,000 yuan. What they buy is often not just a "specification sheet", but the certainty of "less hassle and less regret".

The high - price models of HarmonyOS Smart Mobility are more likely to establish this sense of certainty. For example, models like WENJIE M9, with their size, space, and aura close to traditional luxury cars, combined with Huawei's brand endorsement and intelligent narrative, users can easily form a simple judgment: this is a "safe" choice.

Once this perception is formed, the price doesn't need much explanation.

Then there is the ultimate experience. What are Huawei's strengths? Intelligent driving, cockpit, vehicle - wide intelligent coordination, and piling up elements such as comfort, space, NVH, and chassis that can be felt as soon as you sit in the car to create a sense of high - end.

The problem is that achieving an "obviously better experience than competitors" requires cost space. Higher computing power, more abundant hardware, thicker materials, and more complete comfort configurations all mean higher vehicle costs.

Therefore, this ability is more easily magnified in high - price models. For example, the experience difference between WENJIE M7 and WENJIE M9 is perceptible in the same class. In the 200,000 - yuan market, this advantage is often diluted by price and configuration comparisons.

So high - price models can fully leverage the "Huawei brand": when the experience is well - stacked, the difference can be shown; when the difference is shown, the premium is reasonable; when the premium is reasonable, the perception of a blockbuster model is more likely to be formed.

Even a high price can become a selling point.

Finally, there is "new luxury substitution". In the past, the premium of traditional luxury cars relied on the car logo, face - saving, social circles, and mechanical quality. But today, it has gradually shifted to who has better intelligent driving, a more user - friendly cockpit, more comprehensive comfort configurations, and a more worry - free family travel experience, who is more like a "luxury" car.

The high - end models of HarmonyOS Smart Mobility have grasped this point. People who used to only look at BBA now start to think that with the same amount of money, they can buy a larger car, more complete configurations, stronger intelligence, and a stronger sense of "being served".

ZUNJIE's ability to gain a foothold in the high - end executive market has met the substitution needs of traditional luxury car users.

As for why the cheap "Realms" are not popular, in a nutshell: Once entering the mainstream market around 200,000 yuan, the rules of the game completely change.

In this price range, users make extremely rational decisions: they compare each item such as configuration, price, range, benefits, and financial plans one by one. The weight of brand narrative will significantly decrease, and technical labels are also difficult to convert into orders.

In other words, here, the "Huawei ecosystem" is no longer the decisive factor, and the vehicle ultimately has to return to the most traditional form of competition: competing in configuration, price, and discount strength.

SHANGJIE has made a lot of efforts but can only achieve "mediocre" results, which is essentially based on this logic.

ZHIJIE's situation is even more difficult. Because it is just stuck in the most awkward middle position in this structure.

It is not high - end enough to enjoy the dividend of "new luxury substitution", nor is it low - priced enough to break through the market with extreme cost - effectiveness.

More importantly, it is on the most crowded track of pure - electric sedans, directly facing opponents like Model 3 and SU7 that have a strong hold on users' minds.

On such a battlefield, ZHIJIE has more and more things to explain: why to choose it, what it is better than others, and where its advantages lie.

But for consumers, the narrative of "it's the only choice" has never been established.

The Real Savior of ZHIJIE?

To be honest, ZHIJIE has reached a point where it can't be saved by just "holding another press conference or reducing the price again".

Yu Chengdong has done all