Can Huajing Automobile shoulder the high-end flag of Wuling?

On April 7th, the first technology tasting event of Huajing Automobile, a high - end intelligent brand under SAIC - GM - Wuling, was held as scheduled. Its first model, the Huajing S, officially opened for blind pre - orders and is planned to be launched in early May.

The Huajing S is positioned as a large plug - in hybrid SUV, with a pre - sale price range of 150,000 to 200,000 yuan. As the first model of the in - depth strategic cooperation between SAIC - GM - Wuling and Huawei, it bears the strategic aspiration of SAIC - GM - Wuling to shed the label of "cheap utility vehicle" and fully enter the high - end new energy vehicle market.

Image source: Huajing S Leading Technology Tasting Event

Before this, the Huajing S had completed pre - launch warm - ups in multiple dimensions: it delivered excellent results in the final round of winter cold - weather tests, was officially selected as the official working vehicle for the Guangxi Two Sessions, and successfully passed the five - star preliminary test of the C - NCAP of the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, etc.

However, what the consumer market truly needs has never been just paper data from the laboratory, but real - world product experience and core competitiveness. In 2026, when the high - end market has become a red ocean and Huawei - affiliated models are flourishing, can the Huajing S, which is associated with Huawei, successfully break through? Can SAIC - GM - Wuling's long - cherished high - end vision come true with Huajing Automobile?

01 Brand Positioning and Market Breakthrough

In September 2025, SAIC - GM - Wuling deepened its strategic cooperation with Huawei, achieving full - scale collaboration in three major fields: intelligent manufacturing, intelligent cockpit, and assisted driving. The first jointly developed model was named the Baojun Huajing S, which is positioned as a flagship six - seat SUV of Huawei's Qiankun Technology. At that time, Huajing only existed as a product series under the Baojun automobile brand.

For a long time, "high cost - performance, durability" have been the most well - known brand labels of Baojun automobiles. These labels have not only contributed to Baojun's glorious era but also become a cage that is difficult to break through. When SAIC - GM - Wuling launched the Huajing S, which integrates advanced Huawei technologies and is positioned at a higher end, the inherent brand image of Baojun automobiles has instead become an invisible ceiling hindering its upward breakthrough.

On January 16, 2026, Zhao Yifan, the deputy general manager of SAIC - GM - Wuling, clearly stated that the Huajing S would be separated from Baojun and upgraded to a new high - end intelligent brand under the group. Soon after, the name of Huajing's official social media account was officially changed from "Baojun Huajing" to "Huajing Automobile".

As the first work after the brand's independence, the Huajing S shoulders the dual missions of "brand positioning" and "market breakthrough". It targets the family travel scenario and adopts "high - end intelligence for all" as its core differential competition strategy. It brings high - level intelligent technologies that were originally only available in high - end models to the 200,000 - yuan - level market, breaking the long - standing price barrier of high - level intelligent technologies.

The differential competition strategy of the Huajing S is mainly reflected in three dimensions: intelligence, space, and power.

In the intelligence dimension, the Huajing S comes standard with Huawei's Qiankun Intelligent Driving ADS Pro Enhanced Edition intelligent driving system across the entire series. It is among the first to be equipped with Huawei's globally - first - created cabin laser vision Limera solution, achieving full - scenario coverage of high - speed NCA, urban NCA, memory parking, and automatic parking. It has also actively completed 65 full - scenario rigorous field tests, meeting in advance the upcoming mandatory national standards for L2 - level combined driving assistance.

In addition, the Huajing S comes standard with Huawei's HarmonyOS Cockpit HarmonySpace 5.0 across the entire series, equipped with a 15.6 - inch 2K central control screen, a 6nm automotive - grade chip, and 12GB of running memory. The voice wake - up delay is less than 200ms, supporting four - zone wake - up, continuous dialogue, interruption at any time, and dialect recognition. At the same time, relying on the seamless transfer ability of the HarmonyOS ecosystem, the Huajing S has also achieved full - scenario ecological connectivity among mobile phones, smart home devices, and the in - vehicle system. In addition to the intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit configurations, the Huajing S also comes standard with Huawei's Qiankun Vehicle - Cloud HUAWEI IVCS across the entire series. Through vehicle - cloud collaboration, it supports seamless OTA upgrades of intelligent driving algorithms and cockpit functions, truly enabling the vehicle to be "always new".

In the space dimension, with an ultra - long wheelbase of 3105mm, the Huajing S directly competes with the Li L9 and the AITO M9, two high - end models, precisely meeting the needs of family and business travel. Different from most six - seat SUVs on the market where the third row is only for emergency use, the Huajing S adopts a 2 + 2+2 six - seat layout. Relying on the ample space brought by the ultra - long wheelbase, it completely breaks the industry problem of the "useless third row" and achieves balanced comfort for all seats.

In the power dimension, the Huajing S is equipped with the Lingxi 3.0 plug - in hybrid system independently developed by SAIC - GM - Wuling, consisting of a 1.5T dedicated hybrid engine and two motors. The maximum power of the engine is 105kW. Combined with the Shenlian Battery 3.0, it can achieve "using electricity for short trips and gasoline for long trips". Under the CLTC working condition, the pure - electric cruising range of the two - wheel - drive and four - wheel - drive versions of the Huajing S can reach up to 255km and 235km respectively, fully meeting daily commuting needs. In the hybrid mode, the comprehensive cruising range exceeds 1100km, completely solving the range anxiety for family long - distance travel.

02 Two Major Obstacles for the Huajing S to Break Through

Although the Huajing S has significant product advantages, is supported by Huawei's technologies, and is backed by SAIC - GM - Wuling, its path to break through in the highly competitive high - end new energy vehicle market is still full of thorns.

The solidified brand perception is the most core and difficult - to - break dilemma faced by the Huajing S. SAIC - GM - Wuling has been deeply involved in the Chinese automobile market for decades. With national models such as the Wuling Hongguang series and the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV series, the brand labels of "high cost - performance, affordability, and the first choice for entry - level consumers" have long been deeply rooted in people's minds. This long - established brand perception, which was the cornerstone of SAIC - GM - Wuling's past sales legends, has now become the biggest barrier for the Huajing S to enter the high - end market.

Even though Huajing Automobile has been officially upgraded to a high - end intelligent brand under SAIC - GM - Wuling, the consumer market still finds it difficult to completely separate it from the "high cost - performance" label. More importantly, the moat of a high - end brand comes from long - term product iteration, service system upgrade, and user reputation accumulation. As a new brand, Huajing Automobile has neither brand accumulation in the high - end market nor a corresponding high - end user base. It is difficult to break the inherent brand perception in the short term with just one Huajing S.

The risks of technological homogenization and internal competition among Huawei - affiliated models are also prominent, which is another dilemma for the Huajing S. The HI Plus model between Huajing Automobile and Huawei is both its core advantage and a potential dilemma. While being associated with Huawei allows the Huajing S to quickly make up for its short - comings in intelligent technologies, it also brings the risk of technological homogenization. In the long run, it may restrict the establishment of Huajing Automobile's independent technology system and its independent development space.

From the parts supply model, to the HI model, the HI Plus model, and then to the Hongmeng Zhixing intelligent - selected vehicle model with full - link leadership, Huawei has reached cooperation agreements with more than 20 automobile manufacturers. The core advantage of the Huajing S comes from Huawei's technological empowerment, but this core advantage is also being shared by dozens of models within Huawei's cooperation system. This means that Huajing Automobile is likely to fall into the quagmire of homogeneous competition and find it difficult to create exclusive technological features.

An even more severe challenge comes from the internal competition among Huawei - affiliated models. Currently, Huawei's automobile cooperation map has formed a complete pattern of "Five Jies + Two Jings", and a dense product layout has been completed in the mainstream price range of 200,000 to 250,000 yuan. For consumers, when choosing a Huawei - affiliated model, they will give priority to the "Jie" - named brands that are deeply led and fully empowered by Huawei. Although the Huajing S is also equipped with Huawei's intelligent technologies, its "Huawei content" and market recognition are far lower than those of AITO and Zhijie. Therefore, the Huajing S not only fails to open up a market gap with the signboard of "Huawei technological empowerment" but is also likely to get caught in the internal competition among Huawei - affiliated models.

03 SAIC - GM - Wuling's High - End Dream

Huajing Automobile is an important attempt in SAIC - GM - Wuling's high - end strategy and also the hope for it to get rid of the low - end label and achieve sustainable development.

With Huawei's technological support, differential competition strategy, and high cost - performance advantage, the Huajing S has the foundation to enter the high - end new energy vehicle market and is expected to gain a considerable market share in the 150,000 to 200,000 - yuan - level market. However, it should be clear that there is no shortcut for Huajing Automobile to break through in the high - end market. This is destined to be a long and difficult protracted war. Huawei's technological empowerment can only solve the technological short - comings of the Huajing S, but it cannot solve the core dilemmas such as the solidified brand perception and the lagging establishment of an independent technology system. The high cost - performance advantage can only attract a group of price - sensitive users, but it is difficult to establish the premium ability and brand image necessary for a high - end brand.

In fact, SAIC - GM - Wuling is not making its first attempt to enter the high - end market. As early as July 2010, SAIC - GM - Wuling launched the Baojun automobile, officially starting the transformation path of "combining commercial and passenger vehicles". With the continuous popularity of a series of hit models such as the Baojun 730, Baojun's sales exceeded one million vehicles in 2017, jointly creating the sales myth of SAIC - GM - Wuling's annual sales of 2.15 million vehicles with Wuling Automobile. However, the price range of Baojun's main models has long been concentrated between 50,000 and 100,000 yuan and has never been able to break through the 150,000 - yuan price ceiling.

In April 2019, Baojun launched a large - scale brand refresh, introducing the "New Baojun" brand, which focused on "youth, technology, and intelligence" and tried to break into the 100,000 to 150,000 - yuan - level market. However, this attempt to move upmarket did not meet market expectations. Limited by the limited improvement in product technology and the continuous fermentation of consumer market doubts about the brand refresh being "the same wine in new bottles", Baojun's attempt to break into the high - end market ended in failure.

Now, the baton of the brand's upward - movement has been passed to Huajing Automobile. However, whether Huajing Automobile can help SAIC - GM - Wuling realize its high - end dream depends on two points: one is how to break through the shackles of brand perception and gradually establish a high - end brand image; the other is how to avoid over - reliance while relying on Huawei's technological empowerment, continuously strengthen independent technology research and development, and create differential product features.

Blind pre - orders are just the starting point of the upward - movement journey, and the feedback from the consumer market is the final answer to measure the success or failure of the product. Whether Huajing Automobile can become the breakthrough point for SAIC - GM - Wuling's high - end breakthrough strategy remains to be tested by time.

This article is from the WeChat official account “DoNews” (ID: ilovedonews). Author: Zhang Yu. Republished by 36Kr with permission.