After AITO "graduates", can Luxeed carry the banner of Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance?
After AITO took back the leading role, the first new product launch event of Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance was almost an exclusive session for Zhijie.
On September 28, Zhijie RX, the "easiest-to-drive vehicle" under Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, was officially launched, with the refreshed version of Zhijie R7 released simultaneously, while Xiangjie V8 only opened for pre-order, and Yu Chengdong did not devote too much time to it.
Photo / Zhijie R7, Source / Screenshot from New Energy Observer on the Internet
Since Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance and AITO simultaneously released the "Statement of AITO on the Cooperation Model of Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance" on September 15, Yu Chengdong has explained and responded to the cooperation model between the two parties on multiple occasions, including this new product launch event of Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance.
As Yu Chengdong said, "AITO is the first brand built by Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, and it is an important achievement of cross-border integration and industrial upgrading. As the brand becomes increasingly mature, AITO will develop with a new cooperation model in the future, which will be led by Seres and empowered by Huawei Terminal."
On the surface, all the five "Jie" brands under Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance are still in operation, but from the perspective of cooperation model, the "five Jie" has become "four Jie".
When the student with the best grades "graduates", cultivating the next outstanding student has become the top priority of Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance. Among Zunjie, Xiangjie, Zhijie and Shangjie, who can stand out? No matter from the perspective of establishment time or sales volume, Zhijie is supposed to step forward. But can it carry the banner of Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, and even surpass AITO?
1. The new Zhijie model: technologies are stacked to the ceiling
Before the launch of this new car, Zhijie had three models on sale: the pure electric sedan Zhijie S7, the mid-to-large SUV Zhijie R7 and the mid-to-large MPV Zhijie V9. But contrary to the common public perception, the sales pillar of Zhijie is Zhijie V9.
According to the data from Gasgoo, the sales volume of Zhijie in July and August was 10,709 units and 8,561 units respectively, while that of Zhijie V9 reached 10,101 units and 8,283 units respectively, accounting for more than 90% of the total.
Photo / Sales volume of Zhijie and Zhijie V9 in July and August, Source / Screenshot from New Energy Observer on the Internet
Zhijie is in urgent need of making efforts in the SUV and sedan sectors, and Zhijie RX and the refreshed Zhijie R7 are the vanguards to boost sales.
Zhijie RX is the first SUV named with "X" under Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, with a price range from 259,800 yuan to 389,800 yuan, positioned as a mid-to-large pure electric coupe SUV.
Photo / Price of Zhijie RX, Source / Screenshot from New Energy Observer on the Internet
The most noteworthy highlight of this car is the mass production and implementation of the L3-level autonomous driving architecture. The Zhijie RX Ultra version and above are equipped with the autonomous driving architecture for the L3 era, with 38 integrated perception sensors including a 4-laser radar matrix, full-link redundant design in power supply, communication, perception, steering, braking and other links, and has obtained the L3-level autonomous driving road test license.
In the current product matrix of Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, RX is the only model in the 300,000-yuan price range equipped with L3-level autonomous driving architecture.
Photo / Zhijie RX, Source / Screenshot from New Energy Observer on the Internet
Chassis and driving control are another core advantage of this car, which is the confidence of the "easiest to drive" as Yu Chengdong mentioned. Huawei Turion platform, dual-chamber air suspension, dual-valve continuously variable damping damper, HUAWEI DATS Dynamic Adaptive Torque System, and multi-intent torque vector control are first applied on this model.
The refreshed Zhijie R7 launched simultaneously follows the path of adding more configurations while lowering the price. In order to create a volume-selling model for families, Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance has invested as much as 500 million yuan to carry out 8 all-round upgrades in intelligence, luxury, comfort, health, space, battery life, safety and appearance, while the price is reduced to 239,800 yuan to 319,800 yuan.
For example, the cockpit is equipped with the first dual 17.2-inch butterfly-wing 3.4K joint screen under Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, matched with a 26-inch HUD and streaming media rearview mirror; in terms of space, the trunk is expanded to 852L, with a new 106L electric suction and electric pop-up front trunk and an 80L hidden storage compartment; on the safety side, it is upgraded with 896-line dual-optical path laser radar and common-optical path in-cabin radar, and 36 sensors in the whole vehicle support Qiankun Intelligent Driving ADS 5.
Photo / Standard configurations of Zhijie R7, Source / Screenshot from New Energy Observer on the Internet
Therefore, Yu Chengdong believes that the fully refreshed Zhijie R7 provides a better experience than cars priced at 400,000 to 500,000 yuan.
2. Zhijie becomes the "monitor" of Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance
The appearance of Yin Tongyue, Chairman of Chery, added extra weight to this "Zhijie exclusive" launch event.
"The first sedan, the first coupe SUV, the first luxury MPV, and the first tech-luxury coupe SUV under Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance all made their debut on Zhijie." Yin Tongyue said, "Mr. Yu always assigns the most difficult tasks to the Zhijie team, and the Zhijie team never lets people down."
Yin Tongyue revealed that since Huawei and Chery officially cooperated to launch the Zhijie brand in 2023, the total cumulative delivery of all Zhijie models is about to exceed 200,000 units so far.
Photo / Yin Tongyue revealed that the total cumulative delivery of all Zhijie models is about to exceed 200,000 units, Source / Screenshot from New Energy Observer on the Internet
Obviously, this sales volume is second only to AITO among the five "Jie" brands, and is far ahead among the remaining four "Jie" brands. After AITO actually withdrew from Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, Zhijie was officially promoted from the vice monitor to the monitor.
In terms of resource allocation, Zhijie has indeed obtained the configuration of the "new team leader". In August 2025, Chery and Huawei signed the Zhijie Brand Strategy 2.0 Cooperation Agreement, investing more than 100 billion yuan, forming a 5,000-person R&D team, and establishing an independently operated Zhijie New Energy Company to realize independent integrated operation of production, sales and service.
Photo / Signing of the Zhijie Brand Strategy 2.0 Cooperation Agreement between Chery and Huawei, Source / Screenshot from New Energy Observer on the Internet
This investment intensity is the heaviest among the four Jie brands under Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance. For comparison, SAIC has invested more than 6 billion yuan in Shangjie in the first phase, and BAIC has invested more than 20 billion yuan in Xiangjie in total, but the retail sales of Xiangjie from January to August are only about 24,000 units, and the channels and product rhythm are still in the climbing stage.
The "graduation" of AITO not only released Huawei's manpower, but according to the channel network division plan, the existing exclusive stores will be split into two positioning types: one exclusively sells the full series of AITO, and the other sells four brands of Zhijie, Xiangjie, Zunjie and Shangjie together. This means that Zhijie will get a larger share of the booth and test drive resources that were previously exclusively occupied by AITO.
In addition, careful netizens must have found that the appearance order of the five "Jie" brands at previous Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance press conferences was AITO, Zhijie, Xiangjie, Zunjie, Shangjie. This time, the order is adjusted to Zunjie, Xiangjie, Zhijie, Shangjie, AITO. Who stands in the center of the stage and who stands by the side, the signal is clear enough.
Photo / The appearance order of the five "Jie" brands at the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance press conference, Source / Screenshot from New Energy Observer on the Internet
Although Yu Chengdong said that "we will focus on Zunjie, Xiangjie, Zhijie and Shangjie to ensure that each Jie gets more sufficient resources", from the aspects of investment scale and consumer base, Zhijie is obviously the brand that deserves the most preferential treatment.
3. Can Zhijie carry the banner?
Resources are one aspect, and its own strength is another. The first problem Zhijie has to face is the situation of "high start but low follow-up performance".
Both Zhijie S7 and Zhijie R7 once had brilliant periods. Zhijie S7 was launched at the 2023 Guangzhou Auto Show, and its pre-orders quickly exceeded 20,000 units. In April 2024, it reached its sales peak with monthly sales exceeding 5,000 units, but by July 2026, its retail sales volume was only 160 units. The trend of Zhijie R7 is more extreme. It set the highest monthly sales record of 15,903 units in the brand's history in December 2024, then began to plummet sharply from the end of 2025, and the retail sales in July 2026 was only 772 units.
Photo / Sales volume of Zhijie R7 in December 2024, Source / Screenshot from New Energy Observer on the Internet
It only took about one year for the two models to go from being a hit to being marginalized.
The current data of Zhijie V9 is also very good, but it also faces a structural risk. Within the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance system, Zunjie V800/V680 is positioned as a million-level ultra-luxury MPV, which has taken the top high-end business market of V9; Xiangjie V8, positioned as a 300,000-yuan high-end family MPV, has blocked the entry price range of V9 from below. With the same Huawei technology and two-way high and low positioning, this "dimensionality reduction involution" from its own system is the pressure that external competitors cannot bring.
Photo / Xiangjie V8, Source / Screenshot from New Energy Observer on the Internet
In addition, the change of channels is also a double-edged sword. Although the mixed sales model allows Zhijie to share the booth resources vacated by AITO, it also means that sales consultants need to promote four brands at the same time. Brand recognition is further diluted in the mixed sales environment, and the explanation time and test drive resources that each brand can get are being spread out.
There is also a more practical problem, that is, Zhijie models