said the Luxeed S7 has begun volume deliveries. The model was initially launched in November 2023 and has since been the subject of complaints over slow deliveries.

(Image credit: Huawei)

Luxeed, the new electric vehicle (EV) brand jointly created by Huawei and Chery, has re-launched its first model, the S7, which suffered production woes after its initial launch at the end of November last year.

Richard Yu, head of Huawei's automotive business, re-launched the Luxeed S7, the first sedan in the Chinese tech giant's joint effort with a local carmaker, at the HarmonyOS Eco Spring Communication today.

The starting price of the entry-level version of the Luxeed S7 remains unchanged at RMB 249,800 ($34,520), but all other variants are priced RMB 20,000 lower.

Notably, the entry-level version of the Luxeed S7 sees an increase in battery capacity to 82 kWh from the previous 62 kWh, and an increase in CLTC range from 550 km to 705 km.

The re-launched Luxeed S7 is available in five variants -- Pro, Max, Max+, Max RS, Ultra -- with starting prices of RMB 249,800, RMB 269,800, RMB 299,800, RMB 329,800, RMB 349,800, respectively.

When it is first launched on November 28, 2023, the model was offered in four variants -- Pro, Max, Max+, Max RS -- with starting prices of RMB 249,800, RMB 289,800, RMB 319,800 and RMB 349,800 respectively.

This means that the price of the Pro version remains unchanged, the prices of the Max, Max+, and Max RS variants have all been cut by RMB 20,000, while the Max RS is a new variant.

After the Luxeed S7 was launched in November last year, slow deliveries triggered a lot of complaints from customers on social media.

As of January 20, Chery's plant in Wuhu, Anhui province, which is dedicated to producing the Luxeed S7, was still in pilot production, with fewer than 10 vehicles rolling off the assembly line in a single day, according to a January 25 report by local media outlet LatePost.

At that pace, the plant could still need months of preparation if it is to achieve mass production, the report noted.

Luxeed was promising a wait time of 10-12 weeks at that time, which is a long enough wait to change a consumer's purchasing decision, judging from the experience of other car brands, LatePost's report said.

At today's launch, Huawei's Yu said Chery set up a separate business unit for Luxeed and built an exclusive manufacturing industrial park.

Luxeed is currently seeing an average of one S7 roll off the assembly line every minute, and the model has already begun volume deliveries, Yu said.

Chery also emphasized the importance the automaker attaches to the co-brand, with its chairman Yin Tongyue saying at the launch that Luxeed is Chery's number one strategic priority, and that an independent business unit has now been established.

Yin said he and Huawei's Yu communicate with each other online once a week and offline once a month.

As previously announced, the Luxeed S7 measures 4,971 mm in length, 1,963 mm in width and 1,474 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 2,950 mm.

The model is based on Huawei's 800 V-based high-voltage platform and has a CLTC range of up to 855 km.

The Luxeed S7 is available in single-motor and dual-motor versions, the former with a maximum power of 215 kW and the latter with an additional front motor with a maximum power of 150 kW.

The Pro, Max, and Max+ are all single-motor models, while the Max RS and Ultra are dual-motor models that can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.3 seconds.

Huawei today announced that the entry-level variant of the Luxeed S7 is the first model to feature the basic version of Huawei ADS, the company's vision-only solution-based assisted driving system, which supports features including highway pilot-assisted driving and parking assistance.

The model's more expensive variants support the full-featured Huawei ADS, with additional support for assisted driving in the city.

($1 = RMB 7.2370)

Toyota reportedly to use Huawei's assisted driving solution in its global models