The Stelato S9 -- the first model jointly built by Huawei and BAIC BluePark -- has received more than 2,500 firm orders in the first 24 hours of its launch.
Shares in Shanghai-traded BAIC BluePark (SHA: 600733), the electric vehicle (EV) unit of Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC Group), fell sharply in early trading as orders for its Stelato S9, the first model jointly built by Huawei, appeared to disappoint investors.
Shares of BAIC BluePark fell 9.69 percent to RMB 8.2 at press time, hitting a one-month low. The drop is close to the 10 percent limit for a single day's decline.
The drop could be attributed to investors' disappointment with the order performance of the Stelato S9 -- the first model of Stelato, the new brand jointly created by Huawei and BAIC BluePark.
Last night, Huawei's HIMA (Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance) business announced that the Stelato S9 had received more than 2,500 firm orders in its 24 hours of availability.
Stelato is the third brand under the HIMA umbrella, with the first two being Aito, a joint brand between Huawei and Seres Group, and Luxeed, a joint brand between Huawei and Chery. Huawei is also working on the more premium Maextro brand with the Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group (JAC).
The Stelato S9 went on sale on August 6, offering two variants, the Max and Ultra, with starting prices of RMB 399,800 ($55,710) and RMB 449,800, respectively. Its deliveries begin on August 7.
The Stelato S9 is the flagship sedan under Huawei's HIMA business, and along with the Aito M9, it forms a dual-flagship under the business, Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei's intelligent vehicle solutions business unit, said at the launch of the model.
The model is aimed at the premium electric sedan market, with its main competitors being models from German luxury carmakers BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi, including the BMW 5 Series, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and Audi A6.
Among the local players, the Stelato S9 is a direct competitor to Nio's (NYSE: NIO) ET7 sedan. The Stelato S9's lackluster initial order performance is a testament to the low acceptance of high-end all-electric sedans by Chinese customers in general.
The Nio ET7, which was initially launched at the Nio Day 2020 event on January 9, 2021, with deliveries beginning in late March 2022, is Nio's first model based on the NT 2.0 platform.
The company launched the 2023 ET7 at the Shanghai auto show on April 18, 2023, and the 2024 ET7 on April 25 this year, with a starting price of RMB 428,000 including the battery.
In its earlier days on the market, the Nio ET7 saw single-month deliveries in June 2022 of a record-high 4,349 vehicles. Since 2023, however, ET7 deliveries have dropped significantly, with the vast majority of months under 1,000 units.
In May and June of this year, Nio ET7 deliveries rebounded, with 1,098 and 1,071 vehicles delivered, respectively, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.
Huawei, BAIC joint brand Stelato launches S9 to target premium electric sedan market
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