- Aito began accepting pre-orders for the M8 on March 6, with a pre-sales starting price of RMB 368,000 ($50,070).
- The Aito M8 is expected to compete with Li Auto's (NASDAQ: LI) Li L8.
Huawei-backed Aito will officially launch the M8 in a week's time, and the new SUV (sport utility vehicle) has already received a high level of acceptance in pre-sales.
Aito announced today that the M8 will be officially launched on April 16.
The SUV's launch will be part of a new product launch event for Huawei's HIMA (Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance) business, which will begin at 2:30 pm Beijing time on April 16.
Aito began accepting pre-orders for the M8 on March 6, with a pre-sales starting price of RMB 368,000 ($50,070).
Customers who pay a RMB 5,000 deposit to reserve the SUV will receive a RMB 10,000 reduction on their final payment.
Shortly after the M8 began pre-sales, Aito announced on Weibo that the model received over 7,500 pre-orders in the first hour.
On April 6, the brand announced that the Aito M8 had over 100,000 pre-orders.
The Aito M8 is expected to compete with Li Auto's (NASDAQ: LI) Li L8, which is currently offered in three variants with starting prices of RMB 321,800, RMB 349,800, and RMB 379,800, respectively.
The Aito M8 entered a regulatory catalog from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) earlier this year, when Aito filed for only extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) variants for the model.
The SUV will be available in 5-seat and 6-seat options, with length, width and height of 5,190 mm, 1,999 mm and 1,795 mm respectively, and a wheelbase of 3,105 mm, according to its filing.
The Aito M8 has two options for battery pack capacity -- 51.975 kWh and 36.019 kWh -- and three options for battery range -- 235 km, 240 km and 161 km.
The model has a combined range of up to 1,526 km on a full tank of fuel and full charge.
Aito is a premium new energy vehicle (NEV) brand jointly launched by Huawei and Seres Group on December 2, 2021 and is the first vehicle brand under the HIMA business.
The brand's current models in delivery include the Aito M5, Aito M7, and Aito M9.
($1 = RMB 7.3498)
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