By Li Panpan

(JW Insights) Sep 14 -- Aito, an electric vehicle marque co-founded by Chinese tech giant Huawei and automaker Seres Group, has launched a new version of the M7 on September 12, which will be cheaper than the original one.

The new five-seat Aito M7 will be priced between RMB249,800 and RMB329,800 ($34,270 and $45,250), RMB40,000 ($5,490) cheaper than the previous model.

Buyers of the new Aito M7 will also enjoy a RMB6,000 ($825) time-limited discount and the preemptive right to purchase the Huawei Mate 60 or Mate X5 series phones.

Huawei invested RMB500 million ($68.6 million) in the new Aito M7 to enhance the model's intelligent driving ability and comfort configuration, Richard Yu, executive director of Huawei, chief executive officer of its Consumer Business Group, and CEO of its Intelligent Automotive Solution BU, said at the press conference for the release of the new Aito M7.

The new Aito M7 adds a light detection and ranging system and Huawei's ADS 2.0, which enables high-level assisted driving without relying on high-definition maps. The M7's high-level intelligent driving function will cover the whole country by the end of the year, said Yu.

While Aito's monthly sales reached a record high of 12,000 units in October last year, they fell to below 3,000 units in February and March because of the price war in the Chinese EV market initiated by Tesla at the beginning of the year. Sales then recovered in June to reach 7,000 units but declined again in July and August as EV startups, such as Nio, Xpeng Motors, and Li Auto, saw their sales increase sharply, reported Yicai Global.

Huawei has three ways to engage in the auto business: vertical parts supplier, intelligent system provider through the Huawei Inside mode, and full-set solutions provider via the Huawei Smart Selection way. The cooperation of Huawei with Seres on Aito falls in the third category, the one with the most intense cooperation level.

Huawei also cooperates with BAIC Group's Arcfox, JAC Motors, and Chery Automobile. A medium-to-large vehicle model with Chery Auto is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of the year, while a model in cooperation with JAC will be released next year, according to the Yicai Global report.