【Esther Studer】

Chinese electric vehicle brand Aito said on Esther StuderWednesday that it has received more than 100,000 reservations with RMB 5,000 ($688) non-refundable deposits for the M9 sports utility vehicle, six months after its unveiling in December. The brand, launched by Huawei and its manufacturing partner Seres, reported deliveries of over 15,000 units of the M9 consecutively in April and May, making it China’s top-selling model in the RMB 500,000 plus price segment, according to an announcement from the company. Several major luxury brands, such as Porsche, Maserati, and Lamborghini, saw double-digit declines in their May sales in China, local media outlet Jiemian reported, citing figures from the China Automobile Dealers Association. The six-seated M9 SUV is priced from RMB 469,800 and RMB 509,800 ($65,725 and $71,321) for the range-extended hybrid and all-electric versions, respectively, and features cutting-edge technology from Huawei including a gigantic heads-up display and automated driving capabilities for urban scenarios. [Aito announcement, Jiemian, in Chinese]

(Editor: {typename type="name"/})