SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Huawei said problems with semiconductor shortages and plant relocations that have delayed production and deliveries of the Luxeed S7 sedan should be resolved from next month, local media Cailianshe reported on Saturday.
He quoted Huawei Managing Director and Intelligent Automotive Solutions Chairman Richard Yu as speaking about issues surrounding the Chery Luxeed S7 sedan at an annual forum organized by think tank EV100.
In January, Reuters reported that Chinese automaker Chery and another Huawei partner, Changan Auto, had filed complaints with Huawei over how manufacturing problems with a computing unit made by the tech giant led to delivery delays for their flagship model.
The Luxeed S7 sedan, the first model of the Chery Luxeed EV brand, had received about 20,000 orders as of November 28. In January, Luxeed said customers could be refunded up to 10,000 yuan if they were unable to pick up the car as promised. . The S7 starts at RMB 249,800 ($34,716.62).
The brand only launched in November and has been heavily touted by Huawei, with Yu previously claiming the S7 will outperform Tesla’s (NASDAQ:) luxury Model S and be priced lower than the Model 3.
Yu also told the EV100 forum that its auto division is likely to turn a profit from April after losing billions of yuan last year due to strong sales of mid- and high-end models built by its partners.
Huawei launched its smart car division in 2019 with the goal of becoming the smart electric vehicle (EV) era equivalent of German car supplier Bosch and supplying software and components to partners.
But it is the only unprofitable unit among Huawei’s six main units, generating just one billion yuan in revenue in the first half of 2023, a small portion of the company’s total revenue of 310.9 billion yuan.
Last year, Huawei announced it would spin off the division into a new company that would receive the division’s core technology and resources and also accept investment from partners such as automaker Changan.
($1 = 7.1954 yuan)