Huawei clarifies its two smart car brands: one for luxury, one for the rest

Huawei’s two smart car brand families — those ending in “Jie” (界) and those ending in “Jing” (境) — aren’t competing against each other. They were designed from the start to cover different price brackets, according to Jin Yuzhi, Huawei’s Senior Vice President and CEO of its automotive components subsidiary Yinwang.

“Some people online think they conflict, but they don’t,” Jin said in an interview with 36Kr Auto. “We reached that consensus internally a long time ago.”

The “Jie” lineup is the one most visible today. It includes AITO (问界), Stelato (享界), Luxeed (智界), MAEXTRO (尊界), and Shangjie (尚界) — all co-developed with automakers like Seres, Chery, and BAIC, running HarmonyOS and Huawei’s full smart driving stack. These vehicles are positioned primarily above 300,000 RMB (about $41,000).

“Jing” — which currently has two models, Qijing (启境) and Yijing (奕境) — takes Huawei’s Qiankun smart driving technology into vehicles priced under 300,000 RMB.

The logic goes back to a comment Richard Yu (Yu Chengdong), Huawei’s consumer group chairman, made at the China Electric Vehicle 100 Forum two years ago. Huawei was still under supply chain pressure and sanctions at the time.

“Our solution costs are still a bit high,” Yu said then. “Cars under 300,000 RMB using our system is still a challenge. Only cars above 300,000 can afford it.”

That constraint shaped the strategy. “Jie” became the premium showcase — cars where the full cost of Huawei’s complete smart driving and cabin stack made financial sense. But China sells over 20 million passenger cars a year. Leaving the entire sub-300K market uncovered would mean ceding most of that volume to competitors.

“Jing” fills that gap. It brings Huawei’s assisted driving and intelligent cabin tech to more price-sensitive buyers without muddying the “Jie” brand’s premium positioning. Jin noted the split isn’t absolute — there may be some overlap on either side — but the core plan is clear.

The two brands are also a response to demand. “Consumers want more models with Huawei Qiankun smart driving on the market,” Jin said. “This is how we make technology accessible to more people.”

None of this means Huawei is becoming a car company. Jin repeated Yinwang’s “electronic screw” (电子螺丝钉) framing: Yinwang supplies smart driving systems, sensors, and compute platforms. It doesn’t assemble cars. The dual-brand approach simply lets Huawei’s partners sell cars powered by its technology at different price points — from a luxury sedan with three lidars to a commuter hatchback with just cameras and radar.

Huawei has committed 70 to 80 billion RMB in computing R&D for its automotive business over the next five years. With both “Jie” and “Jing” in play, that investment will reach two very different kinds of buyers.