At present, there is a unanimous agreement that the AITO M9 stands head and shoulders above other models in the '9-series' lineup.

As a result, the AITO M9 has inadvertently become the unspoken benchmark for major automotive brands.

It's safe to say that the new luxury value evaluation system established by the AITO M9 is garnering recognition from an increasing number of automotive brands, thereby spearheading a redefinition of values in the luxury car market.

Shaking Up the Luxury Market Landscape

Despite its relatively short time on the market, the AITO M9 has achieved unprecedented success in the history of Chinese luxury cars, making a splash right from its debut.

From the moment pre-sales began, the AITO M9 sparked a frenzy of orders, with over 50,000 reservations secured in just 43 days. Within a month and a half of its official launch, deliveries exceeded 20,000 units. Over the past 22 months since its launch, cumulative deliveries have soared to 260,000 units, averaging nearly 12,000 units per month.

Statistics reveal that the AITO M9 has set the standard for luxury SUV sales priced over RMB 500,000, slashing the market share of traditional models like the BMW X7 and Mercedes-Benz GLS to 60% of their former levels, and establishing itself as the undisputed leader in the luxury D-segment SUV market.

It's astonishing to think that a luxury car priced between RMB 469,800 and RMB 589,800 would attract over 10,000 buyers each month. Even more remarkable, in the first half of 2025, the AITO M9 achieved a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 85.2% and a one-year retention rate of 82.2%.

Such market performance is unmatched among BBA (BMW, Benz, Audi) models.

If someone had claimed a few years ago that a luxury car priced over RMB 500,000 could sell 260,000 units in less than two years, most would have laughed it off as a far-fetched idea. But the AITO M9 has rewritten history.

For a long time before AITO's emergence, the discourse power (market influence) in the RMB 500,000+ segment was firmly held by traditional luxury brands like BBA, who were both the rule-makers and spokespersons of luxury.

Now, the tables have turned.

According to the 'Profile Report on the First Batch of AITO M9 Owners' released by market research firm JL Road, half of AITO M9 users are repeat buyers from luxury brands, including owners of sports cars and high-performance vehicles like the Porsche 718 and Mercedes-Benz GLE AMG.

This clearly indicates that, in the face of the AITO M9, the luxury rules and brand appeal of BBA have lost their charm.

From Symbolic Consumption to Value Consumption

'67% for assisted driving, 65% for intelligent cockpit, 57% for brand, 55% for safety, and 45% for comfort'—these are the top five reasons for AITO M9 purchases, as revealed in the aforementioned report.

Remarkably, price was not mentioned among the reasons for purchasing the AITO M9 in JL Road's report. Therefore, the success of the AITO M9 represents a technology-driven redefinition of luxury value.

Its exceptional intelligent performance cannot be ignored.

As is widely recognized, a core value of the AITO M9 lies in Huawei's ADS 4.0® assisted driving system. This system showcases remarkable adaptability to China's complex urban road environments, excelling in traffic participant recognition accuracy, autonomous cruise control experience, driving skills, and obstacle avoidance capabilities.

Meanwhile, the HarmonyOS 4 intelligent cockpit in the AITO M9 enables seamless connectivity between the vehicle, mobile devices, and smart homes, creating an unparalleled 'mobile intelligent space' experience. It genuinely makes users feel that the AITO M9 is not just a means of transportation but an intelligent companion.

While boasting superior intelligence, the AITO M9 also showcases unique insights into luxury.

It is reported that the AITO M9 is equipped with Huawei's Touring Platform, which empowers high-performance hardware with intelligent algorithms, delivering a comfortable driving experience characterized by no nodding during regular braking, no motion sickness during frequent braking, and no shaking during slope braking (hill braking). 'The AITO M9 performs exceptionally well in corners, with excellent linearity and stability in steering, sharp responsiveness, and superb damping and vibration control, offering an overall excellent driving experience,' praised professional racer Ma Qinghua.

In terms of safety, which is of paramount concern to users, the AITO M9's 'Xuanwu Body' speaks volumes. It is reported that 12 key areas of the vehicle are reinforced with 2000MPa submarine-grade hot-formed steel, while regions like the door frames use 1500MPa hot-formed steel. It is also the first to feature the world's largest one-piece cast aluminum alloy rear body. Moreover, the Xuanwu Body achieves a 12% weight reduction with an 80% aluminum alloy proportion in the body-in-white and a leading lightweight coefficient. The application of its one-piece casting process significantly reduces the number of body parts by 95% and connection points by 70%.

However, behind these values, the AITO M9 does not simply pile on technologies but redefines the luxury car evaluation system with its 'traditional luxury + tech luxury' 'new luxury' philosophy.

The popularity of the AITO M9's assisted driving, intelligent cockpit, safety, and comfort features, along with the increasing number of brands benchmarking against it, indicates that its 'new luxury' philosophy is gaining widespread acceptance.

Therefore, the underlying reason for its popularity is that the AITO M9 is leading a shift in automotive consumption philosophy: a rational return from 'symbolic consumption' to 'value consumption' in high-end automotive purchases.

Transformation of the Luxury Car Value System

The emergence of a new player inevitably brings new values.

Through its versatile space, leading-edge assisted driving, intelligent driving experience, and other technological strengths combined with tech-driven luxury, the AITO M9 precisely meets users' full-scenario value expectations for luxury travel, redefining the value standards for high-end intelligent travel.

Previously, competition in the high-end luxury car segment focused more on pure parameter and symbolic configuration battles. The AITO M9 has elevated the competition to scenario-based solutions.

The achievement of selling over 260,000 units of a luxury car priced over RMB 500,000 in less than two years demonstrates that the core competitiveness of luxury cars has shifted from brand premium and parameter stacking to technology's ability to adapt to scenarios.

The deeper significance of the AITO M9's popularity lies in its thorough redefinition of the high-end market value evaluation system through 'intelligence reshaping luxury.'

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