Tail Label No Longer Reads 'Chery': Smart Horizon Obtains Independent Production Qualification

On October 16, the MIIT's 412th batch of the 'Announcement on Road Motor Vehicle Production Enterprises and Products' revealed that Anhui Smart Horizon New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd. was included in the list of 'newly approved vehicle production enterprises,' with its production address at No. 8 Wanjiang Avenue, Economic and Technological Development Zone, Wuhu, Anhui Province, noted as a 'member enterprise of Chery Group.' In the same document, Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. applied to cancel its production qualification at this address.

This signifies that Smart Horizon, which once bore the 'Chery Automobile' tail label, will soon have a name of its own.

From its first vehicle's application under Chery's qualification in 2023 to the establishment of an independent legal entity in early 2025, and now to the finalization of its production qualification transfer, Smart Horizon has completed its transition from a 'product brand' to an 'independent automaker' in less than three years. It will become the first brand under Hongmeng Zhixing to obtain independent vehicle production qualifications, paving the way for a subsequent independent listing.

However, independent qualification is merely an entry ticket. Amid ongoing sales pressure, internal resource competition, and intensifying external competition, Smart Horizon still needs to prove itself.

01 A Long-Planned 'Separation'

Smart Horizon's independence was achieved step by step.

In November 2023, the Smart Horizon S7 was launched. At that time, Smart Horizon's identity was straightforward: a model brand resulting from the collaboration between Chery and Huawei. Its vehicle qualification was under Chery Automobile, with production at Chery's Wuhu plant. Consumers who purchased the vehicle saw 'Chery Automobile' on the tail label. Huawei provided the intelligent cockpit, intelligent driving solutions, and distribution channels, while Chery handled manufacturing. This represented a typical division of labor between 'technology and manufacturing.'

In January 2025, Anhui Smart Horizon New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd. was registered in Wuhu with a registered capital of 1 billion yuan, wholly owned by Chery. This marked the first step in Smart Horizon's transition from a 'business division' to an 'independent legal entity.'

In August of the same year, Chery and Huawei signed the Smart Horizon Brand Strategy 2.0 cooperation agreement, planning to invest over 10 billion yuan in R&D, expand the R&D team to 5,000 people, and promote independent operation of Smart Horizon's research, production, sales, and service integration.

What truly brought 'independence' from paper to reality was the dual separation of equity and qualifications.

Smart Horizon's Change Record

By the end of June 2026, Smart Horizon completed its industrial and commercial registration changes. Chery's stake reduced from 100% to 85%, with Wuhu Ruiqi and Wuhu Ruilian, two partnership enterprises, each holding 7.5%. After penetrate (equity penetration), Guo Rui, Smart Horizon's Chairman and CEO, indirectly holds about 6%, while Zhao Changjiang, Executive Director and Executive Vice President, and Zhu Xiaodong, Executive Deputy General Manager, each hold about 4.5%. The core management team has been bound to Smart Horizon with real financial stakes.

The MIIT announcement in October completed the final piece of the puzzle. This qualification transfer was a stock transfer, where Chery canceled its production qualification at the original plant, and Smart Horizon obtained approval at the same location, with the production entity and capacity transferring together.

VOYAH also completed a similar operation in the same batch of announcements, with Dongfeng canceling its qualification at Yunfeng Avenue plant, and VOYAH taking over the approval. Such 'stock transfers' have become an industry norm.

02 Why Independently?

Obtaining independent qualifications will first be reflected in the vehicle's tail label. After approval, the new vehicle's tail label is expected to change from 'Chery Automobile' to 'Smart Horizon Automobile.' While this seems like a simple word replacement, it represents a fundamental restructuring of the legal entity, financial ownership, and capital market imagination.

First, independent qualifications resolve clarity in responsibility and pricing. Previously, Smart Horizon models were declared under Chery, with production consistency, product approval, and quality responsibility legally attributed to Chery. For a company planning an independent listing, this was unacceptable.

With qualifications in hand, Smart Horizon becomes a vehicle enterprise parallel to Chery in terms of regulatory status, allowing for separate financial accounting and asset evaluation, enabling the capital market to assign it an independent valuation. After all, according to Smart Horizon's plans, it will list independently in the future.

Second, this represents an upgrade in the cooperation model between Huawei and Chery. Among the many brands under Hongmeng Zhixing, Smart Horizon is the first to complete a full-chain independent separation of 'company entity, production capacity, equity, and management team.'

Core Executives of Smart Horizon

Chery is willing to transfer its factory and qualifications, while Huawei is willing to place Guo Rui, a core executive who previously served as Huawei Consumer Business Group's CMO for Greater China and Honor's Global CMO, into Smart Horizon's management. Both sides accept a structure where 'Chery is the majority shareholder, but Smart Horizon operates autonomously.' If this path succeeds, other brands under Hongmeng Zhixing will have a replicable template.

Furthermore, Chery itself has motives to promote Smart Horizon's independence.

For a long time, Smart Horizon's positioning within Chery's system has been somewhat delicate: it carries the group's expectations for high-endization, but when sales fluctuate significantly, it also causes noticeable disturbances in the consolidated financial statements. After independence, Smart Horizon, as an independent legal entity, will be accounted for separately. Chery will still consolidate it with an 85% stake, but Smart Horizon's operating results, asset quality, and listing expectations can be reviewed under clearer subject boundaries.

For Smart Horizon itself, independence means shortened decision-making chains, eliminating the need for layered approvals within Chery's vast system, enabling faster product iteration and channel construction.

03 The Hard Battle Has Just Begun

Independence does not mean Smart Horizon will now enjoy a smooth journey. Looking at the sales data, the picture is not optimistic.

Smart Horizon's sales in 2025 reached 90,500 units, a 56% year-on-year increase. However, from January to September 2026, cumulative sales were only 43,623 units, a 24.5% year-on-year decline, falling far short of the annual target of 300,000 to 350,000 units set at the beginning of the year.

Smart Horizon's Sales in the First Three Quarters of This Year

What's the issue? Lagging product iteration is one reason.

The main models, S7 and R7, have seen slow refresh cycles since their launch, with their product competitiveness gradually diluted amid frequent upgrades and price adjustments by competitors. In September 2026, Smart Horizon delivered 5,330 units across all models, with the V9 alone accounting for 4,280 units (about 80%).

Consumer perception of Smart Horizon has long been attached to Huawei or Chery, with 'Smart Horizon' as an independent brand lacking distinct recognition. AITO has captured the primary user mindshare of Hongmeng Zhixing by leveraging its first-mover advantage, leaving Smart Horizon at a disadvantage in terms of resources and attention within the same brand family.

After independence, these difficulties will not disappear automatically but may present themselves more acutely.

Channels are the first hurdle. Smart Horizon's independent channel construction is already underway. After the launch of Brand 2.0 in August 2025, construction began on Wuhan's first Smart Horizon exclusive user center; in June 2026, Guangzhou's independent store opened. Smart Horizon plans to establish 200 independent experience centers by the end of 2026, no longer sharing stores with AITO.

Smart Horizon's Independent Store

Building channels requires money and time, and whether Smart Horizon's current sales volume can support the break-even of independent channels remains a question.

Products are the second hurdle. Smart Horizon V9's annual production target of about 120,000 units set by suppliers is seen as a critical battle for the brand's turnaround. The V9 was launched in May, with strong initial order numbers, but deliveries had declined by September, falling far short of the annualized target of 120,000 units (about 10,000 units per month).

Whether a model's short-term popularity can translate into sustained sales is a dual test of Smart Horizon's product definition and channel capabilities. Moreover, the high-end MPV market already has established players like Tengshi D9 and Li Auto MEGA, requiring latecomers to offer sufficiently differentiated experiences to gain market share.

Around the time of the qualification announcement, Smart Horizon added two new models to its lineup: On September 28, the Smart Horizon RX was launched, positioned as a mid-to-large pure electric coupe SUV, priced between 259,800 and 389,800 yuan, with the first deliveries starting on October 25; on the same day, the new Smart Horizon R7 was launched, priced from 239,800 yuan, with the first deliveries beginning on October 27.

The RX is expected to drive sales volume, while the R7 represents an iteration of the main model. These two models, along with the V9, form Smart Horizon's product lineup for its first year of independence. However, whether these three models can simultaneously support sales volume remains to be tested by the market. Subsequent models like the R9 and R8 also need to find Smart Horizon's unique product language amid increasing technological homogenization within Huawei's ecosystem.

Smart Horizon RX

Survival logic is the most critical hurdle. In the past, Smart Horizon could rely on Chery's manufacturing support and Huawei's technological support. As an independent legal entity, it must now face supplier payment terms, factory operating costs, channel construction investments, and R&D amortization on its own.

Guo Rui's Huawei background and Zhao Changjiang's BYD channel experience complement each other, but whether this combination can deliver sales volume in the short term remains uncertain.

Smart Horizon obtaining independent qualifications is a noteworthy event. It marks Hongmeng Zhixing's transition from the 'technology-empowering automakers' 1.0 phase to the 'incubating independent automakers' 2.0 phase.

However, qualifications address identity issues, not survival issues. Whether an automaker is truly independent is not determined by what its tail label reads but by its ability to sell cars and generate profits without relying on parental company support. The public comment period ends on October 23, and Smart Horizon's coming-of-age ceremony has just begun.

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