Firmly holding the top spot in the 500,000-yuan price range, the legend of the AITO M9 continues.

By Wuliru September 2nd, 2025 106 views

Firmly holding the top spot in the 500,000-yuan price range, the legend of the AITO M9 continues.
At the 2025 Chengdu Auto Show, where many traditional luxury brands were absent, the AITO M9 undoubtedly became the representative of luxury vehicles. Meanwhile, Chinese brands like HarmonyOS Smart Driving emerged as the main force at the show, in sharp contrast to the "tightening belts" of joint venture brands, second-tier luxury brands, and ultra-luxury brands.
In fact, in the history of China's automotive industry, the AITO M9 has long been a milestone product.
Since its launch at the end of 2023, this model with an average price of over 500,000 yuan has delivered 226,000 units, maintaining the top position in the 500,000-yuan-plus segment for 17 months and capturing about 70% of the market share in the new energy segment within this price range.
Such achievements not only set a new industry record but also made the AITO M9 the first Chinese brand model to truly establish a foothold in the high-end market above 500,000 yuan.

What's even more remarkable is that after being on the market for a year and a half, the AITO M9 still maintains its popularity and market influence, continuing to hold a dominant position in the 500,000-yuan segment. This naturally raises the question: How does it manage to remain a "green tree" in the highly competitive red ocean? 01
The Unquestionable Dominator of the 500,000-yuan Market
Let's first take a look at the sales performance of the AITO M9.
In July, the AITO M9 achieved a monthly sales volume of 10,098 units, firmly holding the top spot among models priced over 500,000 yuan. For reference, within the same price range, the monthly sales of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and GLC were both under 8,000 units, the BMW X5 was around 5,000 units, the Ideal MEGA was 2,816 units, and the Land Cruiser was only 1,792 units. In comparison, the AITO M9 undoubtedly holds an absolute advantage.

What's even more remarkable is that as a flagship product that became popular upon its debut at the end of 2023, the AITO M9's popularity has not waned over time. After the launch of the 2025 model in March this year, it took only 25 days to deliver over 10,000 units, setting a new record for deliveries in the 500,000-yuan class, and its monthly sales have consistently exceeded 10,000 units, maintaining its phenomenon-level popularity in the 500,000-yuan market.
The significance of this achievement is beyond doubt. It's worth noting that achieving a monthly sales volume of over 10,000 units is already a hallmark of a best-selling model in the Chinese auto market. To do so in the 500,000-yuan price range is even more challenging and represents an unprecedented accomplishment.
So, what is the current state of the Chinese auto market for models priced over 500,000 yuan?

Firstly, the overall monthly sales volume of this market is only about 100,000 units, accounting for approximately 3% of the passenger car market share, making it a niche segment.
Secondly, for a long time, this market has been dominated by traditional luxury brands such as BBA and Porsche. As for Chinese brands, they initially focused on the market under 200,000 yuan. It was only in recent years, with the rise of the new energy wave, that they gradually ventured into the 300,000-400,000 yuan range. However, before the AITO M9, no Chinese brand had truly broken through the 500,000-yuan "ceiling". Although brands like HiPhi and UDiRAN have achieved some success, their overall scale was limited and did not pose a real threat to BBA.

It was not until the launch of the AITO M9 that this landscape was completely transformed.
On December 26, 2023, the AITO M9 was officially launched. Within just two hours of its launch, it received over 10,000 pre-orders, quickly becoming a "phenomenon-level" product in the 500,000-yuan market. After large-scale deliveries began in February of the following year, it became the top-selling model among new energy brands priced over 500,000 yuan in March and topped the sales chart for luxury cars over 500,000 yuan in April. By the end of the year, it had delivered over 150,000 units, surpassing BMW's 145,000 units and Mercedes-Benz's 127,000 units.
It is evident that the AITO M9 has become the undisputed absolute leader in the 500,000-yuan luxury market.

The Impregnable Defense of the Askui M9
So, why can the Askui M9 maintain its unbeatable position in the market? First and foremost, it's due to its "hard power" in terms of product and technology.
Take the 2025 model of the Askui M9 as an example. Its most significant upgrade lies in its active safety capabilities. It is equipped with high-precision solid-state lidar, capable of identifying negative obstacles such as ditches and steps, as well as suspended obstacles like fire hydrants, charging piles, and fan pipes, making parking more reassuring. It also features a forward 3D distributed 4D millimeter-wave radar, which can handle rainy, foggy, and dusty weather with ease, adding an extra layer of safety to driving. Moreover, it adopts a dual-redundancy design in core systems such as braking, steering, communication, perception, and power supply, doubling the safety. These configurations are currently unmatched in the same price range.

In addition, the core quality of the Askui M9 is not lacking. The mechanical performance of the Tuling platform has been widely recognized by users, and its leading intelligent attributes further ensure the vehicle's driving control and safety. At the same time, in terms of power performance, energy consumption, and intelligent cabin, it has a "generation gap" advantage over traditional fuel vehicles in the same price range.
Secondly, there is a positive cycle formed by word-of-mouth and residual value.
According to the "2025 First Half New Energy Vehicle Brand Health Research" by Jelanlu, the Askui M9 topped both the overall and mid-to-large SUV lists in the Net Promoter Score (NPS) with a high score of 85.2. At the same time, in the J.D. Power Appeal Index, the Askui M9 ranked first among luxury plug-in hybrid SUVs. This undoubtedly confirms the excellent user feedback of the M9.
In fact, from the feedback at the market terminal, many Askui M9 owners become "voluntary promoters" after purchasing the vehicle, spontaneously recommending it to people around them. This phenomenon was not common in traditional luxury brands in the past, indicating that the M9 has formed a strong user word-of-mouth effect.
Good word-of-mouth further translates into a solid residual value. In the first half of 2025, the Askui M9 ranked first among Chinese plug-in hybrid (including extended-range) models with a residual value of 85.23%, not only surpassing the 84.95% of the Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid but also leading many powerful models such as the Tank 700 New Energy, further proving its competitiveness in the luxury market above 500,000 yuan.

The new Aito M7 is now available for preorder starting from September 5th, and will officially hit the market on 2025 September 23rd.

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Firmly holding the top spot in the 500,000-yuan price range, the legend of the AITO M9 continues.