A Chinese Maserati? Huawei-backed EV firm nears pact with Italian marque, sources say

Chinese luxury electric vehicle (EV) brand Maextro is moving closer to a tie-up with Italian marque Maserati, which would result in co-developed models intended to challenge the likes of BMW and Mercedes-Benz globally, according to industry sources.

Maextro, backed by technology giant Huawei Technologies, aimed to enlist Maserati’s design capabilities, styling and brand awareness to develop electric cars that could woo wealthy consumers, said two sources with knowledge of the matter.

The partners expected to mass-produce a new model by late 2027, which would be sold both in mainland China and abroad, with deliveries outside the mainland carrying Maserati badges, they added. Netherlands-based car giant Stellantis owns Maserati.

The expected deal added to evidence that international carmakers were keen on leveraging China’s EV technology, analysts said.

Maextro’s current cars – some of the most expensive on the market in China – are jointly developed by Huawei and state-owned carmaker JAC Group, which assembles the vehicles. Huawei, through its Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, supplies technology for smart driving and digital cockpits.

“Carmakers and supply-chain vendors worldwide are still looking to marry international brands with Chinese production to make and sell more electric cars,” said Phate Zhang, founder of Shanghai-based industry data ­provider CnEVPost. “Petrol cars will see a further loss of market share in both China and abroad.”

With Chinese assemblers and supply-chain vendors at the vanguard of EV technology and production, international names such as Volkswagen and Hyundai have already heavily invested in mainland-based research and development facilities to vie for bigger market share.

Leading Chinese EV makers including BYD, Geely, Leapmotor and Nio have been striving to move up the value chain through the rapid adoption of technological advances, even as they contend with suppressed consumer demand in the world’s largest automotive market.

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In October, a total of 1.64 million petrol and electric cars were handed over to customers on the mainland, down 27.1 per cent year on year, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association.

For the first 10 months of this year, domestic car deliveries fell 22.3 per cent from a year earlier to just under 16 million units.

Maextro faced a safety incident last month after ByteDance-owned car-information platform Dongchedi released a video showing that brake-pedal brackets snapped on all three Maextro V800 multipurpose vehicles used in a test of emergency braking from 100km/h.

Three state authorities including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) set up a joint investigation team in mid-October to verify facts regarding the incident.