It's China's Answer to a Rolls-Royce — and It's Stuffed With Gadgets — WSJ

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By Peter LandersBEIJING — At an imposing 18 feet long, the Maextro S800 sedan gives off Rolls-Royce vibes with its two-tone color scheme and abundant soft leather.But the Maextro isn't the product of craftsmen in the English countryside. The battery-powered car is manufactured with the help of more than 1,000 robots in Hefei, China, and runs on technology from the country's Huawei, best known as a maker of mass-market phones.It is the pre-eminent symbol of Chinese automakers' push to dominate the top end of the car market, after they seized the global lead in affordable electric vehicles. Chinese companies know they don't have the heritage of a Mercedes or a Rolls-Royce. Their strategy is to stuff their vehicles with so much gadgetry that owners forget their dreams of European luxury.The Maextro parks by itself and features a 40-inch screen with around 40 speakers for the entertainment of the VIPs stretching their legs in the back seat. With all those extras, the car costs the equivalent of about $173,000, and a version without the big screen can be had for as little as $104,000, half the price of a starter Mercedes-Maybach sedan and a quarter of what a basic Rolls-Royce costs in the U.S."This is a maxed-out car for a very affordable price," said Thomas Luk, a strategy consultant and car expert previously with McKinsey who wasn't involved in the Maextro's development. The Maextro, he said, "is definitely challenging the Maybach and the 7-series BMW."While such comparisons might seem heretical, Chinese carmakers have shown an ability to surprise. As recently as 2020, they exported about a million vehicles worldwide. Last year, the figure topped seven million, adding to China's lead as the No. 1 car exporter in the world.The Maextro is currently sold only in China, but Huawei hopes to bring it overseas eventually. Huawei products are effectively banned in the U.S. under sanctions dating to the first Trump administration, so even if the U.S. eases its curbs on Chinese EVs, Americans aren't likely to find a Maextro dealer anytime soon.Huawei, a conglomerate that makes semiconductors, consumer electronics and much else, brings a smartphone-inspired business model to the car business. Its software runs the Maextro's autonomous driving and entertainment systems. Hefei-based JAC Motors, which is partly owned by Volkswagen and is better known for bargain models, b...

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