Avatr gives first look at flagship 9-series SUV, its deepest Huawei project yet, ahead of year-end debut

Avatr has given the public its first full look at the exterior of its upcoming flagship SUV, the 9-series, which the Changan-backed EV maker plans to bring to market before 2026 ends. Three teaser photos were published on Tuesday, but the company stopped short of confirming the model's official name, with president Chen Zhuo saying further details will be doled out step by step.

The pictures show a boxy two-tone body — silver above, white below — with a dot-matrix closed-off grille, split headlamps, a panoramic glass roof and semi-flush door handles. A LiDAR unit sits at the front edge of the roof and is expected to be Huawei Qiankun's 896-channel, dual-optical-path image-grade sensor, the same hardware that debuted on the Avatr 07L last month.

Vice president Yong Jun has described the large six-seater as the brand's first model developed 'in the true sense' together with Huawei, folding in the supplier's vehicle control, lighting, voice and intelligent driving systems. Earlier Avatr models mainly drew on Huawei's driver-assistance and cockpit offerings, so the 9-series is widely seen as a test of how deep the partnership can go. It will enter a crowded field of large six-seat flagships that includes the Aito M9, Li Auto L9, Denza N9 and IM LS9.

The stakes are considerable for Avatr, whose deliveries of 35,250 units through July — roughly 5,040 per month — trail well behind Nio and Xpeng, meaning a pricier flagship could lift its product mix and per-vehicle profit. The company, which refiled for a Hong Kong listing in late June, disclosed in its prospectus 25.63 billion yuan of 2025 revenue, a net loss narrowed to 3.49 billion yuan and a gross margin of 9.4%.