China has launched a joint investigation into the Maextro V800 after three cars suffered breaks in the brake-pedal support during testing by automotive platform Dongchedi. The platform bought six new V800s and, from October 1 to 4, repeatedly braked three of them from 100 km/h to a stop. It reported that all three supports broke when the pedals were fully depressed, with similar damage patterns. The third car recorded a peak pedal force of 1,612 newtons. The remaining three vehicles were sealed as evidence. Maextro, also known as Zunjie, is a luxury brand made by JAC using Huawei technology; the V800 launched on August 5 and deliveries began in September.
Maextro said its brake system exceeds applicable national and industry standards and that it had received no reports of such failures in normal use. A state-recognized testing organization separately said the component met the cited industry standard in static load tests. However, two vehicle-structure engineers cited by Beijing News questioned whether those tests replicated the sudden force and driving dynamics of hard braking, and whether the broken support itself was examined. Maextro described Dongchedi’s test as extreme and non-standard, but announced a free, voluntary upgrade for delivered vehicles, with a plan expected by the end of October and work scheduled for November.
On October 15, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the central cyberspace regulator and the State Administration for Market Regulation formed an investigation team. Maextro said it would fully cooperate. The V800 is priced at 766,000, 866,000 and 1,016,000 yuan. After the test video circulated, JAC shares hit their daily limit down on October 8 and 9, closing at 22.75 yuan; the report put the resulting market-cap decline at about 11.7 billion yuan. Investigators’ conclusions are pending.