AITO M5, the first HarmonyOS vehicle Photo: VCG

The AITO M5, the first electric vehicle installed with Huawei's HarmonyOS and made by Chinese carmaker SERES, has started retail delivery to buyers.

Over the week, AITO held ceremonies in multiple locations, including Shanghai and Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, to mark the start of deliveries, according to the company and media reports. 

The cars will be delivered in 36 cities and to more than 100 user centers, while more than 500 experience centers and 150 sales and service outlets have been laid out.

The AITO M5 is the first vehicle to feature the HarmonyOS Smart Cockpit, while the HarmonyOS bridges information gaps among different devices. Vehicles that have this feature can transition from data silos to super terminals that seamlessly communicate among mobile phones, smart homes and smart wearable devices.

The model is being promoted by a Huawei app that is specifically dedicated for smart car scenarios, and users can download third-party apps through app stores and enjoy a variety of apps from the open ecosystem supported by HarmonyOS. 

Analysts said that Huawei's move in the automobile business isn't able at present to buffer its decline in consumer electronics; however, Huawei has the potential to further expand into the sector as the auto industry transitions to integrate new-energy vehicles (NEVs) and smart vehicles. 

As the automobile industry shifts its focus to NEVs while integrating the production of NEVs with smart vehicles, the industry needs resources and technologies such as algorithms to support the formation of relevant smart systems with functions such as autopilot, tech analyst Xiang Ligang told the Global Times on Sunday.  

Xiang noted that with rapidly increasing domestic car production, Chinese carmakers have the capacity to come out with a variety of NEVs, while companies like Huawei can offer more professional resources in transforming NEVs into smart vehicles through technology support such as artificial intelligence, data storage and transformation. 

This first HarmonyOS vehicle was launched on December 23, 2021. Huawei said that the launch of the AITO M5 marks a historic transformation of cars from movement to an intelligent way of transportation and communication.