Huawei-JAC Luxury Vehicle Hit by Safety Concerns After Brake Brackets Fail

A newly-launched luxury vehicle developed by Huawei and JAC Motors has come under fire after three vehicles suffered brake-pedal bracket failures during emergency-stop tests conducted by Chinese automotive platform Dongchedi. The tests, released Oct. 8, involved three new Maextro V800 vehicles performing repeated emergency braking from 100 kilometers per hour to a standstill on a closed course.

According to Dongchedi, the brake-pedal support brackets on all three vehicles reportedly fractured during the tests, with failures occurring between the second and fourth full-force stops. The testing platform said the fractures appeared in similar locations, raising questions over whether the failures reflected a broader design or manufacturing issue rather than an isolated defect.

Video of the tests rapidly circulated across Chinese social media, sending topics related to the V800 and its braking system to the top of trending lists.

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Manufacturer promises free upgrade

Maextro responded on the evening of Oct. 8, saying the vehicle’s braking system had undergone development and verification requirements exceeding Chinese national and industry standards. “Since the first batch of vehicles was delivered, there has been no failure involving breakage of the brake-pedal bracket base in actual user scenarios,” the company said.

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Maextro characterized Dongchedi’s procedure as a “non-standard extreme testing condition,” but nevertheless said it would redesign the component. “Even under non-standard extreme testing conditions, we still hope to provide users with a higher level of safety redundancy,” the company said, adding, “We will further optimize the design of this component and provide owners of already delivered vehicles with the option of a free upgrade.”

The company also said it would conduct a broader review of component design verification, testing limits, and production-quality management. Meanwhile, JAC told Chinese media that it was investigating the issue and conducting additional testing.

JAC shares fall sharply

The controversy quickly spilled into financial markets. JAC Motors shares fell by the daily 10 percent limit on Oct. 8, closing at 24.72 yuan. The decline erased approximately 6.2 billion yuan, or roughly $870 million, from the company’s market capitalization in a single trading session.

The stock came under further pressure on Oct. 9, extending losses as debate over the brake tests continued. The V800 is the first MPV under Maextro, the premium automotive brand developed through JAC’s partnership with Huawei’s Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance.

To add another wrinkle to the sage, Huawei is defending itself in a federal criminal trial in New York over longstanding U.S. allegations involving bank fraud, sanctions violations, and other misconduct. The trial began in September and has included testimony revisiting former Huawei finance chief Meng Wanzhou’s 2013 representations to HSBC about the company’s relationship with Skycom, a business that operated in Iran. Huawei has denied wrongdoing.

The model went on sale in August with prices ranging from approximately 766,000 yuan to 1.016 million yuan, positioning it at the upper end of China’s rapidly expanding domestic luxury-vehicle market.

Test video disappears from several platforms

The controversy took another turn on Oct. 9 when the primary Dongchedi test video became unavailable on several major Chinese platforms. Reporters found that the main video could no longer be viewed through Dongchedi’s Bilibili account, WeChat Channels, or the Weibo account of one of the testers. The WeChat page reportedly displayed a notice saying the video was unavailable because of a platform-rule violation following user complaints.

The footage had not disappeared everywhere, however. Dongchedi’s Douyin account continued to display the main test video on the morning of Oct. 9, along with separate videos analyzing the brake-pedal structure and comparing braking performance across vehicles.

Dongchedi had not publicly explained why the footage became unavailable on some platforms, and available evidence did not establish whether the videos were removed by Dongchedi itself or by individual platforms. However, netizens were quick to note that the removals came only after the test had gone viral, fueling speculation that the footage may have faced pressure or censorship because of the sensitivity surrounding Huawei-linked products.

The testing company has also pushed back against Maextro’s characterization of the procedure as an extreme test, arguing that braking from 100 kilometers per hour is a situation motorists could encounter during highway driving.