Ad Feature： AITO is taking luxury to another level

Not too long ago, these motor show stands would have been full of the same old familiar brands. However, this is 2025, and at Europe's largest motor show, some of the most exciting new brands now come from the other side of the world. Brands like Aito, founded just four years ago in China, it has all the fresh thinking of a tech startup, backed up by a company called Ceres, which has been in the car building game for decades. But what's Aito all about? Well, that's what I'm here to find out. First up, the name Aito. It stands for adding intelligence to auto. Think digital brains mixed with human know-how. These are cars with seriously high IQs. Traditionally, we think of luxury cars as having sleek designs, posh materials, and high performance. But in today's world, that's pretty much standard. In Aito's world, luxury is also about intelligence, using tech to make life as seamless and hassle-free as possible. It's the reassurance of knowing that someone has thought of everything, like a concierge at a five-star hotel. Imagine lasers and radars scanning everything around you, suspension that adapts to the road, danger-sensing safety systems, and a high-bandwidth brain for maximum processing power. Let's start with this, Aito's flagship, the Aito 9. It's longer than a Range Rover, it's beautifully designed, and it's finished in this super cool midnight black and silver two-tone. It's kind of like the yin and yang of paintwork. Diamond-stitched Nappa leather, white ash wood trim, even a crystal twiddly knob and suede headliner. It looks and feels handmade and very, very expensive. So, there's no shortage of old-school luxury flair, but let's dig deeper into those new-school smart features, beginning here in the front, where the driver and passenger share this wall-to-wall mega display comprised of three individual screens. They're powered by a sophisticated operating system, and it's future-proof too, with over-the-air updates. And back here, you get this, a 32-inch retractable screen and projector system. It's like your own personal cinema. All you have to do, bring the popcorn. It's not all about giant screens. There's plenty of other luxury tech. Voice control in every seat. Purifying air conditioning. Ambient lighting with over 16 million colour combinations. Soft-close electric doors. UV-blocking windows, which are double-glazed for a superior sound system. And facial recognition, so it knows which driver profile to load. Up front, the ITO9 has a pair of 2.6 million pixel galaxy headlights, which, as well as being fully adaptive, also work as projectors. So, you can create a light show or project your very own drive-in movie. And then back here, we have starlight taillights, which you can personalise with different patterns, giving the car behind you something fun to watch. This model is the five-seat version, but you can go with seating for six, which adds a third row. And check out this boot space, with decking reminiscent of an old Italian speedboat, and this clever rail system, which allows you to attach chairs, tables and other accessories for the ultimate sports day viewing platform. There are two powertrain options, either full electric or range-extended EEV, where you get electric motors driving the wheels, a battery you can plug in, plus you get a 1.5-litre petrol engine acting as a generator. It's highly economical and gives you the EEV experience without the range anxiety. In the case of the ITO9, with a full battery and a full tank, it'll give you 1,239 kilometres of WLTP range. That's London to the Nürburgring and back, without having to fill up. Even in pure electric mode, the dual motors and 52 kWh battery deliver a cool 225 kilometres of range. And it doesn't stop there. There is one thing ITO believes to be the ultimate luxury – safety. This car is packed to the max with clever safety systems to keep you out of trouble and to protect you if the worst were to happen. The ITO9 is covered in sensors for its intelligent driving assistance system and adverse weather detection. We've got a full suite of cameras, ultrasonic radar, a 192 laser lidar and features like automatic emergency steering and braking, all working to keep you safe. This particular car features an intelligent chassis system. There's air suspension with all-aluminium construction and smart all-wheel drive, so it feels agile, confident and safe. Its body coordination system scans the road surface 30 times per second and the active suspension makes 100 adjustments per second, so it knows where the lumps and bumps are and it smooths them out as you get there. And there's even more than meets the eye. They use submarine-grade steel in the crash structures and the car also features the world's leading fully integrated die-cast rear body section. Translation? Bigger sections mean fewer parts mean more strength. And to prove that all this safety stuff isn't just talk, ITO staged a truck sandwich collision crash test. Thankfully, the trucks came off worse. The ITO9 sits at the top of ITO's four-car lineup, which begins with this, the ITO5, the baby of the range. Next up, the ITO7, the do-it-all SUV. Six seats, loads of space, competitively priced and chock full of tech. This is the one they think most buyers will go for. And this, the ITO8, the luxury family hauler. And when they say luxury, they aren't kidding. This is ITO's zero-gravity 2.0 seating. It is full-on first class in here. Luxury, intelligence, and a pinch of theatre, all backed up by some proper safety and some serious engineering. ITO may be new, but they're already drawing quite a crowd.