A Rolls-Royce costs upwards of $400,000 in the US. The Maextro S800, a new luxury sedan from Huawei and JAC Motors, starts at $104,000—and it’s already beating the Germans at their own game. In January 2026, the S800 outsold the BMW 7 Series and the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class combined in China’s luxury segment. That’s not a fluke. In December 2025, Maextro moved 4,376 units of the S800 in a single month, easily besting its European competition.The car itself is hard to ignore. At 18 feet long, it parks itself, opens its doors with a fist gesture detected by a camera, and lets rear passengers dim the windows with a swipe of their finger. The back seat reclines almost flat, delivers a massage, and looks up at a starry ceiling—a detail borrowed from Rolls-Royce. A 40-inch screen and around 40 speakers handle entertainment for whoever’s being chauffeured.
China’s luxury playbook: Bury them in gadgets
This is Huawei’s smartphone logic applied to a car. The company supplies the software—autonomous driving, infotainment, gesture controls—while JAC Motors handles assembly at a factory in Hefei staffed by over 1,000 robots. JAC’s role is largely invisible in the marketing, much like Apple doesn’t tell customers who builds its iPhones.The S800 is sold through Huawei’s HIMA stores—the same outlets that sell $3,000 triple-folding smartphones and $4,000 diamond-encrusted smartwatches. The brand positioning is deliberate: this isn’t just a car, it’s a Huawei product.
A $300,000 model is already in the works
Huawei isn’t stopping here. The company plans to launch SUV and MPV variants in 2026, giving Maextro a total of six models to compete across the luxury segment. And according to Huawei executive Richard Yu, a new ultra-premium model with a price tag of nearly $300,000 could debut as early as June.Cumulative sales of the S800 have crossed 16,000 units since its launch. It isn’t headed to the US anytime soon—Huawei remains under American sanctions. But in China, the message is already landing: heritage is nice, but a 40-speaker back seat with a massage function might be nicer.