Huawei hopes to sell cars to make up for the decline in profits from its smartphone business, and now it seems that this strategy is starting to pay off.

As of 24:00 on April 22, orders for the Seres SF5, the first new energy model sold by Huawei, have exceeded 3,000 two days after the start of the pre-order, according to data released by Seres on Friday.

On Tuesday, at Huawei's global flagship store on Nanjing Road in Shanghai, Richard Yu, Huawei's managing director and CEO of its consumer business, announced that the technology giant would start selling cars in its flagship stores.

After being repeatedly sanctioned by the United States, Huawei's cell phone business has suffered, and selling cars can compensate for the decline in profits caused by the impact on sales of the phone business, Yu said.

Huawei has more than 5,000 high-end experience stores, far more than BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla and the new car makers, Yu said.

"It's a huge advantage for us, covering every important city in China," he said.

The first model to go on sale in Huawei's channel is the Seres SF5, which will enter Huawei's stores and flagship stores and be sold under the Huawei Zhixuan brand, Yu said.

The Seres SF5 is a hybrid vehicle with extended-range technology and is available in two versions, with the 4WD version priced at RMB 246,800（$38,000） and the 2WD version priced at RMB 216,800.

The car became available for pre-order online and offline from April 21, through Huawei experience stores, Huawei Mall, Seres experience centers, and Seres official App.

Although the car is not built by Huawei, its electric drive, on-board system, and audio system are all provided by Huawei.

Its HiCar all-scene intelligent connectivity system, developed based on HarmonyOS, can support a variety of refined scenarios and be controlled through multi-scene voice interaction.

It has a combined power of 405kW, a maximum torque of 820 N-m and a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 4.7s, comparable to a performance car.

It has an electric-only NEDC range of 180km, and it offers an NEDC range of 1,000km on a full fuel and full charge.

Huawei officially starts selling cars in flagship stores, says it can make up for lost profits in phone business