BAIC BluePark is now pinning its hopes for a turnaround on the Arcfox α-S model under its Arcfox brand.

(Graphic by CnEVPost)

BAIC BluePark, the new energy vehicle (NEV) brand of BAIC, said Wednesday that its subsidiary Beijing Electric Vehicle (BJEV) sold 2,471 units in November.

That was up 41 percent from 1,754 units in the same month last year and essentially unchanged from the 2,485 units sold in October.

From January to November, BJEV sales were 21,929 units, down about 12 percent year-on-year.

As once the No. 1 local Chinese NEV brand in terms of sales, BAIC Blue Park had a glorious past.

It was the No. 1 pure electric vehicle seller in China for seven consecutive years from 2013-2019, with 2017 sales even surpassing Tesla as the global pure electric vehicle sales champion.

However, BAIC BluePark's business situation has continued to deteriorate in recent years. It sold 150,600 units in 2019 but the figure plummeted to 25,914 units in 2020.

BAIC BluePark is now pinning its hopes for a turnaround on its Arcfox-branded Arcfox α-S model.

Arcfox unveiled the Arcfox α-S on April 17, with a starting price of RMB 251,900 ($38,600).

One of the most interesting features is the version equipped with Huawei's full-stack smart car solution "Huawei Inside", which is also the first time Huawei's technology has appeared on a mass-production model.

Shanghai Securities News quoted BAIC BluePark sources as saying late last month that small-scale deliveries of the Arcfox α-S equipped with Huawei Inside would begin by the end of December.

This appears to be a month behind the previous plan, as BAIC BluePark's sources said in Shanghai Securities News on October 28 that small-scale deliveries of the model would begin in November.

The new car, a production version of the car, is more complete than the engineering version from April, the Shanghai Securities News report said.

The Arcfox α-S model equipped with "Huawei Inside" is the first high-end pure-electric production sedan equipped with Huawei's intelligent cockpit-HarmonyOS, and there are already more than 25 in-car applications, according to the report.

The production version has entered the generalized road testing phase and will continue to conduct large-scale tests around the assisted driving system and HarmonyOS system in the future, the report said.

Arcfox α-S with 'Huawei Inside' reportedly to start small-scale deliveries by end of next month