Huawei and JAC don’t mess around.
They just dropped the official images for the Maextro S803 Grand Design, their attempt to conquer the high-end luxury sedan market. June is the launch. Or rather, the public debut. Until then, we stare at pixels and guess prices. The license plate in the photos hints it’s coming to China as the “Collector’s Edition”. That’s marketing code for “this costs an arm and a leg.”
Looks matter. Obviously.
It’s got a two-tone coat. “Far Mountain Cyan” on top. White below. Then came the gold. Lots of it. They wanted to scream Grand Design. So they added a gold hood ornament. A gold strip running straight down the front hood. Gold logos on the fenders. Gold on the C-pillars. The wheels. Even the rear tailgate gets the metallic treatment. It’s ostentatious. Some might call it tacky.
But you aren’t buying this for the curb appeal alone.
Luxury isn’t just about silence, it’s about presence.
The dimensions are massive. 5,480 mm long. 2,000 mm wide. Roughly 1,540 mm tall. A 3,370 mm wheelbase gives the backseat plenty of legroom. It’s a four-seater. No third row here. This is for the driver and their three most important guests. Everyone else stays home.
Technology wise? It’s packing a serious punch. An 896-line LiDar system sits on the roof like a dome of judgment. Cameras on the B-pillars confirm what we expected. It runs on Huawei’s Qiankun ADS 50.0 driving assist. The tires? Arisun. The wheels have a “pie-style” design. Quirky, right? Maybe. But it works for the vibe.
Power is the real conversation starter.
You get choices.
- EREV Version: A 1.5T gas engine acts as a generator. It pushes three motors. Together they deliver up to 237 kW each on the rear wheels, with 160 kW on the front. The range is decent. 276 km on pure electricity under WLTC rules. Enough for a commute. Not enough to ignore a charging station entirely.
- BEV Version: Pure electric. Huawei’s dual-motor setup. Outputs of 160 kW and 230 kW. No gas tank. No anxiety about refueling. Just batteries and torque.
Price is where the dream meets reality. Or the dream hits the pavement.
Rumors put it between $200,000 and $300,00 USD. That is steep. Steeper than most European sedans in this segment. Would you spend half a million on gold trim and autonomous driving features?
Some would. Others wouldn’t even blink. The S800 Grand Design isn’t for everyone. It’s for the ones who think “standard luxury” isn’t enough.
