5 Minutes
Gold trim can ruin a car in seconds. Here, it does the opposite.
Huawei and JAC are leaning hard into the uppermost end of China’s luxury car market with a new special edition of their flagship sedan, the Maextro S800 Grand Design. It is extravagant, unapologetic, and clearly aimed at buyers who want the theatre of a Rolls Royce without stepping into that price bracket. Even with its lavish upgrades, this new version is expected to cost around €255,000, which still puts it far below a Rolls Royce Ghost at roughly €647,000.
The visual treatment is where the Grand Design makes its first statement. Gold accents appear on the hood ornament, the disc style wheels, the decorative body stripes, the Maextro script, and the rear badging. The paintwork also gets a more ceremonial look, pairing a deep blue green tone with light silver for a finish that feels formal, almost yacht inspired, rather than merely flashy.
And size is part of the pitch. The sedan stretches to 5,480 mm with a long 3,370 mm wheelbase, giving it the kind of road presence expected in the chauffeur driven class. This is not a sports saloon trying to look expensive. It is a full scale flagship built around rear seat comfort, and it sticks to a four seat layout to underline that mission.
The cabin has not been shown in this specification yet, but the standard S800 already gives a strong clue about what to expect. That means a triple screen dashboard, zero gravity rear seats, a retractable laser projection screen, and a 43 speaker Huawei audio system. If the exterior is any indication, the Grand Design will likely add gold detailing inside as well, pushing the atmosphere even closer to private lounge than conventional luxury sedan.
More than a styling exercise
This is where the story gets more interesting. The Grand Design is not just a cosmetic package wrapped around an existing car. It also brings new hardware for Huawei’s latest driver assistance tech. A roof mounted 896 line LiDAR unit joins the package, along with a new camera integrated into the B pillar. Together, those upgrades point to the arrival of Huawei’s newer Qiankun ADS 5.0 system, replacing the ADS 4.1 setup used in current versions of the S800.
In other words, Maextro is not simply selling prestige. It is selling prestige with a heavy dose of next generation automation and sensor tech, which is increasingly becoming the real battleground in China’s premium car market.
Buyers will have two very different powertrain routes. The battery electric version uses dual motor all wheel drive with 523 hp and a 97 kWh battery pack. For those not ready to go fully electric, the range extended variant combines a turbocharged 1.5 litre engine with three electric motors and a smaller 63 kWh battery. That gives the S800 Grand Design a wider appeal, especially in a market where high end buyers often want both electric refinement and long distance flexibility.
The launch is expected in China in June, with final pricing to be confirmed closer to the start of deliveries. Earlier comments from Huawei executive Richard Yu suggest the car will land near the ¥2 million mark, which converts to about €255,000 at current exchange rates. That is a major jump over the standard Maextro S800, which starts at around €90,000, but the comparison Maextro wants buyers to make is not with conventional executive sedans. It is with ultra luxury icons.
And that is where the strategy starts to make sense. The standard S800 has already become China’s best selling car in the segment above ¥700,000, holding that position for eight straight months. Deliveries have already passed 17,000 units, a strong signal that domestic buyers are increasingly willing to spend serious money on homegrown luxury cars if the design, technology, and status feel convincing enough.
The Grand Design pushes that idea further. It is bolder, richer, and more deliberate about who it wants to challenge. Rolls Royce may still own the old world image. But in China’s fast moving luxury market, Maextro is making a persuasive case that the new playbook looks very different.
Comments
coinpilot
Is this really on par with Rolls? The hardware sounds cutting edge, but brand cachet and resale matter. Will buyers outside China bite, or is it just local flex?
v8rider
Wow, gold everywhere? kinda love it, looks like yacht meets royal parade lol. If the tech is legit, that LiDAR + rear lounge sounds wild. Price still steep tho
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