After years of driving a Mercedes-Benz and a BMW, Li Maozai made a choice that surprised even himself: He bought a Chinese luxury car.
Mr. Li, a partner at a law firm in the southern Chinese city of Nanchang, chose the Maextro S800, an 18-foot sedan built by Huawei and JAC Motors, for its sleek lines, elegant design and high-tech features that his German cars couldn’t match. At $140,000, it wasn’t cheap, but it was much less expensive than European luxury vehicles.
“This car changed our old belief that only BMW, Benz and Audi are luxury cars,” Mr. Li said in an interview.
Powered by devotees like Mr. Li, the Maextro has rapidly become China’s best-selling luxury car, outpacing Western rivals. Huawei said one out of every three luxury cars sold in China in April was a Maextro. It has come to embody the supercharged rise of Chinese brands across luxury retail — from automobiles to personal goods and hospitality — steadily squeezing out once-dominant European labels.
Even as the world’s second-largest economy contends with a property crisis and sluggish consumer spending, Chinese shoppers are flocking to Made-in-China luxury brands, drawn by more reasonable prices, cutting-edge technology and a cultural sensibility finely tuned to local tastes. The shifting sensibilities have unfolded alongside a rising nationalism and a deepening pride in the country’s economic ascent in recent decades.
