SAIC Motor's Roewe brand opened pre-sales for the Jiayue 07 on September 21, positioning the family SUV as an "AI-native" vehicle that brings features normally found in 250,000-300,000 yuan (about $35,200-42,300) models down to the 150,000 yuan (about $21,100) segment. The launch event focused on scenario-based demonstrations rather than traditional hardware specs, according to Sina Auto.
The Jiayue 07 is the second model in what SAIC calls its "double 07" strategy, following the MG07, which reportedly received more than 10,000 orders in 1 minute 57 seconds. SAIC executives said orders for the Jiayue 07 began flowing in shortly after the price announcement, signaling strong early demand.
How SAIC keeps costs down
SAIC Passenger Vehicle general manager Lu Xiao explained that the company can offer such aggressive pricing through three pillars: integrated supply-chain management, early collaboration with suppliers, and economies of scale from group-wide resource sharing. He noted that the "volume" comes not from a single model but from the entire SAIC group, which includes component makers Huayu and Yanfeng, as well as battery startup QingTao, in which SAIC has invested.
Lu also highlighted the global scale of MG, SAIC's overseas brand, as a cost advantage. He said SAIC Passenger Vehicle expects to sell more than one million vehicles this year, with overseas sales approaching 800,000 units and a target of one million overseas sales next year.
AI as a strategic bet
The Jiayue 07's key differentiator is its cockpit assistant powered by ByteDance's Doubao large language model, integrated with SAIC's 3.0 electronic architecture. Zhang Liang, deputy general manager of SAIC Passenger Vehicle, said the project, codenamed DNA (Doubao Native Auto), required merging teams from the automaker and ByteDance to jointly define and develop the product.
Zhang said the AI assistant can recognize who is speaking, decide when to intervene, and understand natural language even if the user's phrasing is disorganized. He described the development as a "double helix" where vehicle hardware and software intelligence are interconnected, with four teams—product, R&D, ByteDance's consumer products, and Volcano Engine's AI—initially clashing before forming a unified project group.
Qian Yang, head of Roewe's brand division, defended the pricing strategy, saying that China's mainstream family car price point has remained around 150,000 yuan for over two decades. "Technology that stays on a pedestal has limited value," he said, arguing that AI should reach more people. He acknowledged that future premium models will need to justify their prices through tangible value rather than AI alone.
Qian also outlined two barriers to competition: understanding vehicle engineering at a deep level and making large models truly comprehend vehicle capabilities. He said the combination of a strong electronic architecture, complete vehicle engineering, and a capable AI partner is difficult to replicate.
