A few days ago, while scrolling through Moments, I came across the post “AION enters its tenth year, launching the all-new Ray series,” and I was still quietly marveling at how fast time flies—before I knew it, AION had joined the “decade-old automaker club.”
Cast your mind back ten years, and new car-making forces were sprouting up like bamboo shoots after rain; the number of those whose names could even be recalled once exceeded 60. Yet after ten years of waves washing away the sand, with subsidy rollbacks and price wars bombarding them in turn, a large number of brands proved fleeting.
After a decade-long “audition,” the new energy track was long no longer about “as long as you make cars, you can get a slice of the cake.” In the stock-market game of China’s auto market in 2026, the survival challenges brought by industry reshuffling have become increasingly prominent. In the first half of the year, the passenger vehicle retail market as a whole came under pressure, with the price war continuing, consumer demand diverging, and brand elimination accelerating.
Yet against the backdrop of an industry downturn, Hyper AION delivered a strikingly contrary report card: July terminal sales reached 34,987 units, up 31.74% year on year, achieving five consecutive months of positive year-on-year growth. Being able to keep rising against the trend amid fierce market competition, the gold content of this scorecard not only proves that the brand has successfully weathered the industry cycle, but also declares to the market: after ten years of waves washing away the sand, Hyper AION is running faster and faster.
The reason Hyper AION is running faster and faster is the inevitable result of multiple forces working together.
For many consumers, one of the biggest concerns when buying a new energy vehicle is the brand’s ability to survive. The reason many new forces fell was not that their cars were badly built, but that their foundations were not solid enough—sourcing supply chains externally, relying on bought technology, and renting channels, they could not hold up once the market turned.
But Hyper AION has given the most reassuring promise through a ten-year long run. As a new energy brand cultivated by a state-owned enterprise, AION has invested 45 billion yuan since 2017 to build a new energy intelligent connectivity industrial park, constructing a super-hundred-billion-level industrial chain covering core three electric systems, intelligent connectivity, and other fields.
The world’s first new energy lighthouse factory, a dedicated pure electric platform, magazine batteries, and Quark electric drive—core technologies have been implemented step by step, with full-stack self-research and self-production, no longer led by the supply chain.
In the ten years of waves washing away the sand, Hyper AION, relying on full-stack self-researched core technologies and a solid base of 2 million users, has calmly passed through multiple rounds of cyclical tests. This long-term steady operating foundation is precisely the greatest confidence for consumers to buy and use cars with peace of mind.
Of course, AION’s explosion in the individual market is also inseparable from its deep accumulation in the mobility sector earlier on. It was precisely the reputation for reliable quality and spacious comfort forged through years of experience in the mobility market that made AION a “benchmark” for individual consumers evaluating product strength; this “visible” durability won the brand an excellent mass foundation.
State-owned background + independent technology + verification by 2 million users—these three trump cards stacked together form the foundation for Hyper AION’s strong market performance.
On the basis of trust, Hyper AION, relying on a series of systemic actions such as BU system reform and dual-brand renewal, shifted from “building cars with an engineer’s mindset” to “building cars while standing beside users.”
In the first half of 2026, the proportion of Hyper AION’s C-end users had jumped to 81%, and its main models fully switched to products aimed at private families and young users. This means the brand’s growth engine has completed its switch and truly possesses the underlying resilience for self-generated growth and resistance to cyclical fluctuations.
Among them, the key roles were played by the AION i60 and N60, which brought high-level technology down to the mainstream price band.
The i60 is equipped with GAC’s 200,000-yuan-class Xingyuan range-extender technology, with monthly sales steadily exceeding 10,000; it sold 11,186 units in July, firmly ranking among the top in A-segment dual-power SUV sales. It does not stand out through one exaggerated parameter, but through the comprehensive account of what family users actually use every day.
The N60 is even tougher—priced in the 100,000-yuan class, with standard lidar + WeRide L4-level homologous intelligent driving algorithms, it took first place in sales among 100,000-150,000-yuan pure electric lidar SUVs, with users aged 25-30 accounting for nearly 80%.
The two hit models not only consolidated the brand’s growth foundation, but also proved the strong appeal of “a good car for the people” in the C-end market.
After securing its footing in the national family market, AION launched a “new entrepreneurship” in the brand’s tenth year—not only to build good cars for the people, but also to build cars that young people truly love.
On July 28, AION launched the all-new Ray series, with the first model, Ray 7, ready to go. Positioned as a mid-to-large super pure electric sports sedan, this model is named “Ray (light),” symbolizing young people’s attitude toward life of “being free, immediate, and vivid”; its low-slung wide-body styling and illuminated logo precisely target young users’ emotional value.
A 5-meter-class low-slung wide-body sports sedan, the world’s first chip-level drive-control integrated architecture, CATL battery + magazine safety technology, and L4 homologous algorithm lidar intelligent driving—these four “super” configurations are practically scratching the itch in the hearts of young people waiting on the sidelines with cash in hand.
The appearance of the Ray series resolves a common industry pain point and lets everyone know that youthfulness ≠ reduced specs. AION truly makes high-level intelligence and ultimate safety no longer limited by price. Relying on the scale effect of full-stack self-research, it drives down the cost of high-level technology; what young people get is not a “castrated version,” but leapfrog configurations.
Standing tall through the tides, ten years toward the new. Hyper AION’s countertrend rise in 2026 is by no means a short-term marketing frenzy, but the concentrated realization of years of technological accumulation and the success of its brand strategy path. It also proves that what can truly cross cycles has never been the speed on the风口, but the long-term steady operating foundation. In the second half of new energy, Hyper AION has great prospects!
