AITO is taking luxury to another level

These days, our everyday cars are packed with posh materials and more tech than Tony Stark’s suitcase. To make an impression on the world’s motorshow stands, you need to bring some seriously smart thinking, showstopping invention and new features – especially in the world of roadgoing luxury.

Enter AITO, one of China’s most talked-about car companies. Founded just four years ago, it has all the disruptive energy of a tech start-up – backed up by the automotive experience of mothership company SERES, which has been in the car building game for decades. But what’s AITO all about, and how is it changing how we think about luxury?

First up, the name. AITO. It stands for Adding Intelligence to Auto. Think digital brains mixed with human knowhow. These are cars with seriously high IQs. In AITO’s world, luxury is a fusion of traditional lavishness – think super-comfy seats, upmarket materials, eye-catching design – and also intelligence.

It’s about using tech to make life as seamless and hassle-free as possible. It’s knowing that someone – or perhaps even an AI assistant – has thought of everything. Like the concierge in a five-star hotel. At the Munich motorshow, AITO showcased this with its new lineup including the AITO 9, its Range Rover rivalling flagship.

Let’s start with the traditional lux. Outside it features celestial-inspired paint, twinkling like stars under the show-stand lights, and finished in two-tone midnight black and silver – think of it as the yin and yang of paintwork. Inside there’s diamond-stitched nappa leather, white ash wood trim, a suede headliner, and even a crystal control knob. It looks and feels handmade and expensive.

So there’s no shortage of old-school luxury flare, but what about the new stuff?

Inside you’ll find an Intelligent Cabin featuring a door-to-door display of three mega screens, powered by a sophisticated operating system and future-proofed with over the air updates. There’s multi-screen interaction too, so you can swipe content from one screen to another – for example, while sharing clips and videos.

In the back there’s an optional 32-inch retracting screen and projector, which lowers from the headlining to create your own backseat cinema. And with AITO’s zero gravity 2.0 seats you can fully recline while you watch. There’s a 25-speaker sound system to bring that movie-theatre experience into the car, and even a fridge to keep your drinks cool. This is first-class comfort.

The cinema theme is continued outside with the adaptive ‘galaxy headlights’. As well as their main job of lighting your way, the 2.6-million pixel units also work as projectors. So you can create lightshows and beam videos or lyrics, transforming any surface into a 75-inch screen to create your very own drive-in cinema, wherever you are. The light trickery continues with the ‘starlight taillights’, which you can personalize with different moving patterns, giving the cars behind something fun to watch.

There’s more. The voice control works for each individual passenger – ask it to lower your window, or change the temperature in your zone, and it knows where you’re sat and diligently obliges. The aircon has a filtration system. The windows are double-glazed for sound insulation, and they block harmful UV rays. And the ambient lighting has over 16 million colour combos. There’s even facial recognition so it knows whose driver profile to engage. Once you get in, you might never want to leave.

Except you might when you see what’s in the boot. The AITO 9 on the Munich showstand had a boot floor finished in wooden decking reminiscent of a classic Italian speedboat, and a clever system allowing you to attach pull-out seats and drinks cabinets – giving you the ultimate posh picnic platform.

So there’s plenty of ways to enjoy the high life. But there’s one thing AITO believes to be the ultimate luxury: safety. Its cars are packed to the max with clever safety systems to keep you out of trouble, and to protect you if the worst were to happen.

The AITO 9 is covered in sensors for its Intelligent Driving Assistance System, including a 192-laser LiDAR to scan the world around the car, ultrasonic radar, a full suite of cameras, and features like automatic emergency steering and braking. And adverse weather detection all working to keep you safe. 

Then there’s the safety hardware. The AITO 9 is available with an intelligent chassis system with air suspension (featuring all-aluminum construction). Its body coordination system scans the road surface 30 times per second and its active suspension makes 100 adjustments per second. So it knows what’s coming, and proactively smooths out lumps and bumps. It has smart all-wheel-drive too. So it feels agile, confident and safe.

They use submarine-grade steel in the crash structures, including the car world’s leading fully integrated die-cast rear body section. Translation: bigger sections mean fewer parts and more strength. And to prove that this safety stuff isn’t just talk, AITO staged a ‘truck sandwich collision’ crash test. Thankfully the trucks came off worse…

All AITO models feature two powertrain options: either fully electric or a range-extended EV – so you get electric motors driving the wheels, a battery you can plug in, plus a 1.5-litre petrol engine acting as a generator. It’s highly economical and gives you the EV experience without any of the range anxiety. And in the case of the AITO 9, with a full battery and fuel tank it’ll give you 1239km of WLTP range – that’s London to the Nurburgring and back without having to fill up. Even in pure electric mode, the dual motors and 52kwh battery deliver a cool 225km of range.

The AITO 9 sits at the top of a lineup featuring four models, starting with the AITO 5 – a midsize sports SUV and the baby of Aito’s line up. Next up, the AITO 7, the do-it-all, high-end family hauler – with six seats, loads of space, competitively pricing, and chock full of tech, it’s this the one AITO thinks most people would want. And the AITO 8, the SUV for families who love to travel in style.

So while it might be a new name, AITO is already making waves. Luxury, intelligence, and a pinch of theatre – all backed up by proper safety and some serious engineering. That’s how you take luxury into a new dimension.

For more information, visit Aito's website here.