Several owners of the older Aito M7 crossovers went on a protest in front of a company’s dealership in Wuhan, China, blaming the company of being too hasty with its facelifts.
According to CarNewsChina, one of the protesters said that the customers who had pre-ordered an Aito M7 had to wait three to four months for the delivery. Two months later, the company simply refreshed the model for the next model year, introducing better trim options and sending the pre-facelift car prices plummeting.
As a result, the affected owners said they had only driven their new SUVs for a few months until the novelty wore off. Apparently, dealership reps aggravated the situation by promising everyone that Aito would wait at least a full year before updating the M7.
Adding insult to injury, the company failed to provide adequate aftermarket service to the buyers, one of the protester said. Compounded by the price plunge, the situation looks like a perfect storm for anyone who bought the hybrid crossover hoping to move on from it a few years later.
Aito revealed the M7 facelift on June 1, 2024. The previous refresh was carried out in September 2023. It is understandable that owners may feel tricked when they buy a brand-new car only for it to lose that status in a few months, but the issue is that the automaker currently contends with a massive backorder. Aito sold over 70,000 M7 units in the first quarter of 2024, with the SUV topping all popularity charts in China, so keeping up with the demand suddenly became difficult.