Ferrari challenged Luxeed to name the designer behind its new RX. The SUV’s styling borrows heavily from Ferrari’s Purosangue playbook. It starts at $44,550, undercutting many Western performance EVs. Earlier this year, China’s Luxeed brand made a claim it didn’t expect to have to back up, announcing that the RX, its answer to the Xiaomi YU7, had been penned by a former Ferrari designer. Ferrari’s Chinese arm read that and asked the obvious follow-up question, which was, fine, what’s his name? Luxeed has supplied one, and while it was at it, the company also put a starting price on the electric SUV. The name came from Zhao Changjiang, executive director and executive vice president of Luxeed, in a Weibo post rounding up the brand’s latest progress. The designer is Werner Gruber, and the resume holds up. He spent time at Ferrari and worked on the LaFerrari, the FXX-K, and the Portofino, which is a strong set of credits. While the RX certainly has plenty of similarities to other performance SUVs like Ferrari’s own Purosangue and the Xiaomi YU7, there’s no denying it looks nice. Read: China Built A 585-HP EV That Looks Like A Ferrari And Sounds Like A Lexus Luxeed was created through a partnership between Chery and Huawei, and pre-sales of the RX kicked off in China earlier this week. Prices start at 299,800 yuan ($44,550), making it more expensive than the YU7, which starts at 253,500 yuan ($37,700), yet compared with the prices we pay for high-performance electric SUVs in the West, the RX remains relatively cheap. Several versions are available, provided with 81.1 kWh, 100.25 kWh, and 100.42 kWh battery packs. Entry-level models feature a single rear-mounted electric motor producing 371 hp, while power-hungry buyers can also order the RX with dual motors producing 586 hp and all-wheel drive. A Chassis From AMG’s Former Boss It’s not just impressive performance that could win over buyers. The RX also comes equipped with 38 sensors, including four LiDARs, enabling autonomous driving between addresses. Importantly, the system officially remains at Level 2, so drivers will need to remain attentive and ready to take over control at a moment’s notice. As it turns out, Gruber isn’t the only European industry veteran to have a hand in bringing the RX to life. In the same social media post, Zhao said that former Aston Martin chief executive and ex-AMG boss Tobias Moers tuned the chassis in a new role as chief dynamic performance advisor for the Luxeed brand, and added that former BMW engineers have joined the effort as well. Source:
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