JAC Motors Shares Hit Limit Down After Luxury MPV Brake-Failure Claim

Caption: Dongchedi claimed the brake-pedal brackets on all three vehicles broke during tests.

Shares of JAC Motors plunged by the daily limit today after a test video claimed that brake-pedal brackets broke on three Maextro V800 luxury MPVs during repeated emergency braking tests, sending the issue to the top of Chinese social media trends.

On the first trading day after China's National Day holiday, JAC Motors fell 10.01 percent to 24.72 yuan (US$3.69) by the midday close, with turnover exceeding 3.5 billion yuan.

The selloff came as topics including "Maextro V800 brake-pedal bracket breaks" surged on Weibo.

Chinese automotive platform Dongchedi said it tested three brand-new V800s by repeatedly braking from 100 km/h to zero. According to its video, the brake-pedal brackets on all three vehicles broke during the second to fourth hard stop. Dongchedi said the pedal became unusable after the failure, forcing the vehicles to rely on emergency braking through the parking system.

The claims have not yet been independently verified, and neither JAC Motors nor Maextro had released a formal investigation result as of this afternoon.

A customer-service adviser for Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance told Chinese media Dushi Kuaibao that vehicles undergo relevant testing before sale and that the results published by Dongchedi would need to be checked by the company.

The video triggered sharply divided reactions online. Some users called for JAC to investigate the V800, while others questioned whether repeated high-intensity emergency braking reflected normal road use or standard test conditions.

The V800 is an ultra-luxury large MPV under Maextro, a premium brand jointly developed by JAC and Huawei. The model went on sale in August with prices ranging from 766,000 yuan to 1.016 million yuan. JAC has positioned Maextro as a key part of its push into the high-end new-energy vehicle market.

The controversy comes after several days of gains in JAC's shares before the holiday. On September 30, the company disclosed abnormal share-price movements after its stock posted cumulative gains of more than 20 percent over three trading days. At the time, JAC said media reports about possible cooperation with Huawei and Stellantis reflected only preliminary discussions and that no binding agreement had been signed.