(Yicai Global) June 15 -- Aito, a brand of Huawei Technologies’ car manufacturing partner Sokon Automobile, reportedly said data from its vehicles on show at a Huawei phone store in northern China that caught fire this week claiming the lives of two people was normal before the blaze.

None of the data from the Aito M5 vehicles on display in the store showed any abnormality following analysis, Aito said yesterday, according to a Securities Times report. The local fire department is still investigating the cause of the June 13 fire, it added.

Videos posted online showed a plume of dark smoke rising high above the store in Ordos in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the burned frame of an Aito M5 in the store. The blaze claimed two victims, both of whom died from carbon monoxide poisoning, local police said yesterday.

Shenzhen-based Huawei also said yesterday that after analyzing data none of the cars at the store showed any anomaly, according to other media reports.

Shares of Sokon Industry Group [SHA: 601127] dipped 0.4 percent today to end at CNY66.74 (USD9.94) apiece, after dropping 2.9 percent yesterday amid gains for other Chinese auto stocks.

The Aito M5, a sports utility vehicle, is the first model that Huawei has released in cooperation with Chongqing-based Sokon Auto. The cars are equipped with a smart cockpit powered by Huawei’s own HarmonyOS operating system.

Deliveries of the vehicle began in March, with more than 5,000 handed over last month. That compares with about 10,000 a month each for Chinese electric vehicle startups such as Nio and Li Auto.

Seres, the EV unit of Sokon Auto, will soon launch a new electric SUV model, the M7. Next month, Huawei will also release HarmonyOS 3.0.

Editor: Futura Costaglione