YICAI | Chinese Carmaker Seres to Take Full Control of Aito EV Brand From Huawei
(Yicai) Sept. 16 -- Seres Group is to take full operational control of the Aito electric vehicle brand the Chinese automaker co-developed with Huawei Technologies.
Under the new arrangement, Seres will lead product definition and design, marketing, retail sales, and services, while Huawei will continue to focus on technology support and ecosystem enablement, the pair announced in a joint statement yesterday, adding that the change will not affect the rights, benefits, or services of existing Aito car owners.
Launched in December 2021, Aito was Huawei's first automotive brand partnership under what became the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance. The brand has gone on to become a major premium EV player, reaching its one-millionth vehicle production milestone this January. With Seres now taking the lead, Aito is shifting away from Huawei's "full-process" car-making model toward a more traditional carmaker-led structure, while remaining part of HIMA.
Aito cars will now be displayed and sold in exclusive stores rather than alongside other HIMA brands, a source at Chongqing-based Seres told Yicai.
Seres had already been taking greater control of Aito's assets. In July 2024, it revealed plans to buy 919 Aito trademarks and 44 exterior design patents from Huawei and its affiliates for CNY2.5 billion (USD372.5 million). The following month, the carmaker signed a deal to invest in Huawei's Yinwang Intelligent Technology, acquiring a 10 percent stake in the intelligent auto solutions provider for CNY11.5 billion (USD1.7 billion). The transaction was completed in September 2025.
Aito's premium positioning in recent years has relied heavily on the "Huawei" name, drawing on Huawei's technology, sales channels, and brand endorsement, according to analysts. The change in leadership results in a lighter asset structure and broader cooperation scope for Huawei, while Seres assumes greater operational responsibility, they said, adding that this will test both.
Seres is already under financial. Revenue fell 7.9 percent to CNY57.5 billion in the first half of 2026 from a year earlier, and the company turned a net profit of CNY2.9 billion into a net loss of CNY1.7 billion in the period. The market attributed the loss mainly to the so-called "Huawei tax" -- the technology licensing, component costs, and sales channel fees the automaker pays to Huawei for their in-depth HIMA cooperation.
Seres' payments to Huawei fall into three categories: procurement costs for hardware, such as smart driving systems, intelligent cockpits, and powertrain components, a technology licensing fee equal to 2 percent of the vehicle retail price, and channel marketing service fees equal to 8 percent of the vehicle retail price.
Seres' payments to Huawei rose from CNY5.8 billion in 2022 to CNY7.2 billion in 2023, CNY42 billion in 2024, and CNY56.1 billion in 2025. Their share of Seres' total procurement more than doubled to 34 percent from 15 percent, while their share of revenue climbed to 34 percent from 17 percent in the period.
In the first half, expenses neared CNY13.9 billion, exceeding gross profit of CNY13.4 billion. Of that, sales costs were CNY8.5 billion, or over 63 percent of gross profit. Procurement of goods and services from Yinwang increased 75 percent to CNY9.8 billion from a year earlier.
Aito's monthly deliveries have been declining since May. Last month, 20,652 EVs were handed over, down 50 percent from the same period last year, with the total figure for the first eight months of the year down 14 percent to 201,902.
Aito's share of HIMA's total sales volume dropped to around 60 percent in June from 87 percent in 2024, as the alliance now includes four other brands -- Luxeed with Chery Automobile, Stelato with BAIC Group, Maextro with JAC Group, and Shangjie with SAIC Motor.