With the entry of state-owned capital and the change of controlling rights, Seres plans to spin off Landian Automobile, and its ambitions go beyond AITO.
On February 9, Seres (601127.SH) issued an "Announcement on Signing a Cooperation Agreement", detailing the "Cooperation Agreement" signed by the company with the People's Government of Shapingba District, Chongqing (hereinafter referred to as the "Shapingba District Government") on February 8, 2026.
According to the "Cooperation Agreement", Seres will contribute capital in the form of the relevant existing assets of Landian Automobile to establish a target company (name to be determined, hereinafter referred to as the "Target Company"); the Shapingba District Government will form or introduce a limited partnership (or fund), and jointly with other investors and the management team, increase the capital of the Target Company in cash.
Seres stated in the announcement that the purpose of this spin - off of existing assets is to optimize the company's asset structure, which is in line with the company's overall strategic development direction and conducive to the long - term and stable development of the enterprise.
Some market views believe that "optimizing the company's asset structure" is more about concentrating efforts on developing the Wenjie brand.
In response, a reporter from Time Weekly verified this with Seres. The relevant personnel responded, "All matters shall be subject to the announcement, and there is no more information to disclose for the time being."
He Fang, the dean of the China Automotive Research Institute, said in an interview with a reporter from Time Weekly that Seres' spin - off of the relevant existing assets of Landian Automobile can be regarded as an "active burden - reduction" and "resource reorganization". The core purpose is to focus more on developing core high - end businesses and incubate potential future business opportunities in a new model.
On February 9, Seres closed at 110.98 yuan per share, up 2.43%, with a market value of 193.34 billion yuan.
State - owned capital takes control, Seres becomes a minority shareholder
According to the "Cooperation Agreement", after all parties complete their capital contributions, the Shapingba District Government will hold approximately 33.5% of the shares, other investors will hold approximately 18.5%, and Seres and the entities designated by the company will hold approximately 32% in total.
After the completion of this capital increase, the Shapingba District Government will become the controlling shareholder of the Target Company, while Seres will lose control and become a minority shareholder.
He Fang told a reporter from Time Weekly that this "spin - off" is not simply selling assets, nor is it completely abandoning the Landian brand. Instead, it is to introduce local government capital and other investors and operate in the model of "asset contribution + external capital increase".
"This model not only reduces the continuous investment and operational risks required for Seres to independently cultivate a new brand, but also can leverage the industrial policies and financial support of the local government to strive for new opportunities for independent development for Landian."
As a smart electric vehicle brand under Seres, Landian Automobile was established in March 2023. In the same month, Seres launched the new new - energy brand Landian.
△Image source: Landian Automobile official website
The official website shows that the currently available models of Landian are the third - generation Landian E5 PLUS, the Landian E5 PLUS Pre - launch Edition, the Landian E5 PLUS, the Landian E5, and the Landian E3, with a price range of 99,800 - 145,800 yuan.
A reporter from Time Weekly reviewed Seres' annual reports for 2023 and 2024 and found that the company did not disclose much about the operating conditions of Landian Automobile in the annual reports; nor did it separately disclose the sales data of Landian Automobile in the regularly released production and sales bulletins.
According to the production and sales bulletin disclosed by Seres, in January 2026, the sales volume of new - energy vehicles of the Seres Group was 43,034 units, among which 40,012 were Seres vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 143.50%. The total sales volume of other models and brands was 2,914 units.
Zhang Shule, an Internet industry analyst, said bluntly that as a new - energy vehicle brand of Seres competing in the "mid - to - low - end" price range, Landian Automobile may face the risk of being squeezed by the market due to the lack of first - mover advantage in this increasingly competitive market.
"Seres changing from a controlling shareholder to a minority shareholder and introducing state - owned capital may enable Landian to achieve a 'quick boost'. In addition, the participation of state - owned capital also brings more possibilities for Landian's dual - intelligent business in artificial intelligence and embodied intelligence, enabling it to move more quickly from the new - energy vehicle market to the smart vehicle market and seize new opportunities with affordable smart vehicles." Zhang Shule told a reporter from Time Weekly.
Spin off Landian, focus on high - end?
As Zhang Shule said, Seres' spin - off of the relevant existing assets of Landian Automobile is partly due to the low proportion and limited contribution of Landian's sales in the group's overall sales; on the other hand, Landian's transformation and layout in embodied intelligence also conforms to the general trend of "automobile + AI".
Information from Tianyancha shows that Landian Automobile has two wholly - owned subsidiaries, namely Chongqing Phoenix Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Chongqing Phoenix") and Landian Zhixing (Chongqing) Automobile Sales Co., Ltd.
In October 2025, Chongqing Phoenix signed an embodied intelligence cooperation agreement with Volcengine in Beijing to carry out end - to - end full - business cooperation in fields such as joint design of embodied intelligence.
According to the agreement, the two parties will focus on the project of "Intelligent Robot Decision - making, Control and Human - Machine Augmentation Technology for Multi - Modal Cloud - Edge Collaboration", and at the same time, closely follow the digital and intelligent upgrading needs of the automotive industry ecosystem to help empower the industry.
In January 2026, Chongqing Phoenix established a wholly - owned subsidiary, Shanghai Seres Phoenix Technology Co., Ltd. This move is also regarded by the industry as a key step for Seres to layout embodied intelligence and promote the collaborative ecological development of "automobile + AI + robot".
He Fang added that currently, the subsidiaries under Landian have begun to explore cutting - edge fields such as embodied intelligence and intelligent robots. This asset spin - off also lays the groundwork for Seres' future layout in the broader field of intelligent mobility.
Entering 2026, the competition challenges and operating pressures in the new - energy vehicle market continue to intensify. Although major automakers have successively introduced financial car - purchase policies such as "tax exemption guarantee" and "7 - year low - interest loans", the overall market performance still fails to meet expectations.
On January 13, the 1 millionth vehicle of Wenjie rolled off the production line at the Seres Super Factory. Zhang Xinghai, the chairman (founder) of the Seres Group, said that Wenjie aims to achieve the goal of rolling off the second "1 million vehicles" within two years.
△Wenjie M9 Image source: Photo taken by a reporter from Time Weekly
Against this background, some industry insiders believe that Seres' spin - off of Landian Automobile at this time is also an important signal of fully focusing on the Wenjie brand.
He Fang analyzed to a reporter from Time Weekly that Wenjie, jointly created by Seres and Huawei, has established a first - mover advantage in the high - end market; at the same time, as the leader of the "Five Realms" of Hongmeng Smart Mobility, Wenjie is also facing increasingly fierce market competition.
"Against this background, Seres' withdrawal of resources from the Landian business, which requires large - scale investment, and concentrating efforts to consolidate and expand its leading edge in the high - end intelligent electric vehicle field is undoubtedly a more practical choice."
In fact, as Hongmeng Smart Mobility expands from "one realm" to "five realms", the competitive pressure faced by Wenjie comes not only from outside the industry but also from within the Hongmeng Smart Mobility system. Maintaining product uniqueness and building a more solid moat of independent technology have become an urgent task for Seres.
This article is from the WeChat public account "Time Weekly" (ID: timeweekly), author: Cao Yang, published by 36Kr with authorization.