Seres Kangbo responded for the first time to the claim that "AITO will go solo", stating that it will enter the sedan and MPV markets at an appropriate opportunity.

On September 15, both Harmony Intelligence Mobility and AITO released statements on the same day, announcing that AITO will explore a new cooperation model under the framework of Harmony Intelligence Mobility, and the AITO brand will adopt exclusive franchised operation.

In the following three days, the market held intensive discussions around the change of AITO brand ownership, with the core concern being whether AITO's orders, premium capacity and services can be smoothly taken over after Huawei moves from the front stage to the back end.

On September 18, Kang Bo, Director and Vice President of Seres Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Seres"), made his first systematic response, covering core issues including why AITO adopts exclusive franchised operation, whether Huawei's participation will decrease, how car owners' rights and interests are guaranteed, vehicle model expansion plans, and overseas layout.

The message conveyed by the response is that Huawei has not withdrawn, AITO is still one of the five brands under Harmony Intelligence Mobility, AITO's high-end luxury positioning will not waver, and under the exclusive franchised operation model, Seres has the capability and full autonomy to deliver high-quality products and services.

Why does AITO need to adopt "exclusive franchised operation"?

In the response, Seres stated that the reason is that the brand has entered a new stage, so the dominant right is transferred in line with the trend.

Kang Bo pointed out that in 2021, Seres and Huawei jointly launched the AITO brand, creating a precedent for cross-border cooperation between the automotive industry and the ICT industry. In the past five years, AITO has grown from scratch to over one million users, forming a complete product lineup covering M5, M6, M7, M8 and M9.

"AITO has entered a new stage with over one million users and a high-end brand positioning, which puts forward higher requirements for refined and differentiated brand operation. From the user's perspective, users of high-end luxury car brands demand exclusive sense of dignity and brand belonging." Kang Bo said that the exclusive franchised operation model is based on the existing cooperation, focusing on AITO's own brand positioning, product planning and service experience, to continuously deepen and consolidate the established high-end brand value.

Under the new cooperation model, product definition, product design, brand marketing, channel retail and service system will be led by Seres, with Huawei Terminal providing empowerment. At present, AITO has deployed more than 400 user centers, covering more than 200 cities across the country.

From the industry perspective, this adjustment can also be understood as the internal resource reallocation of Harmony Intelligence Mobility.

From January to August 2026, the total delivery volume of Harmony Intelligence Mobility was about 329,400 units, of which AITO's sales volume reached 201,900 units, accounting for more than 60%. In 2025, AITO's full-year delivery volume was 423,000 units, accounting for 71.8% of the total sales of Harmony Intelligence Mobility. Although the proportion has declined, AITO is still the largest single brand in the Harmony Intelligence Mobility system.

However, the four brands under Harmony Intelligence Mobility, including Zunjie, Xiangjie, Zhijie and Shangjie, are still in the ramp-up period. By transferring the operation right of the mature brand to Seres, Huawei can invest more product definition and channel resources in the cultivation of other brands.

Has the "Huawei involvement ratio" changed?

One of the most concerned issues in the market is whether Huawei's participation will decrease under the new cooperation model.

Kang Bo said that AITO is still one of the core members of Harmony Intelligence Mobility, and Seres is a shareholder of Shenzhen Yinwang Co., Ltd. with a shareholding ratio of 10%. Yinwang integrates many core technologies of Huawei's smart vehicle business. As a shareholder, AITO will be equipped with Huawei's latest, best and most practical technologies, products and supply guarantee.

However, the market's concerns are not unfounded. Over the past five years, AITO's growth has highly relied on Huawei's full-link empowerment. Although Seres made it clear that the cooperation with Huawei does not involve profit-sharing arrangements, the procurement amount corresponds to the consideration for comprehensive services such as hardware cost, R&D amortization and channel operation, and the pressure on the expense side is real.

Seres' payments to the Huawei system are roughly divided into three parts: procurement fees for hardware such as intelligent driving, cockpit, and three-electric systems. According to market estimates, the total service fees for technology licensing and channel marketing account for about 10% of the whole vehicle price. Seres' procurement amount paid to Huawei increased from 5.802 billion yuan in 2022 to 56.054 billion yuan in 2025, and the proportion in the revenue of the same period rose from 17.04% to 34%. This means that by 2025, more than one third of Seres' revenue flowed into the Huawei system.

In terms of technical support, Kang Bo also confirmed that AITO's quality control system was jointly established by Seres and Huawei during five years of in-depth cooperation, and has been continuously iterated and upgraded with the support of artificial intelligence. Seres will continue to upgrade the AI-empowered intelligent digital quality management system and adhere to high-standard vehicle manufacturing. AITO has gathered 20 world-class partners in the supply chain, including Huawei ADS intelligent driving, HarmonyOS cockpit and CATL power batteries, and the core technology system that underpins the high-end product strength of the whole vehicle remains unchanged.

How to protect the rights and interests of car owners?

For the after-sales and OTA (Over-the-Air upgrade) issues that existing car owners and prospective car owners are most concerned about, Kang Bo promised that all existing rights and interests of AITO users and subsequent services such as OTA upgrades will not be affected.

Kang Bo pointed out that since the birth of AITO, delivery and after-sales services have always been led by Seres. The latest upgraded user service measures, including AITO Smart Enjoy Door-to-Door Service, the industry's first AI Cloud Intelligent Inspection Service, overtime compensation for minor paint and sheet metal repair, and the widely popular "AITO Restaurant" service have also been launched again.

The trend of the channel level remains to be clarified. A source familiar with the matter revealed to *Caijing* that after the exclusive franchised operation, AITO's sales channels will be independent. In addition to directly-operated stores and franchised stores, some original stores of Harmony Intelligence Mobility will also be transferred to Seres, which will only display and sell AITO models to provide users with exclusive experience. According to other sources, this adjustment will be implemented from January 1, 2027.

Where is the next step heading?

Kang Bo clearly disclosed AITO's product expansion direction in this response.

He said that on the basis of consolidating the advantage of market share in the high-end SUV segment, AITO will enter the sedan, MPV and other competitive product markets at the right time, and concentrate resources to build products with scale effect and long-term competitiveness.

This means that in addition to SUVs, the AITO brand's product line will extend to two categories: sedans and MPVs. At present, AITO M9 has established solid brand recognition in the market above 500,000 yuan. This model has ranked among the top sales of luxury SUVs in this segment for consecutive months, providing brand momentum for subsequent category expansion.

Apart from AITO, Seres has another product line advancing simultaneously. In June 2026, Saido Technology, in which Seres participates in investment, officially released the new brand AIVA, putting forward the product concept of "AI defines vehicles, AI comes before vehicles". Volcano Engine, an affiliate of ByteDance, as the core technical partner, will provide AIVA with empowerment in fields such as Doubao large model and intelligent cockpit.

In terms of overseas markets, Kang Bo confirmed that AITO will make its debut at the Paris Motor Show held in October. He said that overseas markets have high expectations for AITO. AITO adheres to high-end overseas expansion, and its safety, reliability and quality have been verified by millions of users in the Chinese market. The current priority is to complete the adaptation and certification of products in accordance with the standards of target markets.

The transfer of dominant power of AITO is an important node for Seres to evolve from a product executor to a brand operator. However, regaining the dominant power does not mean that the profitability problem has been solved. According to Seres' 2026 semi-annual report, the company's operating revenue in the first half of the year was 57.493 billion yuan, and the net profit attributable to shareholders was a loss of 1.717 billion yuan. Next, whether the exclusive franchised operation can deliver AITO's high-end value to users in a purer way is the core concern of the market, and also the key point for the capital market to observe its profit recovery.

This article is from the WeChat Official Account "Caijing Auto", written by Wang Xin and Zhao Cheng, published with authorization from 36Kr.