AITO: owner, models, markets and what the name means

AITO was launched on 2 December 2021 at Seres Group's Liangjiang plant in Chongqing, and was the first brand under Huawei's Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (鸿蒙智行, HIMA). The division of labour is unusual and is the point of the brand: Huawei leads the design and development, supplies the powertrain components, driver-assistance system and vehicle software, and sells the cars through its own retail network; Seres manufactures them and owns the marque.

It is not a joint venture. Huawei holds no shares in Seres and Seres holds no shares in Huawei's car unit — except that in 2024 a Seres subsidiary paid RMB 11.5bn for 10% of Shenzhen Yinwang, the company Huawei spun that unit into. Chinese rules require a car brand to be owned by its manufacturer, which is why Huawei transferred the AITO trademarks to Seres in July 2024 for RMB 2.5bn.

The range is a ladder of SUVs: M5, M7, M9, M8 and, from 2026, M6. It sells at prices that Chinese brands have not usually reached — the M9 was the best-selling model above CN¥500,000 for two years running. AITO accounted for about 426,000 of the 472,269 vehicles Seres sold in 2025, roughly 82% of the group's volume. Exports are limited; deliveries in the United Arab Emirates, where the M9 is sold as the AITO 9, began in 2026.

Owned and built by Seres Group. Huawei designs the cars, supplies the software and much of the hardware and sells them in its stores under its Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, but holds no equity in Seres or in the brand.