Seres Group: the group, its brands and who controls it

Seres began in September 1986 in Chongqing as a maker of springs and shock absorbers, founded by Zhang Xinghai and his brothers. It moved into motorcycle parts, then motorcycles, then light commercial vehicles, and in 2003 formed a 50/50 minivan venture with Dongfeng that sold abroad as DFSK. The listed company floated in Shanghai in June 2016, bought out Dongfeng's half of the venture in 2019-2020, and renamed itself Seres Group in July 2022.

The business that made it prominent is AITO, launched in December 2021. Under Huawei's Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (鸿蒙智行, HIMA), Huawei leads the design, supplies the software, driver-assistance and much of the electrical hardware, and sells the cars through its retail network; Seres builds them and owns the brand. This is a contractual and licensing arrangement, not an equity joint venture — Huawei holds no shares in Seres, and 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 flow runs the other way too: a Seres subsidiary paid RMB 11.5bn for 10% of Shenzhen Yinwang, the company Huawei spun its car-technology unit into.

Seres reported 2025 revenue of RMB 165.05bn, up 13.7%, and net profit of RMB 5.96bn, its second profitable year. It sold 472,269 new-energy vehicles, of which AITO accounted for about 426,000. It added a Hong Kong listing on 5 November 2025, raising HK$14.28bn.

Control rests with the founding family through Chongqing Sokon Holding. Dongfeng Motor Corporation, a central state-owned group, has held a substantial minority stake since the venture was unwound, and Chongqing municipal state-linked entities hold shares as well; the exact percentages could not be checked against a filing.