The Chinese manufacturer Seres has unveiled a new vehicle brand.

The electric vehicles will be marketed under the AIVA name. The first model in the series, the ME7, is scheduled to enter the market before the end of 2026. Exact pricing has not yet been announced. According to media reports, however, Seres is targeting the mass market with all planned models, with prices expected to start above CNY 200,000 (US$ 30,000).

Unlike the AITO model, which was developed in collaboration with Huawei, Seres has partnered with the AI company Bytedance for this venture. Among other businesses, Bytedance is the parent company of the video application known internationally as TikTok and as Douyin in China.

For the new brand, Volcano Engine, a Bytedance subsidiary, is providing the Doubao language model, which is widely used in China, as well as the cockpit system. For assisted driving functions, Seres has also opted against Huawei and selected Deep Route AI instead.

First comes AI, then the car

During the brand launch, the company positioned AIVA as an example of "AI-defined driving". "First comes the AI, then the car," said AIVA CEO Li Bo. According to the company, traditional vehicle development relies on surveys and human judgement, whereas AI enables user needs to be anticipated on a large scale.

Li Bo, a former Huawei executive, drew an analogy with the mining industry: "In the past, people mined the ore. Now AI does the mining, and people focus on finding the gold."

AITO's success became a risk

For many analysts in China, who have become accustomed to AI-related claims, Huawei's strategic shift and the new alliance with Bytedance have become the primary focus. The AITO brand, developed in collaboration with Huawei, accounted for 426,000 of the 472,000 electric and hybrid vehicles sold by Seres in 2025, representing 90% of total sales.

By contrast, Seres' own brands, which operate without Huawei, recorded lower sales volumes. AITO temporarily helped drive Seres' market capitalisation to more than CNY 300 billion, making the company a significant manufacturer in China's premium electric vehicle segment.

From Seres' perspective, however, this concentration of sales also created a risk. Some observers began to view the company primarily as a hardware supplier assembling vehicles for Huawei. Seres is seeking to move away from this perception of being a contract manufacturer.

High royalties paid to Huawei

Beyond branding concerns, there are also economic considerations. According to estimates from Chinese trade media, Huawei receives approximately CNY 136,000 for every AITO vehicle sold. The company's first-quarter results illustrate the impact of these arrangements. Revenue increased by 34% year-on-year to CNY 25.7 billion. However, net income, adjusted for one-off items, fell by 74% to slightly above CNY 100 million.

Seres is therefore seeking to establish an additional source of revenue. The company is repositioning itself as an ecosystem partner not only for Huawei but also for Bytedance. If AIVA vehicles achieve sales volumes comparable to those of AITO, the move could strengthen the company's revenue base. However, the new assisted-driving system must first demonstrate its effectiveness in real-world conditions.

New contract manufacturer with a municipal investor

The AIVA series will be manufactured by a new, legally independent company. On May 29th, the former Seres subsidiary Landian Technology was renamed Chongqing Saidou Technology. Shortly beforehand, the company completed a capital increase of approximately CNY 6.7 billion and brought in several new shareholders.

As a result, Seres is no longer the largest shareholder. That position is now held by Shaci Zhiyuan, a municipal investment platform of Chongqing's Shapingba District, with a 34.5% stake. Seres holds 33.0%, while battery manufacturer CATL owns a 9.9% stake through its investment arm, Wending Investment. The shareholder structure also includes employee stock ownership plans and several smaller investors.

Saidou has therefore become an independent company in which a public investor holds the largest stake. Observers view this arrangement as an effort by Seres to avoid potential conflicts with Huawei. Nevertheless, the vehicles will be produced, at least initially, at Seres' Phoenix Plant in Chongqing.

Betting on new business models

However, interpreting the new partnership solely as an attempt to distance the company from Huawei would be an oversimplification. For both Seres and Bytedance, the collaboration also reflects the broader convergence of AI and the automotive industry, which is driving the development of new products and business models.

Bytedance could use AIVA as a platform for a broader entry into the automotive sector, similar to Huawei's HIMA Alliance strategy. In addition to AITO, developed with Seres, Huawei has launched Luxeed in partnership with Chery, Stelato with BAIC, and Shangjie with SAIC. Bytedance could seek to adopt a similar approach. Its objective would be to expand the deployment of the Doubao language model across a wider range of vehicles.

For Seres, whose partnership with Huawei is not exclusive, the objective is to demonstrate its capabilities as an automaker beyond the Huawei ecosystem. The first AIVA model, with the acronym standing for "Artificial Intelligence Voyage Ahead", is attracting attention within the automotive industry.