Huawei and Seres Sign New 5-Year Deal to Upgrade Aito EV Brand

• Huawei and Seres are deepening their partnership about 2 weeks after announcing a shift in control of the Aito brand's operations.
• The companies will jointly establish a dedicated Aito team and continue to pursue dedicated operations for the brand.

Huawei and Seres (HKEX: 9927) have signed a new 5-year cooperation agreement to jointly upgrade the Aito business, deepening their partnership about 2 weeks after announcing a shift in control of the brand's operations.

Huawei's HIMA (Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance) announced the arrangement on Thursday. The signing ceremony took place on September 30 in Shenzhen, where Huawei is headquartered.

Huawei executive director and consumer business group chairman Richard Yu attended the ceremony alongside Seres founder and chairman Zhang Xinghai.

The companies said they would jointly establish a dedicated Aito team, improve customer service through dedicated operations for the brand, and continue to strengthen its positioning as a premium smart vehicle brand. Aito's user base has surpassed 1.2 million, according to the announcement.

Before signing the new agreement, the companies had announced a change to their cooperation model on September 15, placing Seres in charge of Aito's product definition, product design, brand marketing, retail channels and service network, with Huawei providing support.

The statement at the time emphasized that Aito remained a HIMA member and that existing customers' benefits and subsequent services would be unaffected. Still, the adjustment drew attention to the future of the partnership.

During a visit to a HIMA store on September 24, Yu said Seres had significantly strengthened its capabilities through the partnership and had proposed taking the lead in running Aito, a move Huawei supported.

Seres chairman Zhang also previously told China's state broadcaster CCTV that the companies had maintained their partnership throughout. He said the adjustment centered on dedicated operations for the brand, with the aim of upgrading its positioning and services.

Changes in operating control and fee arrangements appear to be part of the backdrop to the series of adjustments in the partnership.

LatePost reported on September 24 that the previous 5-year cooperation agreement was nearing expiration and that the companies had held several rounds of negotiations, with Seres taking a more assertive stance.

Citing Seres' prospectus, the report said the company's purchases from Huawei and its affiliates totaled 56.05 billion yuan ($8.32 billion) in 2025, about 10 times the amount 3 years earlier.

LatePost also said that under the previous cooperation model, Seres had to pay Huawei technology licensing and channel marketing fees of about 10% for each vehicle sold.

The changes have also affected dealer settlements and staffing. According to LatePost, the contracting party for Aito dealer agreements switched from Huawei to a Seres affiliate, with Seres taking over settlement of comprehensive service fees for new orders from September 16.

Citing a person familiar with the adjustment, the report said some outsourced Huawei project teams working on Aito had already been disbanded, with Huawei employees on those projects set to move to other businesses.

Before the new agreement was announced, Yicai reported earlier on Thursday that the companies had recently resumed negotiations. Their partnership could be further upgraded through dedicated operations for the brand, rather than simply shifting to Seres-led operations supported by Huawei, the report said.

Automotive media outlet Mingjing Pro reported earlier today that several industry bloggers claimed Huawei's operating team previously assigned to Seres was preparing to return and that Huawei could resume leading the partnership. The report explicitly noted that those claims had not been officially confirmed.

The latest announcement confirmed the new 5-year partnership and the joint establishment of a dedicated team, but did not say whether the operating-control arrangement announced on September 15 had changed. It also did not disclose the team's staffing or new fee-sharing arrangements between the companies.

The agreement comes as HIMA's deliveries remain under pressure. The alliance delivered 37,490 vehicles in September, down 29.15% year-on-year, marking its fourth consecutive month of annual declines, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.