Seres Chairman Zhang Xinghai delivered a speech at the company's 40th anniversary ceremony on September 1. (Photo/Seres)

Chongqing - Forty years after its founding, Chongqing-based new energy vehicle (NEV) maker Seres used its anniversary ceremony this month to signal where it is heading next. Chairman Zhang Xinghai said the company would pursue premium, industry-leading growth built on high-quality, high-value and sustainable development

The statement comes as Seres enters a new round of challenges. In recent years, the rapid rise of its AITO brand has made Seres an important player in China’s NEV market. But as competition intensifies, automakers are shifting their focus from creating successful models to building lasting technological capabilities, brand value and profitability.

The company’s latest operating data reflects the change. According to Seres’ August production and sales report, the company sold 24,200 NEVs in August 2026, down 43.96% year on year. In the first eight months, cumulative NEV sales reached 227,300 units, down 12.58% year on year.

Seres’ first-half financial report showed that the company recorded revenue of 57.493 billion yuan (8.56 billion U.S. dollars) in H1 2026, down 7.87% year on year, while net profit attributable to shareholders stood at a loss of 1.72 billion yuan. The company said profit pressure was mainly driven by a transition period for key vehicle models, rising core-component prices, and impairment losses on some existing assets.

AITO remains a key growth driver for Seres. In H1 2026, the new-generation AITO M9 and AITO M6 were launched and entered large-scale deliveries, with cumulative deliveries of the AITO M9 surpassing 300,000 units. Meanwhile, Seres had more than 73.15 billion yuan in cash reserves by the end of the reporting period, supporting continued investment in research and industrial expansion.

The challenges facing Seres reflect the broader shift in China’s NEV industry. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China produced 9.014 million NEVs and sold 9.007 million units in the first seven months of 2026, up 9.5% and 9.6% year on year, respectively. NEVs accounted for 51.2% of total new vehicle sales during the period.

As the NEV sector moves from rapid expansion to large-scale competition, automakers are increasingly competing on intelligent technologies, research and development capabilities, supply chain integration and brand building, rather than sales growth alone.

For Seres, its 40th anniversary marks a critical transition from product-driven growth toward building a technology-driven enterprise with lasting competitiveness.

Seres has faced industrial shifts before. Founded in 1986, the company began by producing automotive components such as springs and shock absorbers, then expanded into vehicle manufacturing and later shifted toward intelligent electric vehicles amid the rise of the NEV industry. Over the past four decades, Seres has transformed from a component supplier into a traditional automaker and then an intelligent EV company.

Today, Seres pursues another transformation by strengthening its long-term competitiveness through technology investment. H1 2026, the company’s R&D spending reached 7.007 billion yuan, up 34.8% year on year, covering areas including underlying architectures, core systems, artificial intelligence and digital applications.

Beyond vehicle manufacturing, Seres is also exploring new growth areas. In August, Chongqing Phoenix Technology, a subsidiary of Seres, increased its registered capital to 550 million yuan, with businesses covering artificial intelligence, intelligent robotics and automotive component development. The company’s semiannual report said it is accelerating the development of emerging businesses such as embodied intelligence and humanoid robots.

The move reflects the growing integration of the automotive and artificial intelligence industries. Future competition in the auto sector will rely not only on manufacturing capabilities, but also increasingly on AI, software, data and intelligent control technologies.

For Chongqing’s ambition to build a world-class intelligent connected NEV industry cluster, the goal is not only to produce more vehicles and successful models, but also to foster local companies capable of mastering core technologies, organizing industrial ecosystems and competing globally.