Seres Launches New Brand AIVA, Independent from Huawei, Focused on AI-Native Vehicles

In June 2026, Seres officially launched a new automotive brand, AIVA, restructured from the former Landian Motors. The initiative involves multiple stakeholders, including Seres, ByteDance’s Volcano Engine, CATL, and Chongqing municipal state-owned capital. AIVA champions the philosophy “AI defines the car—AI first, then the vehicle,” emphasizing that AI should serve as the core “brain” of the entire vehicle from the earliest stages of R&D, rather than being added later as an intelligent feature module. Its first mass-production model, the AIVA ME7, is scheduled for launch within 2026, targeting the mainstream market above RMB 200,000. AIVA’s AI strategy differs from those of Tesla, XPeng, Li Auto, and other automakers. While the latter typically view vehicles as carriers of AI capabilities—with ambitions extending into robotics and other domains—AIVA focuses on empowering intelligent cockpits through the Doubao large language model and adopts autonomous driving solutions from DeepRoute.ai. Although the AI narrative is not new, the joint venture between Baidu and Geely, Jidu Auto, collapsed at the end of 2024 due to low market acceptance, poor sales, and ultimately a broken cash flow—offering AIVA a cautionary precedent. In terms of collaboration, ByteDance has explicitly stated it will not manufacture cars; Volcano Engine acts solely as a technology supplier, providing the Doubao large model and intelligent cockpit support. Unlike the Aito (AITO) brand, which relies heavily on Huawei’s full-stack technological enablement, AIVA’s partnership depth is limited. Moreover, the Doubao large model is already integrated into over 50 automotive brands, presenting significant challenges in differentiation. Regarding ownership structure, AIVA is controlled by Chongqing state-owned capital, with Seres stepping back as the second-largest shareholder. The brand operates independently, and its financial performance is excluded from Seres’ consolidated statements—a move aimed at reducing reliance on Huawei. Data shows that in 2025, Seres paid Huawei RMB 20 billion in procurement fees, accounting for roughly one-third of its first-half revenue. Over three and a half years, cumulative payments exceeded RMB 75 billion, a burden industry insiders refer to as the “Huawei tax.” Despite record-high revenues that year, Seres saw only marginal net profit growth, highlighting its “revenue without profitability” dilemma. Previously, Seres attempted to target the RMB 100,000–150,000 segment through the Landian brand. However, Landian sold only 34,000 units in 2024, further declining to around 20,000 units in 2025, and by early 2026, monthly sales had dropped below 500 units—ultimately prompting Seres to launch AIVA via asset restructuring. Strategically, AIVA enables Seres to complement Aito with a high-low product portfolio, expand into the mainstream market, develop intelligent vehicle technologies outside the HarmonyOS ecosystem, and solidify ties with CATL and local state capital through a mixed-ownership model. However, if AIVA fails to gain traction, it could undermine market confidence in Seres’ ability to operate independently. Ultimately, AIVA’s success hinges on whether its mass-produced vehicles can translate its AI vision into tangible, user-perceivable experiences.