Seres and Volcano Engine Launch New Brand "SaiDou," Targeting the RMB 100,000–200,000 NEV Market

Seres is advancing its collaboration with ByteDance’s Volcano Engine and plans to launch a new automotive brand, “Serdou,” in Beijing on June 9, 2026. The operating entity for this brand is Chongqing Serdou Technology Co., Ltd., whose registered capital has been increased from RMB 320 million to RMB 9.71 billion. This new brand stems from Seres’ restructuring of underperforming assets. In February 2024, Seres signed an agreement with the Shapingba District government of Chongqing to establish a new company using existing assets related to its Landian (LanDian) business, while also bringing in local government funds and external investors. On May 25, 2024, Chongqing Landian Technology Co., Ltd. completed a capital increase and share expansion of approximately RMB 6.671 billion, attracting five new investors, including CATL. Among them, Shaci Zhiyuan—a state-owned investment platform affiliated with Chongqing’s local government—invested RMB 3.433 billion, acquiring a 34.5% stake to become the largest shareholder. Seres’ ownership stake was reduced to 32.96%, and it no longer consolidates the company into its financial statements, effectively divesting loss-making assets. Sales data shows continued pressure on the Landian brand: total sales were only 8,756 units in 2023; they rose to 29,000 units in 2024 following the launch of the E5 PLUS model, but declined again to around 20,000 units in 2025. Serdou’s first vehicle is expected to debut within 2025. Positioned as a crossover between an SUV and a sedan, it will be available in both battery-electric and extended-range variants and will be manufactured at Seres’ Phoenix Factory. Targeting the RMB 100,000–200,000 price segment, the brand will serve both domestic and international markets and establish an independent sales channel. In terms of intelligent features, Serdou will not adopt Huawei’s Qiankun ADS autonomous driving system. Instead, it will leverage Volcano Engine’s “Doubao” large language model to focus on delivering an advanced smart cockpit experience. On October 9, 2025, Chongqing Phoenix Technology Co., Ltd.—a subsidiary of Seres—and Volcano Engine signed a “Framework Agreement on Embodied Intelligence Business Cooperation.” The two parties will collaborate in areas such as multimodal cloud-edge synergy, intelligent robot decision-making and control, and human-machine augmentation technologies. This agreement is non-binding, and specific projects and investment amounts will be subject to further negotiation. According to its strategic plan, Serdou Technology will concentrate on intelligent connected new energy passenger vehicles, supporting Shapingba District’s goal of building a RMB 100-billion-scale new energy vehicle industrial cluster. Seres stated that this move will help optimize its asset structure and aligns with the company’s long-term development strategy.