Seres Restructures Budget EV Brand into Saidou Technology with ByteDance AI Cockpit

Seres, the Chinese EV maker best known for its AITO brand co-developed with Huawei, is pivoting its struggling budget strategy by restructuring its loss-making Blue Electric brand into Saidou Technology, backed by Chongqing state capital and CATL. The move represents a major strategic shift for Seres as it seeks a second growth engine beyond its successful partnership with Huawei. Under the restructuring, the Shapingba District state investment platform Shaci Zhiyuan invested RMB 3.43 billion to become the controlling shareholder of Saidou Technology, while Seres steps back to a significant strategic shareholder role without controlling stake. CATL has also joined as an industrial investor, securing the battery supply chain for the new brand. The restructuring addresses Blue Electric's persistent underperformance. The Blue Electric E5 model sold fewer than 12,000 units in its launch year and declined to around 8,000 units in 2024. Sources cited by Chinese media estimate total accumulated losses exceeded RMB 1.5 billion, with capacity utilization below 30 percent. Saidou Technology's strategic centerpiece is deep integration with ByteDance's Volcano Engine platform, deliberately moving away from the Huawei ADS autonomous driving system used in AITO vehicles. The in-car operating system, jointly developed with ByteDance, leverages the Doubao large language model for natural voice interaction, personalized scene perception, and seamless cross-device connectivity between phones and vehicles. The system goes beyond surface-level integration, involving full-stack co-definition from underlying computing power adaptation to upper-layer interaction logic. The first model, a sporty crossover available in both EREV and pure EV variants, is priced at RMB 120,000 to 150,000, directly targeting the BYD Song Plus and Leapmotor C11 segments. Production will take place at Seres' Fenghuang smart factory in Chongqing. Saidou will establish an independent sales network with 60 direct stores initially in cities including Chongqing, Chengdu, and Hangzhou, separate from AITO's existing channels. The brand also plans overseas expansion, leveraging ByteDance's TikTok ecosystem for brand building in Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern markets.