When a friend first mentioned "Seres" while we were car shopping, my first thought was — that brand that sells the SF5 and was flailing in the micro-car market? That one?

Yes, that one.

Seres' predecessor was Dongfeng Xiaokang, a commercial vehicle maker. They pivoted to new energy vehicles later on. Their early product line was, frankly, slugging it out in the same price bracket as the Wuling Hongguang and Chang'an Benben — and sometimes losing. A colleague bought a Wuling Hongguang MINI and told me the value was unbeatable. Neither of us ever imagined that someday people would spend 200,000 to 300,000 yuan on a car from this manufacturer.

Then AITO appeared.

Then came ADS autonomous driving, highway navigation, urban NCA, and "mapless" city expansion...

After thinking it over, I wondered: what exactly did Huawei do to turn a struggling low-end brand into the dream car (at least among my circle — not necessarily the general public) in the 200k–300k price range?

A comeback has one prerequisite: the car company has to truly hand over its soul.

Earlier this year while researching cars, I paid special attention to Shangjie, which came from SAIC and was joining Huawei's Harmony Smart Mobility ecosystem.

When I saw that news, my first reaction was: interesting.

SAIC is China's largest automotive group — much bigger than Seres, with deeper experience and a stronger supply chain. Logically, SAIC should have a better foundation for Huawei's smart selection.

I remember SAIC once publicly stated they didn't want to let Huawei "become the soul." Their point was that if a carmaker hands over its core technology and ecosystem to Huawei, it essentially becomes a contract manufacturer, losing control over product definition.

That's not an unreasonable argument. As a legacy automaker with decades of积累, SAIC naturally doesn't want to become a pure "hardware supplier."

But here's the thing: AITO succeeded precisely because Seres really did hand it over.

Not surface-level "cooperation" — it was full-chain integration: product definition, design, smart cabin and driving, sales and service — all of it done together. Huawei's people sat in on decision-making. This wasn't a supplier relationship; it was a real deep integration.

That kind of integration requires a car company to let go of the "I'm in charge" mentality to some degree.

Seres let go. That's why AITO is where it is today.

Would SAIC let go?

Honestly, looking at the sales results, probably not.

Slapping on a "Huawei Smart Selection" label while still operating independently underneath — that approach is likely to fall short of what AITO achieved.

Collaborating with Huawei isn't about hiring an impressive supplier. You have to genuinely grow together. That takes more than money and resources — it takes, well, the courage to swallow your pride.

Looking back now, AITO's story is a pretty counterintuitive case study.

A car company that had been stuck in the low-end market for years, getting beaten to a pulp by Wuling — and because they forged a deep bond with Huawei, in just a few years they achieved what many established joint-venture brands couldn't do in decades: making consumers willing to spend 200k–300k feel that "this brand deserves serious consideration."

The world changes fast.

But when you think about it, it's not that sudden. Times have changed, and what car buyers care about has changed. People used to look at engines, chassis, and brand heritage. Now, the first thing you do when you sit in a car is check whether the screen is good, and the first thing you do on the road is see if the autonomous driving is smooth enough.

Huawei got its foot in that door.

Whoever binds deepest with Huawei grabs the handle of this era's door first.

The rest is up to who's brave enough to push it open.