Zhang Xinghai from Seres, Yu Chengdong from Huawei, featured on CCTV News. Image credit: Weibo

On October 1st, the automotive industry witnessed a dramatic turnaround. Just half a month after Huawei and Seres officially announced a shift in their cooperation model, significant news surfaced online: the two companies are re-entering negotiations, with the possibility of AITO and Huawei 'reuniting' once again. The latest update reveals that on October 1st, Harmony Intelligent Mobility officially announced a new five-year cooperation agreement between Huawei and Seres, aimed at jointly enhancing the AITO business and fostering brand growth.

(The following content precedes the official announcement by Seres and Huawei.) The news quickly became a hot topic, with #HuaweiSeres trending on Weibo and sparking widespread discussion across the internet. Chat screenshots leaked by frontline sales staff indicated that both sides had initiated the process of re-signing contracts, with an official announcement expected soon, and a return to a Huawei-led cooperation model. Previously, the Huawei team stationed at Seres had been making arrangements to return.

Image credit: Weibo

Information wasn't just leaking from sales; automotive blogger Sun Shaojun's comment, "Go back and continue cooperating," was quickly interpreted by the market as a signal. Blogger Mr. He of CarEngineer subsequently reposted and confirmed the rumors, stating that both sides are indeed restarting negotiations and discussing contract renewal.

Image credit: Weibo

In his view, resuming cooperation would benefit all three parties involved: it would stabilize Huawei's sales base, maintain Seres' brand positioning, and preserve the resale value of existing AITO vehicles for owners.

Netizens also drew parallels with previous hints, speculating that the "good news for 1.2 million AITO owners" teased by Seres Vice President Kang Bo the previous night referred to this reunion, although some guessed it might be about Seres' cooperation with charging stations. However, as of now, neither Huawei nor Seres has issued any official response to these rumors.

Image credit: Weibo

As the news spread, the comment section erupted in debate. Some bluntly asked, "Isn't AITO supposed to be resilient? Have they come to terms with reality?" Others questioned, "Who caved in the end? After all this back and forth, they realize they can't do without each other?" Some pointedly remarked, "They wanted to raise prices to boost profits but found presales didn't move without Yu Chengdong, so they quickly retracted and revised the cooperation contract." Others directly addressed the core issue: "Can Dongfeng Xiaokang become AITO without Huawei's support?" Of course, there were differing views, with some believing, "Huawei can't bear to part with its flagship brand and doesn't want to lose this high-end market." More ordinary car owners simply lamented, "All this back and forth has eroded trust."

A Delegation of Authority and Separation Directly Shattered the Trust of Millions of Car Owners

The catalyst for the entire incident was the major cooperation adjustment announced on September 15th.

On that day, Harmony Intelligent Mobility officially announced that all product definition, brand marketing, dealership channels, and after-sales systems for AITO would be fully transferred to Seres. Huawei would completely withdraw from front-line operations, retaining only behind-the-scenes technological support.

Image credit: Weibo

The official rhetoric was polished, referring to it as an optimization of the cooperation model, but car owners across the internet saw through the essence: wasn't this just a de facto separation?

Even though Seres Chairman Zhang Xinghai urgently came forward to douse the flames, repeatedly emphasizing, "We haven't broken up; we've always been together," and even went on CCTV to give a solemn promise of "unchanged products, technology, and services," it failed to suppress public opinion.

Many car owners had initially spent hundreds of thousands of yuan to buy the car not for Seres' manufacturing but for Huawei's intelligent driving, HarmonyOS ecosystem, and brand endorsement. After this series of operations, what was once 'Huawei AITO' instantly became 'Dongfeng Xiaokang' upon delivery, creating a massive psychological gap. Anxiety spread across the internet, with everyone fearing the worst: after separating from Huawei, OTA updates would slow down, quality control would degrade, and resale values would plummet.

From that moment on, AITO's high-end reputation had quietly begun to crack.

Emergency Late-Night Benefits! Seemingly Soothing Hearts, But Ultimately Inadequate

Seeing car owner sentiment collapse and reputation continue to decline, Seres had to take emergency measures.

At midnight on September 30th, Seres Vice President Kang Bo teased an announcement with a cliffhanger: "Tomorrow, we will bring good news to 1.2 million AITO owners."

Image credit: Weibo

The late-night teaser, paired with an image of a supercharging station, instantly sparked widespread anticipation. Many car owners expected heavyweight benefits like lifetime warranties or free hardware upgrades that could fully win back their trust.

But when the reveal came the next day, it was truly disappointing.

The so-called heavyweight good news was merely AITO's access to the Yi'anqi supercharging network jointly operated by Mercedes-Benz and BMW, with over 600 core commercial district charging stations nationwide offering car owners a minimum 40% discount on service fees.

Image credit: Weibo

The news not only failed to pacify car owners but also drew more complaints. With 1.2 million existing owners sharing just 600 charging stations, the supply and demand were completely mismatched, making it a mere drop in the bucket. Even more awkwardly, this supercharging cooperation had already been finalized long ago and was merely being announced now, a clear case of recycling old news.

Image credit: Weibo

Netizens saw through it clearly: what car owners truly cared about was never a few yuan in charging discounts but whether AITO could maintain its original product strength and iteration speed after separating from Huawei. Superficial benefits could never fill the void left by eroded brand trust.

Tough It Out! New M8 Defies Trend with 30,000 Yuan Price Hike, Attempting to Force a Comeback with Upgraded Specs

When gentle stabilization failed, Seres switched tactics—confronting market doubts head-on.

Also on September 30th, the first refreshed model independently operated by Seres, the all-new AITO M8, officially opened for presales with a starting price of 389,800 yuan, directly 30,000 yuan higher than the previous model.

Image credit: Seres

This pricing completely overturned previous market predictions.

Everyone had assumed that with Huawei withdrawing from front-line operations and without the cost pressures of brand premium and channel commissions, the new car would inevitably cut prices to compete, with some even predicting, "A price drop of 100,000 yuan!"

But Seres refused to follow the script, instead raising prices and doubling down on the high-end market. The vehicle boasted 1.5 billion yuan in R&D investment, with 90% of components fully upgraded, featuring an 800V high-voltage platform, Huawei ADS 5 intelligent driving, four LiDAR sensors, dual-chamber air suspension, rear-wheel steering, and a full suite of high-end cabin configurations.

On paper, the car exuded sincerity and over-the-top specs. But the market wasn't buying it.

A more pressing issue loomed: the new car launch had zero press conferences and zero appearances by Yu Chengdong, while available dealerships plummeted from 1,045 to just 399, a two-thirds reduction in channels.

Once a 400,000 yuan-class sales champion, monthly sales had now crashed from over 6,000 to just over 1,000 units. Seres thought stacking specs could uphold its high-end image but ultimately discovered: while hardware could be upgraded, lost brand buzz and online hype could never be recovered.

Benefits Couldn't Save Reputation, Price Hikes Couldn't Save Sales, Reunion Rumors Emerged

After investing in car owner benefits and stacking specs for a price hike, market feedback still fell short of expectations, providing the underlying reason for the rapid spread of reunion rumors.

Image credit: CCTV Business

This so-called 'delegation of authority and independence' was essentially a failed trial and error. Seres attempted to fly solo but exposed its shortcomings—without Huawei's brand, operations, and online hype, even with top-tier specs, orders and popularity remained stagnant.

Meanwhile, Huawei's Luxeed series underperformed in the market, desperately needing AITO's million-user base to stabilize its sales foundation.

Behind this back-and-forth drama, there were no winners—only stark realities:

AITO without Huawei couldn't sustain high-end pricing; Huawei without AITO couldn't stabilize automotive sales.

Many netizens lamented that this entire commotion was unnecessary: brand trust had already been heavily eroded, and user sentiment had been repeatedly strained. Even if they reunited now, the cracks remained, and things would never return to how they were.

Epilogue

Tracing the entire timeline, all reversals were traceable:

Delegation of authority and separation triggered a trust collapse → Executives' late-night benefits failed to stabilize sentiment → New car price hikes and spec stacks failed to save sales → Dual pressure of sales and reputation forced reunion rumors to surface.

After half a month of tug-of-war, the industry truth was laid bare: AITO's high-end status was never built on manufacturing alone but on Huawei's technology, brand, and operations.

The 30,000 yuan price hike was Seres' stubbornness; the emergency reunion rumors were the market's definitive answer.

But after this back-and-forth drama, the user trust that had been consumed could never be regained.

Interactive Topic: Do you think this reunion is a win-win self-rescue or merely a facade? Would you pay 30,000 yuan more for the new M8? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Disclaimer: This article is solely for financial commentary by major industry players and does not constitute investment advice. All corporate data and regulatory events mentioned are from publicly available information and are for reference only, subject to official announcements. Image sources are from the internet; if copyright issues exist, please contact for removal.