Seres Group (previously known as Sokon Group or Chongqing Sokon Industry Group Co., Ltd, ) is a Chinese automotive manufacturer founded in September 1986 with headquarters in Chongqing, China.[3] Born as a manufacturer of components for household appliances and shock absorbers, it currently produces electric cars, ICEs cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles as well as shock absorbers and internal combustion engines. In 2022, the company renamed to Seres Group from Sokon Group. It operates through its subsidiaries Seres, Seres Hubei, XGJAO Motorcycle and Yu'an Shock Absorber Company.[4]
While Chinese automotive manufacturers are either state-owned or privately owned, Seres shareholders include private investors as well as a local government entity and a state-owned company.
The name Seres is derived from the Ancient Greek word "Σῆρες" which means "China".[5]
History
The forerunner of the Sokon Group was Chongqing Baxian Fenghuang Electronic Factory (重庆巴县凤凰电器弹簧厂), a company founded in September 1986 by Zhang Xinghai and other shareholders, mainly engaged in the manufacture and sale of Japanese-licensed components for household appliances and springs for automotive seats.
The products were destined for both the Chinese and Japanese markets and quickly achieved a market share in the sector of 90%.
In September 1996, the Chongqing Yu'an Shock Absorber Company was founded, marking the establishment of a new plant dedicated to producing shock absorbers for cars and motorcycles.
The plant quickly reached its peak production capacity, exceeding 1.5 million units per year.
Subsequently, the company underwent a name change to Chongqing Yu'an Innovation Technology (Group).
Given the sales numbers of components, Chongqing Yu'an decided to enter directly into the automotive and motorcycle production sector by entering into agreements with both Japanese and Chinese manufacturers to create the new range of vehicles.
In July 2002, XGJAO Motorbyke was founded, a manufacturer of low cost sports motorcycles intended mainly for a young audience and the first models on the market were launched (the F4 followed in the following years by the F5, F6 and F7).
For the automotive production, an agreement was signed with Suzuki for the licensed supply of chassis and engines for microvans and small commercial vehicles and on 27 June 2003, the new Dongfeng Yu'an Automobile 50:50 joint venture with headquarters in Chongqing and assembly plant in Wuhan was founded together with Dongfeng Motor Corporation.Subsequently, an engineering center for the design of electric vehicles called Chongqing Ruichi Automobile Company was created.
In 2005 the first vehicle of the joint venture went into production at the Dongfeng plant in Wuhan: the microvan Dongfeng Yu'an K-Series which was also exported abroad (including Europe).
In May 2007 the entire industrial group changed its name to Chongqing Sokon Automobile Co., Ltd; the Yu'an brand was kept only to identify the production of shock absorbers and components, the Dongfeng Yu'an brand present on the minivans thus became Dongfeng Sokon (abbreviated to DFSK in overseas markets). In May 2012, the millionth vehicle of the Dongfeng Sokon joint venture was produced.
On 15 June 2016, the Sokon group was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.In the same year, the first SUV-type vehicles, resulting from the joint venture with the Dongfeng group called DFSK Glory 580, went into production.In addition, the start-up SF Motors was founded in Santa Clara, California, with the intention of producing electric vehicles.SF Motors purchased AM General's manufacturing facility and opened three development and design centers for electric vehicles (one in California, one in Michigan and one in Chongqing).[6]
In November 2018, the group restructured, with Sokon acquiring Dongfeng's share in the joint venture for 621 million euros, becoming sole owner of DFSK.In exchange, Dongfeng acquired 26.1% of Sokon for 620 million euros, becoming its majority shareholder.[7]
In January 2019 an agreement was signed with Huawei for the development of information technologies and software for electric vehicles.[8]
To improve its electric vehicle production, in April 2022 the company signed an agreement with battery maker CATL, which will remain effective until 2026.[9]
Seres actively expanded to export markets with its Seres and DFSK brands, by 2022 its cumulative exports amounted to 500,000 vehicles.[10]
In July 2022, the company name was changed to Seres Group.[11][12]
In August 2024, Seres Group announced that it would invest in Huawei's subsidiary "Yinwang" (Shenzhen Yinwang Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.), accounting for 10% of its shares, with a price of RMB 11.5 billion.[13]
In 2024, thanks to the strong sales momentum of new energy vehicles, Seres Group's revenue increased by more than 300%. The company became the fourth new energy vehicle company in the world to turn losses into profits after Tesla, BYD Auto and Li Auto.[14]
Brands and products
AITO
AITO is a brand Seres Auto collaborates with Huawei for smart electric vehicle. Huawei leads in the design of AITO models while Seres conducts in production. The AITO trademark was owned by Seres but was sold to Huawei in June 2023. In July 2024, Huawei announced the transfer of the English trademarks of AITO and the related patents it holds back to Seres Group at the cost of 2.5 billion RMB.[15][16]
Seres
Seres is a brand of electric vehicle marketed by Seres Group.Since 2023, Seres brand was shifted to export brand, while AITO became a domestic-only brand.[17]
Ruichi Automobiles
Chongqing Ruichi Automobiles was established in September 2003. The company is a fully funded subsidiary of Seres Group for pure electric commercial vehicles.[18]
Fengon
Fengon (or DFSK Glory for foreign markets) formerly known as Dongfeng Fengguang (东风风光), is the brand of Seres that produces passenger vehicles. Established in 2008, Fengon brand targets at affordable compact MPVs and SUVs. It was a joint venture brand with Dongfeng Group until it was fully acquired by Seres Group in 2022.
DFSK / Dongfeng Sokon
DFSK (short for Dongfeng Sokon) is a brand of Seres that produces light commercial vehicles. It was a joint venture brand with Dongfeng Group until it was fully acquired by Seres Group in 2022.
In October 2023, Dongfeng Sokon Automobile was renamed to Seres Automobile (Hubei).[19]
Joint venture
Landian
Landian brand was launched in March 2023 by Seres. The word Landian literally means blue electricity (蓝电) in Chinese.[20]
In February 2026, Seres announced to spin off the assets of Landian brand and establishing a new company, the government of Chongqin acquired 33.5% of the company's shares, becoming its largest shareholder. Seres' stake will be reduced to around 32%, resulting in a loss of control, and Landian will no longer be consolidated into Seres' financial statements. The board of the new company will consist of five members, with Seres holding only one seat.[21]
