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Seres Automobile

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Not to be confused with Seres Automobile (Hubei).
Seres
Company typePrivate
Industry
FoundedJanuary 2016; 8 years ago (2016-01)
FoundersXinghai Zhang
Headquarters
Santa Clara, California
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
ParentSeres Group
Websitewww.global-seres.com

Logo used as SF Motors during 2016-2018

Seres (formerly SF Motors)[1] is a brand of electric vehicle marketed by Seres Group (formerly Chongqing Sokon Industry Group[2][3]). Several of the group's subsidiaries are also named "Seres".

Seres Automobile Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 赛力斯汽车有限公司) (formerly Chongqing Jinkang New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd.[4])[5] is an R&D and manufacturing subsidiary based in China.[5]

A US subsidiary, SF Motors Inc.,[5] sometimes also called Seres,[5]: 17 [6] headquartered in Santa Clara, California, represents Jinkang New Energy Automobile's business in US.[6] SF Motors Inc. has established several R&D facilities and is in the process of designing and producing a U.S.-based, electric vehicle line. The company has delayed launching a US product and laid off hundreds of workers, including 90 people at its design studio.[7][8] The company is partnering with a number of automotive and tech suppliers.[9]

In China

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Ma Ying-jeou visit Seres factory in China

Timeline

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  • In April 2021, Seres launched an updated SF5, starting a partnership with Huawei, which partook in the development of the vehicle, and sells the cars through Huawei stores.[10][11] According to sources cited by Reuters, Huawei was looking to take over Seres from its parent company Chongqing Sokon, but Huawei denied having plans for such an acquisition.[12]
  • In March 2023, the Aito brand was rebranded as Huawei Aito for a short time[13] before Huawei issued that all promotional materials related to Huawei will be removed on April 1 from Aito stores.[14]

SF Motors Inc.

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Main article: SF Motors

Manufacturing/R&D facilities

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SF Motors Inc. was founded in Santa Clara, California in January 2016 as a company focused on producing electric vehicles. In early 2017, SF Motors’ parent company, Sokon Industry Group, was granted production permits from the Chinese government to produce electric vehicles.[15]

The company has established[when?] seven R&D facilities in four countries, including the U.S., China, and Germany, with Japan coming online soon. Along with establishing an R&D center in the Ann Arbor area in Michigan; Seres is also partnering with the University of Michigan's Mcity innovation center, which is dedicated to leading the transformation to connected and automated vehicles.[16] SF Motors hosted its first University of Michigan-Sokon Autonomous Driving Seminar in August 2017.

In 2017, SF Motors completed the acquisition of the AM General Commercial Assembly Plant in Mishawaka, Indiana, making it the only electric vehicle company at the time to have manufacturing facilities in both the U.S. and China.[17] It will be the first manufacturing plant in the U.S. that is wholly owned by SF Motors. The acquisition includes retaining about 430 employees at the facility who previously helped build vehicles for both Mercedes-Benz and Hummer.[17]

Timeline

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Chief Scientist Martin Eberhard.
  • January 28, 2016 — SF Motors was founded in Silicon Valley, California
  • September 2016 — Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard joined SF Motors as Strategic Advisor
  • January 2017 — Parent company of SF Motors (Sokon Industry Group) granted production permit from Chinese Government to produce electric vehicles
  • March 2017 — SF Motors opens headquarters in Silicon Valley. The building has a garage with EV charging stations
  • April 2017 — Parent company of SF Motors, Sokon Motors, and University of Michigan announce plans to establish Michigan-Sokon Research Center
  • June 2017 — SF Motors announces plans to acquire commercial automotive assembly plant in Mishawaka, Indiana from AM General where Hummer H2 SUVs were formerly built.[18]
  • July 2017 — SF Motors hosts first Global Partnership Meeting at its headquarters in Silicon Valley
  • July 2017 — SF Motors establishes intelligent driving research center in Beijing
  • August 2017 — SF Motors hosts first University of Michigan-Sokon Autonomous Driving Seminar
  • September 2017 — SF Motors’ parent company granted permission by Chinese Government to issue convertible bond worth up to 1.5 Billion RMB for SF Motors
  • October 2017 — SF Motors announced the acquisition of InEVit Inc., an electric vehicle battery modularization startup headed by Martin Eberhard, industry leader and co-founder of Tesla, who joined the company as Chief Scientist and Vice Chairman of SF Motors’ Board.[19]
  • March 2018 — SF Motors unveils its cars, two all-electric sport utility vehicles, the compact SF5 and the mid-size SF7.[20]
  • July 2019 — Plans to assemble the company's first vehicle, an SUV called the SF5, have been halted for the U.S. market. Plans to assemble and sell SF5 in China continue unchanged. Layoffs have been announced at the company's California headquarters.[21]
  • That same month, Autocar reported that the company was in search of British partners to manufacture electric vehicles for SF Motors. SF Motors will serve as a supplier and would provide electric motors, and battery packs to any potential partners.[22]

Leadership

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  • John Zhang — CEO
  • Yifan Tang — CTO

Products

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Seres

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Seres is a brand of electric vehicles marketed by Seres Group. Since 2023, Seres brand has shifted to export-focus brand, while AITO and Landian became a domestic-only brand.[23]

AITO

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Main article: AITO (marque)

AITO is a brand Seres Automobile collaborates with Huawei for smart electric vehicle. Huawei is leads in the design of AITO models while Seres conducts in production. It is only operated in Chinese market.

The AITO brand was owned by Seres, but was sold to Huawei in June 2023.[26] Huawei transferred the ownership of the brand back to Seres in July 2024.[27]

Concept

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  • Seres SF6 Concept (2018)
  • Seres SF7 Concept (2018)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hyatt, Kyle (April 14, 2019). "SF Motors is back as Seres, debuting the electric SF5 SUV in Shanghai". CNET. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  2. ^ "Seres Group Co Ltd, 601127:SHH profile". Financial Times. Archived from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  3. ^ 重庆小康工业集团股份有限公司董事会 (July 12, 2022). 重庆小康工业集团股份有限公司 关于拟变更公司名称、证券简称的公告 [Chongqing Sokon Industrial Group Co., Ltd name change and stock symbol change] (PDF). Shanghai Stock Exchange (in Chinese). 601127 2022-070. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2023. (listed under 赛力斯 ( 601127 ) 公告)
    • new name: Chinese: 赛力斯集团股份有限公司 / Seres Group Co., Ltd.
    • current name: Chinese: 重庆小康工业集团股份有限公司 / Chongqing Sokon Industrial Group Co., Ltd.
  4. ^ translation of the company name: "Plant Visit: Liangjiang Intelligent Plant of Chongqing Jinkang New Energy Vehicle Co., Ltd 重庆金康新能源汽车有限公司两江智能工厂参观". European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. Archived from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d 赛力斯集团股份有限公司 2022年半年度报告 [Seres Group Co., Ltd. 2022 half-year financial report] (PDF). Seres Group (Sokon) (in Chinese). August 19, 2022. pp. 4, 17. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2023. (listed under Seres Group financial report page)
    • p4: Chinese: 赛力斯汽车有限公司 formerly Chinese: 重庆金康新能源汽车有限公司
    • p4: SF Motors Inc. Chinese: 小康（美国）新能源汽车股份有限公司; lit. 'Jinkang (America) New Energy Automobile Co.', ' Ltd.'
    • p17,p145: As of August 2022, SF Motors Inc. is still called "SF Motors Inc."
  6. ^ a b 发展历程 - 赛力斯集团 [History – Seres Group]. Seres Group (Sokon) (in Chinese). Archived from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
    • 2018三月29: "集团旗下SF MOTORS（后更名为SERES公司）"
    • 2017六月22: "公司旗下金康新能源汽车在美国的业务实施主体SF Motors"
  7. ^ "Seres puts electric car launch in the US on hold, lays off a bunch of staff". July 12, 2019.
  8. ^ "EV Startup SERES Hires Auto Industry Veteran to Lead its U.S. Operations".
  9. ^ "SF Motors Acquires Automotive Assembly Plant". SF Motors. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  10. ^ "Updated Seres SF5 Debuts As The First Car Sold By Huawei". Motor1.com. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  11. ^ "Huawei Starts to Sell New SERES SF5 Car in its China Flagship Stores". consumer.huawei.com. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  12. ^ "EXCLUSIVE Huawei deepens dive into EVs, seeks control of small automaker -sources". Reuters. April 29, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  13. ^ "Huawei asserts more influence over auto arm with new Huawei Aito branding". ArenaEV.com. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  14. ^ "问界门店员工：已接到通知，不让叫华为问界了" (in Chinese). news.sina.com.cn. April 1, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  15. ^ "F Motors Hosts Global Partner Meeting in Silicon Valley". SF Motors. Archived from the original on October 23, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  16. ^ "Michigan's Mcity innovation center". University of Michigan. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  17. ^ a b Stoll, John D. (June 22, 2017). "AM General Sells Indiana Plant to China-Backed SF Motors". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  18. ^ Gallucci, Maria (June 23, 2017). "Hummer factory gets second life making electric cars". Mashable. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  19. ^ Dunne, Michael J. "For Tesla, The Road Into China Still Looks Like A Blind Alley". Forbes. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  20. ^ Stephen Edelstein (March 30, 2018). "Startup SF Motors Unveils Two Electric Cars, Aims for 2019 Launch". TheDrive.com.
  21. ^ Tribune, Caleb Bauer and Ted Booker South Bend. "Chinese-owned company halts plan to produce electric vehicles in Mishawaka". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  22. ^ Rendell, Julian. "Chinese start-up Seres searching for UK battery partner". www.autocar.co.uk. Autocar. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  23. ^ "公司业务 - 赛力斯集团". www.seres.cn. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  24. ^ "Elektrische Seres 3 is in Nederland en heeft een prijskaartje: €37.995" [Electric Seres 3 is in the Netherlands and has a price tag: € 37,995]. December 24, 2020.
  25. ^ autotimesnews (December 10, 2020). "Another brand of electric vehicles appeared in Germany". Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  26. ^ "重磅！"问界"商标已转让给华为-开源基础软件社区-51CTO.COM". ost.51cto.com. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  27. ^ Kang, Lei (July 3, 2024). "Huawei to transfer Aito trademarks and patents it holds to Seres for $340 million". CnEVPost. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
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