On June 6th, Beijing Time, ByteDance officially issued a statement regarding its stance on car manufacturing. Here are the specifics:

We have observed that certain recent reports have mistakenly linked 'Saido' to the 'Doubao automotive brand' or implied that ByteDance is venturing into car manufacturing:

1. These assertions are incorrect. ByteDance has no intentions of manufacturing cars or launching an automotive brand.

2. Saido is not an automotive brand initiated by ByteDance or Doubao, nor does ByteDance have any equity partnership with Saido.

3. The collaboration between Doubao, Volcano Engine, and partners in the automotive industry mainly revolves around providing technical solutions, such as the Doubao large model and smart cockpit technologies, to enhance the intelligent interaction experience within vehicles for our industry partners.

ByteDance's statement comes in response to a report by 'Late Auto' on May 30th, which detailed the cooperation between Seres and ByteDance.

The report highlighted that ByteDance internally referred to the project as 'Project A,' spearheaded by Volcano Engine Vice President Yang Liwei. On Seres' end, the project was overseen by the Global Business Unit of the Overseas BU, with initial negotiations led by Li Bo, President of Overseas Business. The report also suggested that Volcano Engine's involvement this time would exceed its previous collaboration with SAIC Roewe, which involved 'joint definition and development'.

The direct link between Saido and ByteDance stems from the rebranding of Seres' subsidiary, Landian Technology Co., Ltd., to 'Saido Technology.' Earlier, on May 26th, Seres announced that Landian Technology had secured a substantial investment of 6.67 billion yuan from the Chongqing local government and listed companies, including CATL and Xingyu Shares.

The primary confusion arises from the name 'Saido,' which appears to be a blend of 'Seres' and 'Doubao.' Such connections are somewhat understandable given the circumstances.

Nevertheless, ByteDance's response came a full week after the rumors surfaced, raising questions about whether this delay was due to internal verification procedures or ByteDance's inexperience in managing market rumors.

More plausibly, the market rumors did not resonate well with investors, as evidenced by Seres' stock price, which declined instead of rising, hitting a new low.

In the week following the announcement of 'Saido Technology,' A-share listed Seres experienced a downward trend, closing lower in four out of the past five trading days, with a cumulative decline of 7.00% over the five-day period. The stock price reached a near 20-month low of 74.35 yuan (closing at 75.01 yuan) on June 5th, while the H-share also hit a new low of 61.75 Hong Kong dollars (closing at 61.80 Hong Kong dollars) on the same day.

Had Seres witnessed two consecutive daily limit ups on Monday and Tuesday, ByteDance's statement might have been issued sooner.

In essence, no capital has yet acknowledged the value of 'Saido Technology.' Given the fierce competition in the new energy vehicle market, it is reasonable for investors to withhold their endorsement until they see the actual product. The competitiveness of the released products remains to be evaluated.

However, there is also the possibility that the product positioning and pricing of 'Saido Technology' could negatively impact Seres' current gross and net profit margins, which may be a more significant concern for investors.

Regardless, from ByteDance's statement, it is evident that ByteDance, at least for the time being, has no plans to enter the automotive sector, unlike its forays into smartphones, glasses, and earphones.

Who can predict the future? After all, the automotive industry is widely regarded as the primary sector for the commercialization of physical AI, with autonomous driving nearing a commercial turning point. However, 17 years have elapsed since Google X Lab's self-driving car project commenced in 2009, with billions of dollars invested in autonomous driving technology during this period.