AITO Sets Sail for New Blue Oceans

AITO's overseas expansion is poised to accelerate.

On November 2, Seres disclosed its "Investor Relations Record Form." In the document, Seres stated: AITO is firmly committed to becoming a global high-end brand, and the entire AITO lineup is advancing through EU WVTA E1 whole-vehicle type certification. The company will also persist in completing the entire process to high standards, ensuring products go overseas in a compliant and reliable manner.

(Image source: Seres)

At the Paris Motor Show held in mid-October, Seres had already officially announced that the AITO brand will formally enter the European market in autumn 2027 and displayed four models: AITO M6, M7, M8, and M9.

So why did AITO choose this moment to go overseas? For AITO, what is the significance of entering the European market? The following is an analysis by DiChetong (ID: dianchetong233).

Targeting the High-End Market: AITO Aims to Bring Luxury Intelligence to Europe

As early as 2024, the AITO brand had already appeared at the Paris Motor Show. But at that time, AITO's main purpose in exhibiting was still a concentrated display of brand image and promotion of the "AITO Mountains and Rivers · Intelligent Driving Europe Tour" event, which at the time lasted 38 days, crossed 12 countries, and covered 15,000 kilometers.

After that, the AITO brand carried out preliminary overseas attempts and practices targeting different overseas markets.

For example, in August 2025, the AITO brand held the "AITO Mountains and Seas · Intelligent Journey ASEAN Launch Event" at the Seres Super Factory in Chongqing, announcing that the brand would set off from Chongqing and travel south through Southeast Asia, using the opportunity to gain insight into overseas user needs.

At the Munich IAA Mobility show held in September 2025, AITO released the Middle East versions of three models—AITO 5, AITO 7, and AITO 9—and officially announced that these three models had passed UAE market certification and were about to go on sale locally.

In February this year, Seres signed a strategic cooperation agreement with ADM, a leading UAE dealer group, under which dealers under the group would be solely responsible for sales, delivery, and after-sales in the UAE. In the same month, Seres officially announced that the AITO brand had obtained its first order for 200 vehicles in the UAE.

However, in the view of DiChetong (ID: dianchetong233), AITO's previous preliminary overseas exploration and practice targeting ASEAN and Middle East markets differs completely in significance from this appearance at the Paris Motor Show and the official announcement of entry into the European market.

(Image source: Seres)

First, as the birthplace of the automotive industry, Europe also has relatively strict access certification standards. For example, the crash test ratings and detailed results given by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) are widely recognized by the industry and used as one of the important references for measuring vehicle safety.

That is to say, if a model can pass European access certification and be launched and delivered locally, then it will be relatively much easier for it to expand into other regional markets in the future.

In order to smoothly enter the European market, the AITO brand has also made considerable adjustments to its existing models.

According to a 36Kr report, AITO models sold in overseas markets will switch to Bosch's full set of intelligent solutions, covering advanced assisted driving, intelligent cockpits, intelligent chassis, and other aspects; this news has not yet been officially confirmed, and Bosch has also tentatively scheduled mass production of high-speed NOA assisted driving functions for September next year.

So the question arises: why did the AITO brand choose to go overseas at this stage? And why would the AITO brand, jointly built by Huawei and Seres, switch to Bosch solutions for its overseas models?

Entering a New Stage of Exclusive Dedicated Operations: AITO Moves Toward a Broader Blue Ocean

In the just-passed October, AITO's cooperation with Huawei entered a brand-new stage of development. The two sides reached a new five-year cooperation agreement on October 1, the core of which is that AITO and Huawei will continue to work closely together, and the AITO brand channel will adopt an exclusive dedicated operation plan.

Less than two weeks later, on October 12, AITO displayed four models—M6, M7, M8, and M9—at the Paris Motor Show and officially announced its overseas plan.

Although neither Seres nor Harmony Intelligent Mobility mentioned the operating model for overseas markets, judging from the current results, AITO's overseas expansion is still handled by Seres itself. Moreover, the fact that AITO's overseas models can change the supplier of intelligent solutions from Huawei to Bosch also demonstrates Seres's autonomy in this regard.

In the view of DiChetong (ID: dianchetong233), the "de-Huaweiization" of the AITO brand in overseas markets has significance in several respects:

First, Huawei is still under sanctions in many overseas countries. If a certain technology supplied by Huawei and used in AITO brand models happens to fall within the scope of sanctions, it may affect the compliance of overseas expansion and slow down the process. Moreover, if the local government issues corresponding prohibitions to impose restrictions after the vehicles are launched, it would have a certain negative impact on AITO's overseas process and on the interests of consumers in the local European market.

Second, European users' demand for in-vehicle human-machine interaction also differs to some extent from that of Chinese consumers. For example, the Polestar brand under Volvo has two versions of the in-car operating system for its global model Polestar 4: a Chinese version and a global version. If the domestic cockpit were directly used in models sold in the European market, it might not necessarily match local users' car-buying habits.

Moreover, Bosch is a long-established automotive industry supplier headquartered in Europe. Seres's choice of Bosch as its intelligentization partner for entering the European market can better meet local consumers' car-buying needs and also help products reach the market sooner.

So why did AITO choose this moment to go overseas?

On the one hand, competition in the domestic luxury SUV segment is too fierce. Many automakers have launched six-seat and seven-seat SUV models, and there are even more and more models equipped with Huawei assisted driving and HarmonyOS cockpits. These models are continuously lowering prices in pursuit of higher sales, which to some extent affects the living space of AITO's models.

Seres has repeatedly stated that it insists on not participating in price wars or involution. For this reason, it is very necessary to explore broader blue ocean markets overseas.

On the other hand, the conflict between China and the EU over electric vehicle exports is being resolved. Choosing to go overseas at this stage can seize window-period opportunities and avoid later policy changes that could affect the brand's landing in the European market.

(Image source: Seres)

In addition to AITO, Luxeed, also part of Harmony Intelligent Mobility, announced its overseas plan in October. According to information officially disclosed by Luxeed, its first overseas stop targets the UAE market. The first batch of overseas models are the LLounge based on Luxeed V9 and the Stormax based on Luxeed RX. These two models will likewise not carry Huawei's software and hardware, but will instead use self-developed Falcon Intelligent Driving and Lingxi Intelligent Cockpit.

In summary, for AITO, going overseas to Europe in 2027 is a good opportunity with favorable timing, geographical advantages, and supportive conditions. It is hoped that after AITO vehicles land in the European market, they can drive further growth in total sales and ultimately achieve the goal of overseas sales accounting for one third.

Accelerating the Overseas Journey: AITO Is After More Than Just Sales

For AITO, the core significance of going overseas lies in driving sales and revenue growth and promoting healthier development.

BYD, Geely, and Chery have all recently increased their attention to overseas markets and achieved further increases in overseas sales, thereby largely offsetting the risk of sales decline brought by lower domestic demand for automobiles; at the same time, vehicle prices in the European market are relatively higher, which can also raise the overall gross margin of vehicles.

Moreover, because product certification in the European market is stricter, if AITO's overseas models can pass access certification and gain consumer recognition in terms of quality, it will also prove their product reliability to a large extent, thereby forcefully countering long-standing negative public opinion on Chinese social media about the quality of AITO models and strengthening consumer confidence.

Overall, AITO's move into Europe this time can not only broaden sales channels in overseas markets but also better prove its own strength.

There is less than a year left until autumn 2027. It is hoped that AITO can make steady progress during this period and bear fruitful results in the European market.

Source: Leitech

Images in this article are from: 123RF licensed image library Source: Leitech