Seres Group formerly known as Sokon Group or Chongqing Sokon Industry Group Co., Ltd, is a Chinese automobile manufacturer founded in September 1986 and headquartered in Chongqing, China. Born as a manufacturer of home appliance components and shock absorbers, this company currently produces passenger cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles, as well as shock absorbers and internal combustion engines. In 2022, the company changed its name from Sokon Group to Seres Group and operates in the global market through its subsidiaries Seres, DFSK Motor, XGJAO Motorcycle and Yu'an Shock Absorber Company. It is one of the most progressive automotive enterprises in China. The shareholders of Seres are 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", meaning "China".
What you need to know
The predecessor of Sokon Group was Chongqing Baxian Fenghuang Electronic Factory. The products, which were designed for both the Chinese and Japanese markets, quickly achieved 90% market share in this industry. In September 1996, the Chongqing Yu'an Shock Absorber Company was established, which marked the establishment of a new plant dedicated to the production of shock absorbers for automobiles and motorcycles. The plant incredibly quickly reached its maximum production capacity, which exceeded 1.5 million units per year. Subsequently, the company changed its name to Chongqing Yu'an Innovation Technology (Group).
Due to its huge success in the component manufacturing business, Chongqing Yu'an decided to enter directly into the automobile and motorcycle manufacturing industry and has entered into a series of agreements with both Japanese and Chinese manufacturers to create a new line of vehicles. In July 2002, XGJAO Motorbyke, a manufacturer of low-cost sports motorcycles aimed primarily at the younger generations, was founded and the first models (the F4 followed in the following years by the F5, F6 and F7) were launched.
In the automobile manufacturing business, an agreement was signed with Suzuki for the licensing of chassis and engines for minibuses and small commercial vehicles, and a new 50:50 joint venture was established with Dongfeng Motor Corporation on 27 June 2003, Dongfeng Yu'an Automobile 50:50, based in Chongqing and with an assembly plant in Wuhan. Subsequently, an engineering centre for the design of electric vehicles was established under the name of Chongqing Ruichi Automobile Company. In 2005, the Dongfeng plant in Wuhan began production of the first vehicle of this joint venture: the Dongfeng Yu'an K-series microbus, which was exported abroad, including to Europe. Meanwhile, in May 2012, when production of passenger vehicles started, the millionth vehicle was produced.
In 2016, production of the first SUVs began under a joint venture with Dongfeng Group called DFSK Glory 580. In addition, the start-up SF Motors was established in Santa Clara, California, with the intention of producing electric vehicles. SF Motors bought AM General's manufacturing plant and opened three EV development and design centres, one in California, one in Michigan and one in Chongqing. In late 2018, the group was restructured, with Sokon acquiring Dongfeng's stake in the joint venture for €621 million, becoming the sole owner of DFSK. In exchange, Dongfeng acquired 26.1 % shares of Sokon for €620 million and became its majority shareholder.
In January 2019, an agreement was signed with Huawei to develop information technology and software for electric vehicles. In order to improve the production of electric vehicles, the company signed an agreement with battery manufacturer CATL in April 2022, which will run until 2026. In July 2022, the company's name was changed to Seres Group. In August 2024, Seres Group announced that it would invest in Huawei's subsidiary "Yinwang" (Shenzhen Yinwang Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.), representing 10 % of its shares, with a price of RMB11.5 billion.
There is a lot of interest in the cars of this car company. The table below shows the sales and transition from transport cars to passenger cars.
Year | Total | Cheese | DFSK | Fengon | Landian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 226,198 | - | 226,198 | - | |
| 2011 | 243,053 | - | 243,053 | - | |
| 2012 | 202,991 | - | 202,991 | - | |
| 2013 | 205,019 | - | 205,019 | - | |
| 2014 | 277,000 | - | 277,000 | - | |
| 2015 | 275,316 | - | 114,160 | 161,156 | - |
| 2016 | 381,636 | - | 122,639 | 258,997 | - |
| 2017 | 400,038 | - | 400,038 | - | |
| 2018 | 347,837 | - | 347,837 | - | |
| 2019 | 325,381 | - | 325,381 | - | |
| 2020 | 273,590 | - | 273,590 | - | |
| 2021 | 266,614 | 8,169[19] | 258,445 | - | |
| 2022 | 267,246 | 80,041[20] | 187,205 | - | |
| 2023 | 253,181 | 106,703[21] | 146,478 | ||
The portfolio of sold car-miles is varied and responds to demand
Seres car series. Seres is a brand of electric vehicles sold by the Seres Group. As of 2023, the Seres brand has been repositioned as an export brand, while AITO has become a brand for the domestic market only. Pictured below is the Seres 7.
Car series: SERES
SERES is a brand that Seres Automobile is working on with Huawei in the field of smart electric vehicles.
Car series: AITO
AITO is a brand that Seres Automobile is working with Huawei on for smart electric vehicles. Huawei is involved in the design of AITO models, while Seres is involved in their production.
Car series: landian
Landian is Seres' brand for low-cost electric vehicles, which was introduced in March 2023. The word Landian literally means blue electricity in Chinese.
Car series: RUICHI
Chongqing Ruichi Automobiles was established in September 2003. The company is a fully-funded pure electric commercial vehicle subsidiary of the Chongqing Sokon Group.
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