Hyperdrive

Chinese Luxury Carmaker Seres Comes From Behind to Overtake BMW

An Aito M9Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

In under four years, Seres Group Co., a small Chinese automaker once best known for its 30,000 yuan ($4,200) minivans, has beaten luxury legacy names like BMW and Mercedes to become the nation’s hottest high-end car seller.

Formerly called DFSK Motor, Seres partnered with telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co. in 2021 to launch the Aito brand of premium electric and hybrid sport utility vehicles. Since then, Seres has had a dizzying rise. Sales tripled in three years to around 427,000 vehicles in 2024, while the company’s Shanghai-listed stock is up 120%.