On September 15, AITO announced an adjustment to its cooperation model with Seres and Huawei Terminal under the HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility framework. Five core functions—product definition, design, brand marketing, channel retail, and service system—will now be led by Seres, while Huawei Terminal will shift to an enabling role. The adjustment comes at a point when the two sides’ cooperation contract expired and was renewed. AITO remains a core member of HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility, and users’ existing rights and subsequent services will not be affected. There is a discrepancy between market interpretations of a split and the official position, and actual operational changes after the transfer of functions should be monitored going forward.
On September 15, AITO announced a statement on its cooperation model with HIMA, declaring that starting immediately it would explore a new cooperation model under the HIMA cooperation framework. According to the statement, five core functions—product definition, product design, brand marketing, channel retail, and service system—will be led by Seres, with Huawei Terminal participating as an enabler; it also made clear that all existing rights and subsequent services for AITO users will not be affected.
This is a relatively clear adjustment in the structure of rights and responsibilities since AITO became the earliest brand within the HIMA system. Around this change, interpretations of a "split between Huawei and Seres" quickly emerged in the market, but judging from the accounts disclosed by both sides, the event is closer to a redefinition of the cooperation model and leadership than to a termination of the cooperative relationship.
How Responsibilities Are Changing: Five Functions Transferred to Seres Leadership
According to information disclosed by AITO, this adjustment covers full-chain product and market functions. Specifically:
- Product definition and product design;
- Brand marketing;
- Channel retail;
- Service system.
The above areas will be led by Seres, while Huawei Terminal's role changes from previously leading to "participating as an enabler." This wording means Huawei Terminal remains within the cooperation chain, but the manner and depth of its involvement have changed.
Public information shows that AITO is one of the "five brands" under HIMA and the earliest of them. It was jointly created by Huawei and Seres, and previously most of its core business was led by HIMA. After this adjustment, AITO's division-of-labor position within the HIMA framework has shifted: the main operator of brand and channels now falls more clearly on the vehicle manufacturer side.
Timing of Renewal: Contract Expiration Provides an Opportunity for Adjustment
According to Gasgoo's understanding from a senior industry figure who has long followed the two sides' cooperation, an important opportunity for AITO to change its cooperation model was that the cooperation contract between HIMA and Seres expired on September 15. After completing the renewal, the two sides reached agreement based on their respective needs and adjusted the cooperation model.
In other words, the redivision of leadership occurred at the juncture of a contract cycle change and was part of the renewal negotiations, rather than a unilateral action outside the contractual relationship. The person also said that the main change in the new cooperation model is the adjustment of leadership.
This timeline is a key clue to understanding the nature of this event: contract expiration—renewal—model adjustment forms a relatively complete causal chain. Simplifying it as "one party exiting" does not match the information disclosed.
The Difference Between "Split" Rumors and Official Accounts
After the adjustment news was released, discussion about a "split between Huawei and Seres" heated up again.
Judging from AITO's statement, it emphasized that AITO remains one of the core members of the HIMA family. This positioning is clearly at odds with the "split" narrative. At the same time, the wording in the statement that "Huawei Terminal participates as an enabler" also indicates that Huawei Terminal still retains a role in the cooperation structure, only shifting from leading to participating.
It is necessary to distinguish two different levels of questions: first, whether the cooperation continues; second, who leads within the cooperation. The information disclosed so far mainly points to the latter. As for the detailed rules of collaboration between the two sides in specific areas such as technology, channels, and services, public information has not provided more details.
What It Means for the HIMA System
HIMA uses the “Five Jie” as the basic structure of its brand matrix, and AITO is a veteran member among them. As the first “Jie” to be launched, AITO’s cooperation model, for a long period before this, served to some extent as a reference sample for the outside world to understand the division of labor between HIMA and automakers.
From this perspective, the informational value of this adjustment is not limited to AITO alone:
First, it shows that HIMA’s cooperation framework has a certain degree of flexibility, allowing member brands to renegotiate leadership at the point of contract renewal;
Second, it further makes explicit the principal position of automakers in product definition and brand channels, while Huawei Device’s role is defined as enabling;
Third, user rights and services were singled out and given a commitment that they would be “unaffected,” indicating that the most sensitive area of concern in changes to the cooperation model has been brought into the scope of communication.
For other brands in the industry that adopt similar cooperation paths, this adjustment by AITO provides an observable sample: when cooperation enters the next contract cycle, how rights and responsibilities are redistributed and how brand asset ownership is defined will become topics at the negotiating table.
Points to Watch Going Forward
Based on the information currently public, several directions are worth continuing to track:
- After the transfer of five functions, AITO’s actual changes in product cadence and channel operations;
- The specific boundaries and forms of Huawei Device’s “participation in enabling”;
- How the continuity of user rights and services is delivered in actual operations;
- Whether similar adjustments appear in the cooperation models of other HIMA member brands.
As of publication, AITO has made statements regarding the adjustment of the cooperation model and user rights, and the cooperation contract between the two parties has been renewed. As for the substantive impact of this adjustment on AITO’s subsequent market performance, it still awaits answers from time and data.
