The largest IPO by a Chinese automaker has been born.

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Author | Chai Xuchen

Editor | Zhang Xiaoling

Seres, a leading figure among China’s new auto-making forces and a benchmark high-end new energy vehicle brand, is set to take the stage of the capital market once again.

On November 5th, Seres officially debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, ultimately pricing at the maximum offering price of HK$131.5 per share, raising a total of about HK$14 billion, making it the largest Chinese auto company IPO to date and the largest global car company IPO since 2025.

Such a lavish start is thanks to AITO’s success in the high-end market. The explosive popularity of flagship models M9 and M8 carved out the core profit shares from BBA (Benz, BMW, Audi), with sales soaring, catapulting Seres to the top of the new forces in just two years and becoming a model of phenomenal auto-making.

Seres’ “refreshing turnaround story” in the new energy track and capital markets owes much to Huawei’s support. In the eyes of many industry insiders, this has become the core selling point behind Seres’ value of over two hundred billion yuan. This IPO in Hong Kong is also seen as a valuation test for the “Huawei system car making.”

But after being helped to the stage by Huawei, Seres cannot expect to be carried forever. This Hong Kong listing is an opportunity to raise funds and seek reevaluation.

According to the prospectus, Seres plans to use 70% of the IPO funding for R&D. This is seen as an important signal of Seres strengthening its independent capability in key technologies and reducing external dependence. Not long ago, Seres announced cooperation with ByteDance to enter the embodied intelligence track, seemingly aspiring to become the “Chinese Tesla.”

From this moment on, Seres aims to fight independently. Chairman Zhang Xinghai, once again going all in, wants to seize the high ground in the new industrial revolution and to reverse Seres’ fate for the fourth time.

The Darling of Capital

Nine years ago, with a price of 5.81 yuan/share and a modest 700 million yuan raise in the A-share market, Zhang Xinghai probably didn’t expect that the auto company he led would welcome another round of capital market betting at 20 times the price nine years later.

On November 5th, with the ringing of the HKEx bell echoing in the trading hall, domestic new force luxury car star Seres made a red carpet debut on the Hong Kong stock market. This is the largest automotive financing in the Hong Kong market this year. According to the allotment result, Seres’ Hong Kong IPO raised about HK$14.283 billion, with net proceeds about HK$14.016 billion.

Seres is quite confident this time: though announcing the issue price at a discount to A-shares, the over-100-times subscription enthusiasm pushed Seres to price at the upper limit. The price gap between the two exchanges is only 21.8%, leaving little extra “meat” for investors.

Some investors believe that the offering price of HK$131.5 is relatively high, which may put some pressure on the stock price. Some institutions point out that Seres, as a leading contender in new energy vehicles, has huge potential, and the high offering price reflects market recognition of its future value—as a number of institutions are willing to back it up.

In this IPO, Seres attracted 22 cornerstone investors, collectively subscribing about HK$6.42 billion, including Chongqing Industry Fund, Linyuan Fund, Huatai Capital, GF Fund, Sanhua Intelligent Controls, Yunfeng Fund, Mirae Securities, and other industrial, financial, and international long-term capital.

For some securities professionals, in Seres’ Hong Kong IPO narrative, AITO in partnership with Huawei is always the core value label and the key lever to attract international capital. In other words, the institutions are to a large extent buying the “Huawei brand.”

However, it is an undisputed fact that Seres’ performance is strong this year. Amid fierce industry competition, Seres shows slowing sales but growing profits. In the first three quarters, Seres recorded sales of 304,000 units, down 3.8% year-on-year; meanwhile, revenue grew 3.7% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to the parent soared over 30%, earning 5.31 billion yuan—approaching last year’s total profit.

According to Zhongtai Securities, Seres’ profit improvement mainly benefits from the growth of high-end models, with the AITO M9 and M8 accounting for 65.5% of sales in the first three quarters, whereas it was only 36.5% in 2024. This drove Seres’ gross margin from 7.2% in 2023 to 29.5% in Q3 this year.

By the end of October, cumulative deliveries of all AITO M9 models exceeded 250,000 units, setting a new record for Chinese luxury models above 500,000 yuan. For 18 consecutive months, it has ranked first in monthly sales among luxury cars priced above 500,000 yuan, ending BBA’s long-term monopoly in this segment.

The explosive success of high-premium flagship products shattered the key barriers of BBA, solidifying AITO’s position in luxury cars. Seres’ fortune soared accordingly, and its destiny has become deeply entwined with Huawei. In the five years of partnership with Huawei, Seres’ market value has risen over 12-fold.

On listing day, Seres’ market cap briefly reached HK$220 billion, surpassing NIO, XPeng, Li Auto, Great Wall, Geely, and Chery. In Hong Kong's auto sector, only BYD was ahead of it.

Being Prepared Before it Rains

After nearly 40 years immersed in business, Zhang Xinghai has played the capital game countless times and knows that capital “lends you an umbrella when it’s sunny, but takes it back when it rains.”

In terms of timing, this trip to Hong Kong comes at the moment when AITO’s explosive growth brings a profit inflection point. High gross margins and improved profitability provide Seres the support needed for an IPO, but also mark a phase where internal funding comes under pressure.

On the surface, Seres seems to have become a “money-making machine” with Huawei backing. After four consecutive years of total losses nearing 10 billion yuan, the M9, which dethroned the BBA, brought Seres into the black last year, netting 5.946 billion yuan, making it the world’s fourth profitable new energy vehicle company. It’s doing even better this year.

But miracles come with costs.

According to the prospectus, Seres’ purchases from its largest supplier “Supplier A” (Huawei) have increased year by year. From 2022 to 2024, purchases rose from 5.8 billion yuan to 42 billion yuan, accounting for 14.5%, 17.4%, and 30.2% of total procurement. In the first half of this year, this proportion remained at about 30% of revenue.

In the “Five AITO” scenario, in order to further bind itself to Huawei in technology, decision-making, and supply chain for more reliable guarantees, Seres even spent 11.5 billion yuan to acquire a 10% stake in Huawei Auto Solutions.

On the other hand, since 2022, Seres’ marketing expenses have been more than three times its R&D, much higher than BYD’s 0.45, Geely’s 1.27, Xiaomi’s 1.05, and Leapmotor’s 0.74. In the first three quarters of this year, Seres’ marketing expenses increased another 15% to 15.99 billion yuan, 3.2 times the R&D expenses for the same period.

This means Seres needs more funding to support AITO’s rapid operations. According to insiders, while Seres’ cash seems abundant, a high proportion is in structured deposits and restricted funds. The company does need fresh funds via the Hong Kong listing.

Beyond the financial pressures, in the longer term, Seres also wants to restructure its relationship with Huawei and become more independent.

Previously, Seres was the sole “chosen one” in Huawei’s Intelligent Selection Car program, enjoying all of Huawei’s technical, brand, and channel empowerment. This was the starting point for AITO’s miracle. But as the other “Four AITO” join in, Seres changed from “only child” to “eldest son.” While this position is still stable, the risk of diluted resources is real, as sibling models like AITO Enjoy S9 and Honor S800 vie for the high-end market share.

Although Seres cannot yet do without Huawei, it wants to quickly step out of its “big brother’s” shadow—something Zhang Xinghai has been planning for a long time.

Seres’ Hong Kong listing was decided as early as April this year, and from submitting its application until the China Securities Regulatory Commission granted its overseas listing record in September, through passing the HKEx hearing in October, to the November 5th IPO, the process has moved very swiftly.

In addition to raising capital, Seres’ other major goal in Hong Kong is to use the new capital market platform to prove it’s not just an automaker, but also a tech company.

A Brand-New Narrative

The prospectus shows that Seres plans to spend 70% of net IPO proceeds on R&D; 20% on diverse new marketing channels, overseas sales, and charging network services to enhance global brand awareness; and 10% for operating capital and general corporate use.

For Seres, being in the Hong Kong stock market is not only an additional financing channel but also supports expansion overseas and adds fuel to its drive for independence.

The prospectus clearly states: the company needs to build a more open valuation system via Hong Kong to support globalization and reduce reliance on domestic credit systems and A-share financing channels. Choosing Hong Kong for the listing also matches the AITO brand’s plans to go global and seek growth in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

But to achieve true independence, Seres needs to develop its own core capabilities.

Specifically, R&D investment will be around three areas: first, upgrading the “Cube” platform architecture; second, investing more in intelligent driving algorithms and the HarmonyOS cockpit; third, developing next-generation electric drive and range-extended systems.

Judging from R&D spending, Seres invested nearly 5.2 billion yuan in the first half of the year. Zhang Xinghai also stated that 5 billion yuan will be spent this year to build an R&D center. His “public strategy” is aimed at one of the hottest tracks of the year—embodied intelligence.

In October, Seres announced its wholly-owned subsidiary signed a “Framework Agreement for Embodied Intelligence Business Cooperation” with ByteDance’s Volcano Engine, venturing into the smart robot track. Because Zhang Xinghai senses an opportunity.

At Nvidia’s annual shareholders meeting this June, Jensen Huang emphasized that AI and robotics are the two biggest growth opportunities, representing trillions of dollars of growth. Morgan Stanley predicts that by 2050, 1 billion robots will be deployed globally, making a market worth $5 trillion, about twice the combined 2023 revenues of the world’s 20 largest carmakers.

In the eyes of industry insiders, carmakers have a head start in humanoid robot manufacturing and application. XPeng, Changan, and others are rushing into humanoid robots. Elon Musk considers his “Optimus” humanoid robot as Tesla’s core future value, first aiming to disrupt Tesla’s own factory operations.

Clearly, Seres also wants to leverage in-car AI to expand into the robot sector, aiming to replicate Tesla’s ecosystem migration from cars to humanoid robots—perhaps opening up a trillion-yuan market for Seres. On listing day, Zhang Xinghai revealed Seres is exploring implementation of AI+, to promote a shift to a tech-focused company.

Some sell-side analysts believe 2025 net profit CAGR for auto parts is only 12%; but in the robot sector, 2025-2027 shipment CAGR is 60%, and with Seres' 10% cost reduction at automotive-grade and OEM endorsement, its net profit CAGR could be raised to 45%.

CITIC Securities bluntly said Seres could become China’s Tesla. Southwest Securities noted that referencing Tesla’s 50% P/S jump after its 2022 robot launch event, Seres’ valuation could rise to 30-40x P/S or above.

It can be said that at the peak of its performance, Seres is proactively seeking change, hedging potential growth bottlenecks and identity anxiety with a grand narrative about the future. This is another big gamble by Zhang Xinghai, as Seres has succeeded through a series of bold bets.

This time, he wants the market to reassess Seres’ long-term value—not merely a “Huawei concept stock,” but a technological company with real potential to lead future industrial transformation.

If Seres can successfully break through, it may blaze a trail for Chinese carmakers from technical dependence to ecological leadership. This road will certainly be full of thorns, but also of infinite possibilities.

Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market carries risk. Investment needs caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account individual users’ special investment objectives, financial situations, or needs. Users should consider whether any opinion, viewpoint, or conclusion in this article suits their own circumstances. Investing accordingly is at your own risk. ```