Chongqing's Seres and Changan Report Strong January Sales, Boosting 2025 Outlook

Chongqing - On February 5, following the 8-day Spring Festival holiday, major automobile companies in Chongqing resumed operations. Brands like Seres and Changan Auto recently revealed strong January sales, setting a positive tone for 2025.

Seres reported 17,906 electric vehicles (EVs) sold in January, with the AITO M9 series delivering 12,483 units, maintaining the top spot in China's luxury market for vehicles priced above 500,000 yuan (USD 68,594) for 10 consecutive months.

Seres's vehicle sales data in January 2025. (Graphic/Huxin Luo)

Changan Auto achieved a total of 275,700 vehicles sold in January, including 67,487 EVs, a 26.8% increase year-on-year. Its overseas sales reached 62,016 units, growing 10% year-on-year.

Changan Auto's vehicle sales data in January 2025. (Graphic/Huxin Luo)

The strong sales performance in 2025 can be attributed to the high automation and intelligence in the production lines at both companies' factories.

A Seres representative shared that the Seres Super Factory in Liangjiang New Area uses over 3,000 collaborative robots and fully automates key processes. It also employs ton-level integrated die-casting technology, combining 87 parts into one to improve efficiency and quality.

Seres’ marketing director highlighted the company’s continued focus on the luxury vehicle market in 2025. The success of the AITO M9 reinforced confidence in its commitment to exceptional product quality and service. 

Seres recently introduced its next-generation super-range-extender system, which converts 1 liter of fuel into over 3.6 kWh of electricity, reducing fuel consumption by 15% and noise by 90%.

In partnership with Huawei, Seres also integrated the HUAWEI ADS 3.0 intelligent driving assistance system into its AITO models, enhancing their intelligence.

As the world's largest 5G car factory, Changan Auto's Digital Intelligence Factory uses 5G and industrial IoT to connect production equipment, personnel, materials, and data. With over 12,000 interconnected devices, the factory collects one million data points every second.

Changan Auto is advancing its smart technology with features like remote intelligent parking and a high-level intelligent driving software stack. Its Avatr brand is developing new intelligent driving solutions using large models.

On February 5, after the Spring Festival holiday, workers performed welding operations at Changan Auto's factory in Liangjiang New Area. (Photo/Wang Jiaxi)

Recently, Chongqing Customs District released the 2024 automotive export data. The city exported 477,000 vehicles in 2024, a 29.6% increase from the previous year. The total export value reached 43.11 billion yuan, up 30% from the previous year.

Chongqing Customs District recently released the 2024 automotive export data for Chongqing. (Graphic/Huxin Luo)

Both Seres and Changan are expanding their international presence. Clifford Kang, the Vice President of Seres, highlighted that Seres is actively pursuing globalization. Seres EVs are now sold in 62 countries, including Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Southeast Asia, with over 300 dealers and more than 500,000 cars exported.

At Changan Auto’s 2025 Global Partner Conference, Chairman Zhu Huarong outlined five key projects: starting production at the Rayong plant in Thailand, expanding into Europe, producing auto components in the CIS region (including Kazakhstan), launching a subsidiary in Brazil and introducing Changan, Deepal, and Avatr brands to the Middle East and Africa.