In China, the partnership with Huawei has made people know Seres but not Chongqing Sokon.

(Image credit: Seres)

Since Seres partnered with Huawei last year, the sub-brand of Chongqing Sokon has become better known than its parent company. Now, the most important partner of Huawei in the automotive industry intends to make good use of the rise of Seres' reputation.

Chongqing Sokon Industrial Group Co Ltd (SHA: 601127) plans to change its official name to Seres Group Co Ltd, the Shanghai-listed company said in an announcement Monday.

The abbreviation for the company's shares traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) will also change from Sokon to Seres, with the stock code 601127 remaining unchanged.

The move is to facilitate investors' accurate understanding of the company's current positioning and to match the company's name with its business and strategic plan, thereby unifying the company's brand image and enhancing its brand value, the announcement said.

Chongqing Sokon has been involved in the new energy vehicles (NEVs) business since 2016, and after years of technology accumulation and continuous investment in research and development, the company has made a number of achievements in the fields of automotive, electric drive, smart connectivity and autonomous driving, it said.

The company currently has a pure electric drive intelligent extended-range platform DE-i, which has developed competitive technologies and products in the field of NEVs, it said.

The company's name change is subject to approval by the market regulatory authorities, while the change of its stock abbreviation requires approval by the SSE, its announcement noted.

Chongqing Sokon, which was not known to many in China until last year, came into the spotlight because Huawei announced on April 20, 2021 that the company would officially start selling cars, with the Seres SF5 from Seres as the first model to enter its channel.

Seres announced the joint launch of a premium NEV brand with Huawei called AITO on December 2 last year, and on December 23 last year the brand unveiled its first model, the Wenjie M5.

AITO launched the brand's second model on July 4, the M7, a luxury large electric SUV jointly designed by Seres and Huawei. The AITO M7 received more than 10,000 orders two hours after reservations became available, the brand said.

Chongqing Sokon sold a record 12,418 NEVs in June, up 185.41 percent from 4,351 units a year earlier and 18.81 percent from 10,452 units in May, figures released earlier this month showed.

The Seres brand sold 7,658 units in June, up 524.12 percent from the same month last year. Year-to-date, Seres' cumulative sales are 21,581 units, up 884.98 percent year-on-year.