Seres officially launched the Landian brand on March 30 and made its first model, the plug-in hybrid E5, available with technology from Huawei and BYD.

Landian, the new energy vehicle (NEV) sub-brand of the Seres Group, began exporting vehicles, even though the new brand was officially launched only two months ago.

On May 25, Landian shipped the first 500 units of its midsize hybrid SUV Landian E5 to overseas markets, according to a press release from the brand on Sunday.

The vehicles will arrive in two weeks in markets along the "Belt and Road", Landian said.

Seres -- a key automotive partner of Chinese tech giant Huawei -- officially launched the Landian brand on March 30 and made its first model, the plug-in hybrid E5, available.

Equipped with technology from Huawei and BYD, the Landian E5 is a mid-size SUV available in 5- and 7-seat versions with a starting price of RMB 139,900 ($18,940).

The model uses the F31A 1.5L PHEV-specific engine and DHT300 electric hybrid system from BYD's FinDreams Power.

The Landian E5 also comes with Huawei's HiCar 3.0 system, a lite version of HarmonyOS for cars, but supports features including seamless connectivity with cell phones.

The Landian E5 drew strong interest from dealer partners during online presentations with overseas dealers, Landian said yesterday.

Landian literally means blue electricity in Chinese, and the brand is positioned as a builder of the Internet of Everything ecosystem in the "E era," where the letter E refers to Electric, according to Seres.

In 2023, the Landian brand will build 340 experience stores and 160 delivery centers, Seres previously said.

Seres Group sold 6,917 NEVs in April, down 19.12 percent year-on-year and 18.73 percent from March, according to data it released earlier this month.

That includes 2,953 vehicles for the Seres brand, according to the group, which did not release NEV sales for its other brands.

($1 = RMB 7.0756)

Seres unveils new NEV brand Landian and 1st model E5 with BYD, Huawei technology