(Yicai) Aug. 26 -- Seres Group has become the second Chinese automaker to acquire a stake in the intelligent driving subsidiary of Huawei Technologies in an CNY11.5 billion (USD1.6 billion) deal.

Seres will take a 10 percent stake in Yinwang Intelligent Technology, the Chongqing-based carmaker said yesterday. The move will help Seres achieve new growth points and support Aito, its smart new energy vehicle brand co-developed with Huawei, to grow into a world-class luxury marque, it noted.

Before this agreement, auto giant Changan Automobile had announced on Aug. 19 that its smart electric vehicle brand Avatr Technology would invest CNY11.5 billion for 10 percent of Yinwang. Founded in January, Yinwang provides intelligent driving solutions and makes smart auto cockpits, controls, cloud platforms, lighting systems, and vehicle-mounted equipment.

Huawei has three approaches when partnering with carmakers: vertical parts supplier, intelligent systems provider through the Huawei Inside partnership model, and full-set solutions provider via Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance. Huawei's collaboration with Seres on Aito falls into the third category, the one with the most deepest cooperation.

Huawei is also expected to launch new HIMA-based models with Changan Auto and Jianghuai Automobile Group, better known as JAC Group.

Yinwang had revenue of CNY10.4 billion in the first half of the year, of which CNY6.1 billion (USD856.4 million) was generated by its hardware business and CNY4.3 billion by its software and service business, according to Seres' statement. Net profit was CNY2.2 billion.

Seres sold 200,900 NEVs in the six months ended June 30, four and a half times more than a year earlier, the automaker said yesterday. Among them, 181,200 were Aito-branded cars. Revenue soared five-fold to CNY65 billion, enabling it to turn a year-earlier net loss of CNY1.3 billion into a net profit of CNY1.6 billion.

Editor: Futura Costaglione