Despite earlier denials of the rumors, TikTok’s parent company is preparing to launch a car in its home country, China. It will be a crossover targeting the youthful audience typically active on social media platforms. The car itself will be manufactured by Seres, the Chinese automaker that’s also behind Huawei’s Aito brand.
Five months ago, ByteDance issued a public denial of its automotive plans. Any reports on the TikTok parent planning to manufacture vehicles were false. Case closed. But according to a detailed report by Chinese media outlet LatePost, Seres Group is launching a new automotive brand this month, with ByteDance described as “deeply involved.”
Electrified crossover
The legal entity behind the brand is Chongqing Saidou Technology, formerly known as Landian Technology. The latter is a Seres subsidiary that quietly changed its name last month.
The brand name has not been disclosed yet, but Chinese media outlets refer to the project as the “TikTok car”. The first model will be a crossover with both SUV and sedan styling cues, offered in pure electric and range-extender versions. Its target audience is exactly young drivers who are highly interested in connectivity, multimedia, and gadgets.
ByteDance is playing a major role in translating those features to the car, which will use its Volcano Engine to run its applications and software. The digital platform will not just supply a voice assistant or a music app. It will integrate its large language AI model, Doubao, intelligent cockpit architecture, content ecosystem, and database into the vehicle from the ground up. The strategy aims at high intelligence and cost-effectiveness. The TikTok audience is tech-savvy but not necessarily affluent.
Already dominant
This is not a novelty for the Chinese automotive industry. Volcano Engine’s Doubao is already the dominant AI model in the nation’s automotive sector. The company announced that Doubao is integrated into 145 car models across more than 50 brands, including foreign-branded vehicles such as the Mercedes-Benz GLC and the SAIC Volkswagen ID.ERA 9X. The big deal in this case is that Doubao is no longer a supplier product, but that an entire brand is being built around it.
The cockpit version of Doubao can handle route planning, parking assistance, and real-time conversation. It can act as a tour guide, adjusting a driver’s route to maximize exposure to scenery or landmarks. It can find the nearest parking spot to a building entrance. These are not gimmicks; they are the kind of features that have become the differentiating factor in the world’s largest car market. The TikTok car is not just another new brand, but it definitely comes with a head start.
No autonomous driving ambitions
Volcano Engine will not be designing the chassis, the battery pack, or the suspension of the crossover. Seres will do that and manufacture the model in its Chongqing factory. And critically, ByteDance has no autonomous driving ambitions.
This is different from Seres’ other technology partner, Huawei, which has its own Qiankun smart driving stack that competes with Waymo and others on a technical level. Both companies joined forces in the Aito brand. And with success. In three years, Aito hit the milestone of 1 million vehicles produced.
Seres is also distributed in Europe through locally selected dealerships. The brand has an international marketing and sales channel that is reportedly being readied for the new brand. The project sits under the global business department.
If the TikTok name remains in any way involved, Seres would be opting out of a huge opportunity to leverage the widespread recognition of the popular social media channel.
