Gasgoo Munich- Speaking at the plenary session of the 2026 China Auto Chongqing Summit, Seres Group Chairman Zhang Xinghai delivered a speech against the backdrop of an industry where smart EVs are advancing rapidly, yet safety incidents still occur.
He emphasized that building successful new-energy vehicles starts with a rigorous focus on safety innovation. "Without safety, all efforts are nullified. There is no path to high-end positioning or high-quality development."
Image source: China Auto Chongqing Forum
A 40-year industry veteran, Zhang pointed out that smart EV safety has expanded from traditional physical protection to a multi-dimensional system covering electrical, software, cyber, and AI security. Seres adheres to a philosophy of "no intelligence without safety, no electrification without safety, no luxury without safety." It has built an intelligent safety architecture spanning over 200 scenarios and 400 functions.
He revealed that AITO vehicles have logged a cumulative 32.2 billion km, with over 7.8 billion km driven with ADAS. Their safety performance stands at 8.29 times the industry average, having potentially avoided a total of 359 collisions.
Meanwhile, Zhang confronted the challenge of volatile raw material prices. Memory chip costs have surged from 20 RMB to nearly 100 RMB, while lithium carbonate has climbed from 80,000 to 180,000 RMB per ton. That alone added 15,000 to 20,000 RMB to the cost of each AITO vehicle. With material costs rising and new car prices falling, automakers face pressure from both ends.
He called for industry self-discipline, urging companies to balance survival with sustainable development. Technology may march forward, he stressed, but safety remains the non-negotiable baseline for any premium brand.
