(Yicai) July 1 -- Contemporary Amperex Technology, the world's biggest maker of electric vehicle batteries, has launched its first production line based inside another company’s factory, supplying customized power cells and packs for Seres Group’s premium electric vehicle brand Aito.

Two CATL Cell-to-Pack 2.0 production lines started making batteries at Seres’ super factory in the Chinese city of Chongqing yesterday, the Ningde-based company announced the same day.

The factory-in-factory model involves embedding a fully functional, self-operated production line inside a partner’s larger industrial site. The new workshop also marks CATL’s first production base in Chongqing and is expected to accelerate the manufacturing and delivery of Aito models, reducing customer wait times.

Founded in December 2021, Aito is a premium EV brand developed by Chongqing-based Seres in partnership with telecom giant Huawei Technologies. Since its launch, the brand has exclusively used CATL batteries across its entire product lineup. According to CATL’s latest data, cumulative sales have surpassed 700,000 units.

At the launch ceremony, CATL Chairman Zeng Yuqun said that the new facility represents CATL’s most advanced intelligent and digitalized production site to date. This milestone not only signifies the start of CATL’s localized production in Chongqing but also opens a new chapter in the company’s collaboration with Seres.

The two firms have cooperated beyond battery supply. Together, they built a 50-megawatt-hour distributed photovoltaic project for Seres’ super factory and plan to deepen their partnership to promote low-carbon transformation across the automotive supply chain, CATL noted.

CATL has been the world’s largest EV battery supplier since 2017. Last year, it had a 37.9 percent market share, more than double that of nearest competitor BYD, which had a 17.2 percent share, according to South Korean research firm SNE Research.

CATL is further expanding its lead. In the first quarter of this year, the company’s EV battery shipments surged 40 percent from a year earlier to 84.9 gigawatt-hours, increasing its market share to 38.3 percent, according to SNE data.

Editor: Emmi Laine