(Yicai) June 9 -- Morgan Stanley Capital International has upgraded Seres Group’s environmental, social, and governance rating to AAA, making the Chinese carmaker a global leader in ESG practice in the automotive industry.

Renewable energies accounted for over 36 percent of Seres’ power consumption for manufacturing and operations last year, achieving the target of above 30 percent five years ahead of schedule, according to the company’s 2025 ESG report. This will help Seres reach carbon peak by 2030, carbon neutrality in production and operations by 2045, and near-zero carbon emissions across the entire value chain by 2045.

China’s new energy vehicle industry is shifting from scale expansion to high-quality, low-carbon, and global competition, so ESG has become a key benchmark for assessing automakers’ competitiveness, financing capabilities, and brand strength in overseas markets.

Seres invested CNY180.4 million (USD26.6 million) in energy conservation and emission reduction projects last year, cutting carbon emissions from each vehicle production by 19 percent from the year before, the report also showed.

The firms’ photovoltaic installed capacity reached 175.8 megawatts in 2025, generating 146,468 megawatt-hours of electricity from solar power, equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 77,716 tons. Over the past two years, it has lowered greenhouse gas emissions by 103,200 tons.

Moreover, Seres is leveraging digital technologies to help the entire industrial chain achieve deeper carbon reduction. Its integrated carbon management system, which combines energy, carbon, and data flow and its supply chain carbon traceability platform, covers 84 core first-tier suppliers and enables carbon footprint calculations for 7,111 components.

Driven by Seres’ green procurement preferences, the proportion of suppliers using renewable energy has risen to nearly 48 percent, with carbon emissions for battery, powertrain, and motor suppliers down 49 percent, 30 percent, and 28 percent, respectively, demonstrating the carmaker’s strong influence as a leader in driving low-carbon upgrades across the entire industrial chain.

Last year, Seres also achieved carbon footprint calculations across the entire production lifecycle, as all of its vehicle models earned the Level 1 Low Carbon + certificate from the China Automobile Industry Chain Publicity Platforms, placing it among the top domestic carmakers in terms of carbon reduction achievements.

However, since Seres’ main models are hybrid range-extended electric vehicles, which have not yet been classified as zero-emission in regions experimenting with environmental assessment policies, the firm will likely face some challenges to achieve its goal of near-zero emissions across the full production lifecycle by 2045.

In fulfilling its responsibilities to various stakeholders, Seres has adhered to the philosophy of ‘safety is the ultimate luxury’ throughout the entire product lifecycle, and established an intelligent safety system encompassing life protection, car body protection, health care, and privacy safeguard. It did not recall any vehicles last year.

Seres has also achieved good results in user service, employee satisfaction, as well as the proportion of female employees and the ratio of female senior management personnel. The company’s total public welfare and social expenditures amounted to CNY29.2 million (USD4.3 million) last year, benefiting multiple social areas, such as education, disaster relief, culture, and community development.  

In addition, Seres has signed honesty and integrity agreements with all 336 first-tier suppliers and conducted ESG audits for 58 of its leading suppliers.

Seres is continuing efforts to advance reforms in its governance structure for sustainable development, has formed a three-tier governance structure for sustainable development comprising the board of directors, the ESG committee, and the ESG implementation team, and has linked management salaries to ESG performance indicators, such as environmental impact, safety performance, and business ethics, to drive the achievement of its sustainable development goals.

However, to maintain its AAA rating and truly achieve near-zero emissions across the entire value chain, Seres must make further efforts to evolve from a ‘compliance top performer’ in ESG assessments into a ‘sustainable value creator,’ thereby strengthening its long-term competitiveness.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione