Huawei plans to hand greater control of the Aito brand to automaker Seres as the companies prepare to adjust their five-year partnership, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Under the new arrangement, Seres will take the lead in areas including product development, marketing, sales and after-sales services, while Huawei will focus on providing technology and other support, the person told Chinese financial news outlet CLS on Tuesday. Huawei previously played the leading role in those areas.

Aito will remain part of Huawei's Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, or HIMA, the person said. The cooperation models used for HIMA's four other brands — Luxeed, Stelato, Maextro and Shangjie — are not expected to change.

The shift would mark a significant change in Huawei's closest and most commercially successful automotive partnership. Huawei and the Chongqing-based automaker began working together on Aito about five years ago, with the technology giant heavily involved in areas ranging from product definition and design to intelligent-driving systems, marketing and retail.

Aito has since become one of the biggest contributors to HIMA sales. The alliance delivered 42,101 vehicles in August, taking cumulative deliveries across its brands above 1.52 million. The Aito M6 had delivered more than 45,000 units within four months of launch.

The latest Aito M9, meanwhile, surpassed 30,000 deliveries within 12 weeks. The model ranked first among vehicles priced above 500,000 yuan (US$70,000) in China for three consecutive months from June through August, with an average transaction price above 600,000 yuan.

The lighter-asset arrangement could allow Huawei to devote more resources to HIMA's other partnerships while giving Seres greater responsibility for operating Aito. Huawei has yet to publicly announce details of the adjustment. Separately on September 15, Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei's Consumer Business Group, said an updated Luxeed R7 would open for pre-orders later this month, while models including the Stelato V9 and Luxeed RX are also due to launch.