China’s property developer Evergrande Group’s first mass-produced electric vehicle Hengchi 5 sport-utility vehicles (SUV) will begin pre-sales at 8 pm Wednesday, as the debt-strapped group bets on its new energy vehicles (NEVs) as a new source of revenue for the healthy and sustainable development of the company.
Faced with fierce competition from rival automakers, the company announced that the first 10,000 consumers could finalize payment when the vehicle is delivered and are able to request a refund within 15 days of getting the car in a bid to ensure the security of their money.
Earlier in January, the company announced that its first Hengchi 5 SUV rolled off the production line in North China’s Tianjin on December 30, 12 days ahead of schedule.
In March, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology included the model in a recommended promotion and application catalogue of electric vehicles. At the same time, its first group of experience centers in key cities including Tianjin and Guangzhou, South China’s Guangdong Province have already opened.
The launch of its NEV products came at a pivotal period for the company – burdened with over $300 billion in liabilities – and struggling to contain an ongoing debt crisis.
It’s worth noting that China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd has not yet published its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2021, and thus the trading of its shares in Hong Kong has been suspended since April 1, according to a document the company filed to the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd in March.
Then, the group said that it has been endeavoring to commence mass production of the Hengchi series and was targeting June this year.
Evergrande has invested a combined of 47.4 billion yuan in the NEV sector since 2018, including 24.9 billion yuan for the acquisition of core technologies and R&D, and another 22.5 billion yuan for facilities and machines, according to media reports.
It aims to become the world’s largest NEV group, with annual output and sales of more than 1 million vehicles by 2025 and over 5 million by 2035.
Evergrande Group Photo: CFP
