Evergrande shocks auto industry by partnering with 60 suppliers

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Evergrande Group once again astonished the automobile industry with an epic summit held on November 12.

In Guangzhou, the Chinese real estate titan announced its strategic partnership with a total of 60 world's leading auto parts suppliers at the Evergrande New Energy Auto Global Strategic Partners Summit, where over 1,100 executives from 206 auto-related companies worldwide were invited to witness the spectacular occasion.

Partners include such well-known firms as Bosch, Magna, Continental AG, ZF Group, thyssenkrupp AG, JTEKT and BASF.

Evergrande Group has prepared a great deal of budget for its NEV development cause--RMB20 billion for the year of 2019, RMB15 billion for 2020 and RMB10 billion for 2021, said Xu Jiayin, chairman of Evergrande Group.

The group launched its NEV brand “Hengchi” in late August. According to the Chinese billionaire, the first Hengchi-branded model, dubbed “Hengchi 1”, will make its debut in the first half of 2020. The series production of vehicles across the entire lineup will start in 2021.

On the way of building cars, the property giant took a surprising approach with a series of cash-burning moves. Only ten months after acquiring 51% stake in NEVS, Sweden-based EV manufacturer, its subsidiary Evergrande Health recently announced a further investment in NEVS with a capital amounting to roughly $3 billion.

(Photo source: Evergrande Group)

To help steer product development, in late September, Evergrande New Energy Automotive Group, the group's EV arm, signed up five global auto engineering companies, including three German companies— FEV Group, EDAG Engineering Group and IAV Group— as well as Austria's AVL Group and Canada's Magna International.

The engineering companies will help Evergrande New Energy Automotive design and develop 15 EV models, ranging from full-size luxury to midsize and classic vehicles, Evergrande Group said.

(Photo source: Evergrande Group)

Last month, the EV unit formed cooperation with 15 world-class automobile designers from countries like Germany, Italy, the U.S., France and Japan, showing the group's determination to develop eye-catching NEV models.

Besides, Evergrande Group has signed agreements with local governments to build two major EV plants in the south city of Guangzhou and northeast city of Shenyang.