GAC NE changes name to GAC Aion New Energy Automobile

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- GAC New Energy Automobile Co.,Ltd (GAC NE), the NEV unit of GAC Group, officially changed its name to GAC Aion New Energy Automobile Co.,Ltd. on Nov. 16, according to a document from State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR).

GAC NE will launch the Aion brand at the upcoming Auto Guangzhou 2020 and announce the spin-off of the brand at the same time, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

GAC NE will unveil its IPO plan as early as November and is mulling over the listing on the sci-tech innovation board (STAR Market), a local media outlet reported earlier this month.

Aion V; photo credit: GAC NE

The listing of GAC NE will be carried out according to the overall development plan of GAC Group and GAC NE, and the long-term interest of the group's shareholders, a person at GAC Group said after being reached for comment. As of now, the company has not put the plan into execution but only made some research.

According to the Chinese corporate data platform Tianyancha, the registered capital of GAC NE was increased from 782.73 million yuan ($118.871 million) to 1.419 billion yuan ($215.495 million) in mid-October. The NEV manufacturer noted that this is a normal capital increase made by shareholders and the proceeds will be used for the R&D of new products and technologies.

As GAC Group's wholly-owned subsidiary, GAC NE was founded in 2017 and broke ground on its EV plant in the same year. Currently, it has such models for sale as the Aion S, Aion V, the Aion LX and the Trumpich GE3, which are all under the brand of Trumpchi.

At the Auto China 2020, GAC NE launched the dual-motor two-speed four-in-one integrated electric drive unit, the first-of-its-kind in the world, which can enable Aion vehicles to sprint from 0-100km/h within two seconds.

GAC NE sold 7,106 vehicles in October, a year-on-year surge of 57%, according to GAC Group. Notably, the sales of the Aion V exceeded 2,000 units for two consecutive months. For the first ten months, the NEV maker saw its total sales soar 72% from a year ago to 45,797 units.