Hybrid Kinetic Group (1188.HK), controlled by Chinese exiled tycoon Yang Rong, plans to produce low-cost auto parts in China, allowing local automakers to sell clean-technology vehicles at conventional car prices, its chief executive officer said on Monday.
This marks a shift from Yang's original plan of making 3 million clean-energy vehicles a year in China. Yang fled the country in 2002 for the United States after being accused of economic crimes.
Chuantao Wang, a prize-winning engineer based in California, said the company had identified a site for the production of five key parts -- battery, motor, engine, compressor and transmission -- for green vehicles in China's Shandong province from 2012/2013.
The company's initial capacity can provide 500,000 vehicles a year for the five components, which will have a combined estimated selling cost of about 80,000 yuan (about $12,000).
"The company will fund the project by internal resources and we will have some investors and industry partners," Wang told reporters in Hong Kong. But he would not give any financial terms for the project. ($1=6.655 Yuan)
