Yulon to build Geely Panda-based "Tobe" minicar

Shanghai, November 18 (Gasgoo.com) Taiwan's carmaker Yulon Motor has tied up with mainland China's Geely Auto to build small cars, with the Taiwan-assembled Panda to be sold under Yulon's "Tobe" brand, local media reported yesterday.

Industry insiders said that Yulon has also developed a lithium-ion battery-powered electric vehicle (BEV) based on the Panda platform, which is expected to go on sale as early as 2010, according to Taiwan's Economic Daily News.

Yulon president K.R. Chen, also the chairman of the new "Tobe" company, said that many safety equipment have been added to the locally-assembled Panda to meet Taiwan's safety requirements, so the new car would be priced at least NT$350,000 (about US$10,770).

The scheduled introduction of the "Tobe" brand has clearly defined Yulon's overall private branding strategy: The Luxgen nameplate is to specialize in medium-size passenger cars, while "Tobe" focuses on entry-level mini models, the newspaper said.

Yulon has set up a new subsidiary to make and sell its "Tobe" minicars based on Geely's Panda model. Geely are reportedly planning to ship "complete knock down" (CKD) kits to Taiwan for local assembly by Yulon's "Tobe" division.

Geely may first be shipping the electric version of the Panda to Taiwan, where it will be named the tobe M'car. A gasoline version is also expected to follow, China Car Times said.