Major partnerships announced at Auto China 2018

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Apart from exhibiting advanced products at Auto China 2018, many companies also seized the great opportunity to announce partnerships at the splendid event. Gasgoo summaries some significant cooperative cases during the auto show as below.

Geely Auto, Aisin AW to establish transmission JV

Zhejiang Geely Luoyou Engine Co., Ltd. (Geely Luoyou), a 99%-owned indirect subsidiary of Geely Auto, will establish a JV with Aisin AW to manufacture and sell front-wheel drive 6-speed automatic transmission and relevant parts, according to Geely Auto's announcement released on the eve of Auto China 2018.

In accordance with the announcement, Geely Luoyou and Aisin AW will possess 40% and 60% equity interest respectively in the JV. In addition, the registered capital of the JV totals $117 million. With a designed annual transmission capacity of 400 thousand units, the new JV will start mass production from 2020. 

GAC Motor, Aisin AW sign agreement on automatic transmission JV

GAC Motor and Aisin AW held the signing ceremony of the automatic transmission JV project in Beijing on the afternoon of April 24. According to the joint venture agreement, both parties will conduct the joint venture cooperation in manufacturing, sale, after-sale service and relevant technical consultation of the AT and AT-related components to jointly enhance both parties’ products competitiveness and brand premium capability.

As agreed, the new JV will be located in Guangzhou. With its registered capital reaching $ 117 million, GAC Motor and Aisin AW will hold 40% and 60% stake of the joint venture respectively. 

CATL, Jaguar Land Rover sign letter of intent on strategic cooperation

Luxury automaker Jaguar Land Rover and Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) signed a letter of intent on strategic cooperation on Apr. 25, according to Jaguar Land Rover. Under this letter of intent, both parties will actively deepen cooperation in battery technology area of future vehicles and jointly research and develop vehicle power battery technologies.

Pan Qing, president of Jaguar Land Rover China noted that Jaguar Land Rover's exploration in cooperating with CATL will help Jaguar Land Rover to research and develop core technologies of battery, thus facilitate Jaguar Land Rover's deployment in NEV field.

CATL, BYTON to explore deep cooperation in EV battery

On the same day of forming partnership with Jaguar Land Rover, CATL signed a letter of intent with Chinese EV startup BYTON at the event to extend in-depth cooperation in EV battery technologies. Both parties will be devoted to developing safe and affordable EV with high quality.

According to the letter of intent, CATL will provide the startup with its batteries that will be used in the automaker's first production SUV model. Reportedly, the production model will offer two power options. The rear-wheel-drive version adopts 71kwh battery packs with a range of 400 km, while the four-wheel-drive version has 95kwh battery packs with a range up to 520 km.

Singulato teams up with BAIC BJEV to develop intelligent vehicles, announces RMB 3 billion C-round funding

on April 25, Singulato Motor announced that it will conduct overall strategic cooperation with BAIC BJEV in technology development, construction of battery charging and swapping facility, sharing of dealership network and manufacturing resources. 

When it comes to financing, Singulato Motor closed RMB 3 billion C-round funding and established a RMB 10 billion investment fund for intelligent EV industry with Suzhou Municipal Government. The investment will cover large-scale auto-related industries, such as battery, electronic control, electric motor, designing, engineering, material, AI, cloud computing, big data and intelligent hardware.

Hanteng Auto, JD.com reach strategic cooperation to build new sales channels

Chinese automaker Hanteng Auto and the e-commerce giant JD.com formed partnership at Auto China 2018 to cooperate in expanding sales channels, optimizing resource distribution and improving experience services, etc. Both parties will jointly explore innovative marketing modes and build one-stop auto value-chain consumption platforms to serve the so-called third to sixth tier cities in China.

The automaker made this cooperation with aim of enhancing its market shares by reducing non-monetary costs for consumers and improving users’ satisfaction with their services.

Changjiang EV, Foton Auto to cooperate in NEV, intelligent vehicle, auto electronics

On April 25, Changjiang EV and Foton Auto became strategic partners at Auto China 2018 to develop in-depth collaboration in the R&D and marketing of NEVs as well as the R&D of auto electronics and intelligent vehicles.

Reportedly, Changjiang EV owns the China's largest all-electric commercial vehicle production line. In December 2017, it obtained the MIIT's fifty entry qualification to manufacture all-electric PVs. Foton Auto, a fast-growing CV maker in China, has reportedly outputted and delivered a total of 5 million vehicles in history. 

CATL to provide batteries for Nissan Sylphy Zero Emission

Nissan announced at Auto China 2018 that it will introduce 20 electric models into the Chinese vehicle market over the next five years. Besides, the Japanese automaker's first locally-produced electric model will be the Sylphy Zero Emission, which will be powered by CATL's battery. A spokesman of Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) also confirmed the information on May 2.

By far, CATL has provided batteries for a variety of automakers, such as BMW, BAIC BJEV, Geely, Changan and Dongfeng. Moreover, CATL also has established JV with SAIC. At the beginning of March, CATL gained the battery order of Volkswagen's MEB project.