Zotye to invest RMB 1.5 billion in constructing ICV electronic components production base

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Zotye Auto announced on July 16 that it will invest RMB 1.5 billion to construct an electronic components production base for the intelligent connected vehicle (ICV) with an annual production capacity of one million units in She County, Huangshan, Anhui province China.

The automaker has signed an agreement with the local government on July 15 that it will establish a wholly-owned subsidiary there to take the charge of the construction and operation of the production base. According to the agreement, the production base is still in the initiative stage and will cover an area about 133,333㎡.

The intelligent connected vehicle nowadays has become a main trend for the automotive development. For the current market conditions, Zotye will increase the investment in intelligent and connected industry under the national industrial policies and local policies about business invitation and investment attraction, to strengthen and accelerate its development, said the carmaker.

In recent years, the domestic and foreign carmakers have increased their efforts in deploying in the intelligent and connected field by aligning with Internet companies. For example, SAIC Group cooperated with Alibaba Group in 2014 and jointly launched their first connected car Roewe RX5 in 2016. Baidu unveils the autonomous driving platform Apollo in April 2017, which attracted several automakers. In April this year, Tencent and Chongqing Changan officially signed a cooperation agreement to establish an ICV joint venture.

On July 9, China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang visited Germany. During his visit, Premier Li Keqiang held a series of talks with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel. In particular, Germany and China signed a raft of commercial accords in auto industry. BMW teams up with Baidu to boost development of autonomous driving technology; Daimler and Tsinghua University deepen joint research cooperation on sustainable transportation; Audi partners with Huawei to develop ICV. These above partnerships have focused on areas such as intelligent transportation, intelligent connectivity, autonomous driving and digital services.