Chery Auto Raises CNY2.9bn for New Energy & Truck Projects

Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. Spokesperson Jin Yibo disclosed that the company reached accord with domestic investment organizations like China Huarong Asset Management Corp. and Bohai Industrial Investment Fund Management Co., and raised development fund of CNY 2.9 billion. 
The automaker has obtained the money by selling its 20 percent stake, disclosed a person with knowledge of the matter. On June 3, it said that it was actively working on its financing plan.

The money will mainly be pumped into the new energy project, the heavy-duty truck project, and the fourth sedan plant project under consideration, added the spokesperson.

Chery Automobile, based in the central Chinese province of Anhui. will bring its first BEV (battery electric vehicle) S18 to the market at the end of this year at earliest.

But it depends on the construction of the supporting equipment in the country, stressed the spokesperson. The automaker has started R&D of electric vehicles since 2001, and the BEV has rolled off the production line since early 2009.

Equipped with the 336V 40Kw drive system, the S18 adopts LiFePO4 battery and can reach a hourly speed of at most 120 kilometers. It usually takes four to six hours to charge the product fully, and 80 percent of its battery can be charged even in half an hour if the fast charge mode is chosen.

The BEV will be China's second proprietary new energy car after BYD Auto unveiled the F3DM (dual-mode) EV (electric vehicle) in Shenzhen, the industrial hub in South China, in December 2008 with the selling price fixed at CNY 149,800.

Previous reports said Chery Automobile was working on an all-new luxury subsidiary Chery Quantum Auto Co., Ltd. with the hope of building a high-end trademark targeted both at the domestic and overseas markets.

Chery Quantum is a joint venture formed by the Chinese automaker and Quantum LLC in December 2007. The Chinese side has controlled a 55 percent stake in the venture, and Quantum, under the wing of Israel Corporation, has captured the remaining 45 percent.

The brand may be a heritage nameplate acquired from Europe, or a completely new one, or a third-party bedge, the reports told. The venture is expected to produce 150,000 high-end sedans and SUVs in 2009, and export them to the US, they added.

Chery Automobile has announced that its annual sales goal for 2009 is 419,000 cars, 17.7 percent higher than 356,000 cars in 2008. In January 2009, it reported monthly sales of over 35,000 cars, a record high.

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