07 Mar China approves Geely subsidiary's EV production plan

Bloomberg News | March 7, 2017

China approved the electric vehicle production plan of a company owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., under a special program originally conceived to encourage technology startups to develop EVs.

Ninghai Zhidou Electric Vehicles Co. received permission from the National Development and Reform Commission to invest in a new assembly plant to produce 40,000 electric cars a year, according to the agency’s website.

A total of 880 million yuan ($128 million) will be invested in the plant in Lanzhou in northwestern China, part of parent Geely’s plan to develop EVs, said spokesman Yang Sumi.

“It’s an experiment and Chinese companies use such investments to learn from the market,” said Bill Russo, managing director of Gao Feng Advisory Co. “In an era of disruption, it’s best to move quickly and learn rather than try to make a perfect plan and never actually get it done.”

The Geely subsidiary is the 11th company to get approval to produce EVs under a program started in 2015 to encourage new participants in the EV industry.

Geely, of Hangzhou, owns Volvo Car Corp. and is introducing an upscale brand called Lynk & CO. The company has said it wants 90 percent of its deliveries by 2020 to be generated by sales of conventional hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles.

All companies that have received permission under the National Development and Reform Commission program so far are owned by automakers, parts manufacturers and companies in auto-related fields. Technology firms such as LeEco, NextEV Inc. and Singulato Motors have yet to make the list, despite raising billions from investors with ambitions to become China’s next Tesla Inc.