Aston Martin Seeking A Chinese Partner For Future EVs

Question is, why does it need a partner in the first place?

It’s not easy to break into the world’s largest EV market, but Aston Martin fully intends to try. That market would be China, but instead of building EVs with an Aston Martin badge in the country itself, the goal is to find a collaborate partner. Automotive News reports that Aston Martin CEO Dr. Andy Palmer is “seeking a Chinese partner to share its lightweight materials and aerodynamic technologies with” as the country continues to improve the performance of EVs.

Turns out Palmer is already having discussions with established Chinese automakers, suppliers, such as battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), and other start-ups. At the moment Aston Martin does not have an EV, but that will change once the RapidE electric sedan goes on sale next year. However, it will be limited to a mere 155 examples. That’s nothing compared to what Aston Martin has planned long-term. It has already stated its goal to have EVs account for 25 percent of its sales by 2030, while the remaining 75 percent of vehicles will be hybrids. You may be asking yourself right about now why can’t Aston Martin develop EV technologies on its own?

Why does it need a partner? The answer is that Aston Martin does not have a major parent company to rely upon for R&D funds. At the moment, Aston Martin is privately held, though it is said to be considering an IPO but that has yet to be finalized. Just last week Aston Martin announced a massive five-year trade and investment deal with China worth more than $850 million. The goal of that deal, quite obviously, is to expand into the world’s largest automotive market. Last year saw fantastic brand growth, 89 percent to be precise, due in large part to the new DB11. This year the all-new Vantage will go on sale worldwide and will surely be a solid source of profit.

Chinese Brand Chery Invades Europe, US Next?

Facilities are being built.

Chinese brand Chery Auto has just officially landed in Europe with the opening of a design and development center just outside of Frankfurt, Germany.

The company is now hiring the inaugural staff for the facility, ahead of the brand’s official market launch in 2020. According to Autocar, the company plans to hire between 30 and 50 people before the end of 2019 in order to better help it craft products which will appeal to European shoppers.

The brand is looking to hire a team of European experts, hopefully, a few of which it can poach from established European brands, to work out of its Raunheim facility. The focus of the hirings will be design, development, along with sales and marketing.

"At last year's Frankfurt motor show, we presented ourselves as a brand. Now we're going to execute our plans in and for Europe,” said Tongyue Yin, Chery chairman. “We will, therefore, be launching models from our high-end brand Exeed. They will be competitive with the leading European manufacturers in terms of quality, design, and technology.”

The brand’s first offering in Europe is expected to be the TX SUV, however, it’s assumed Chery will sell an updated version of the car it showcased in Frankfurt last year. The brand is also expected to focus on efficient hybrid technology, with the TX envisioned to offer a gasoline-electric hybrid, a plug-in hybrid, and pure-electric powertrains. It’s believed the plug-ins will be the quickest versions, capable of hitting 62 mph in 6.0 seconds.

It’s also believed that the company’s Exeed sub-brand will only offer electrified models, which Chery hopes will compete with an ever-expanding number of all-electric SUVs from marquee brands like Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, and Tesla. However, none of the vehicles will be produced in Europe, Chery has already partnered with Jaguar Land Rover to produce it Chinese-market models, so the brand will be hoping to inject some of that prowess into their models for export.