Evergrande Health unveils launch date for electric vehicle developed with Koenigsegg, to invest 6 billion yuan in project despite first-half loss
- Reports loss of 1.98 billion yuan for the six months to June 30
- Company says it has invested 14 billion yuan in developing next-generation electric vehicle
Evergrande Health said on Friday it will unveil a next-generation electric vehicle at the Geneva International Motor Show in March, and will invest 6 billion yuan (US$846.4 million) in the second half this year, shrugging aside a loss of 1.98 billion yuan for the six months to June 30.
The company, a listed unit of China Evergrande, China’s third-largest developer by sales, started a new energy vehicle segment only in June last year. It has invested 14 billion yuan into developing the next-generation electric vehicle in the period until June 30, which resulted in the loss, it said in a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange. It had reported a profit of 200.3 million yuan in the same period last year, but a net loss of 1.43 billion yuan for the whole of 2018.
The company aims to challenge Tesla in China. “Evergrande has a dream of making cars and capital is our advantage in this competitive sector,” Peng Jianjun, its vice-chairman, said during a briefing on its
interim result. “We aim to become the world’s largest and strongest maker of new energy vehicles in three to five years, at all costs,” he added.
No details were provided regarding the launch date, pricing as well as driving range of the vehicle, which was developed by National Electric Vehicle Sweden (Nevs) before its takeover by Evergrande Health in January.