China Evergrande’s EV unit to start taking orders for Hengchi SUV just over a week after embattled developer receives wind-up petition

China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group, the developer’s listed EV unit, will start taking orders for the Hengchi 5 SUV on Wednesday

Henghchi 5’s price tag is hugely discounted as Hui Ka-yan wants to ensure the firm’s first EV is a hit, sources say

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The Hengchi 5 is targeted at middle-class consumers who are aware of climate change and are budget sensitive, analyst says. Photo: WEIBO

Published: 6:35pm, 5 Jul 2022

China Evergrande Group will begin selling its first electric vehicle (EV) this week, as one of the biggest investments by the world’s most-indebted property developer comes to fruition a year late.

China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group, the developer’s listed EV unit, will start taking orders for the Hengchi 5, an all-electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) that can go 700 kilometres (435 miles) on a single charge, on Wednesday, it said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday.

Although pricing and sales details will not be announced before an online launch ceremony at 8pm on Wednesday, people familiar with the matter said the vehicle could sell for between 160,000 yuan (US$23,878) and 200,000 yuan, cheaper than Tesla’s Shanghai-made Model 3, Xpeng’s P7 and Nio’s ET7.

In August 2020, the group unveiled a line-up of six Hengchi models and added three more to the line-up in February 2021. Plans were afoot for mass production at its mainland Chinese factories in the second half of 2021. Hengchi 5 is now scheduled for mass production in September this year.

“Hengchi 5 is targeting middle-class consumers who are aware of climate change and are budget sensitive,” said Phate Zhang, founder of Shanghai-based technology portal CnEVpost. “As newcomers, Hengchi branded vehicles need to be competitive in pricing, and they need to convince drivers of their performance.”

China Evergrande, founded in 1996 by Chinese billionaire Hui Ka-yan, has struggled to repay debt since mid last year. It has missed payments on its high-yield wealth management products, to its suppliers and contractors, and domestic as well as offshore creditors and bond holders.