Beijing-based start up Zhiche Auto said on Wednesday it completed a second round of financing that raised US$600 million to develop a smart car equipped an independently-developed intelligent driving and safety system as well as internet-enabled technologies.
Company founder Shen Haiyin also introduced a new logo for the business and announced that “Singulato” would be the English name for its vehicle brand, and “Jidian” for the Chinese name.
The company didn’t provide any further information about its investors in the second round.
Zhiche Auto will invest 8 billion yuan to build a roughly 67-hectare industrial park with an annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles, as well as two R&D centres, at Tongling city in southeastern China’s Anhui province, according to Shen. The company said it signed an agreement with the local government to begin construction of the industrial park in 2017.
Zhiche Auto, which started out at the end of 2014 with a team of 100 people, plans to apply the smartphone innovation model to the country’s car industry.
The first batch of the battery-powered Singulato SUVs, using an electric motor developed by Kyoto-based Green Lord Motors – known as the “Tesla of Japan” – is expected to hit the mainland Chinese market by the end of 2017, according to Shen.