Dalian Wanda-backed electric vehicle maker sued for delayed payment to suppliers
Electric bus maker Zhuhai Yinlong confirms legal dispute as signs of irrational investment in new-energy vehicle market start to emerge
A pioneering new-energy vehicle maker backed by Dalian Wanda Group and “home appliance queen” Dong Mingzhu is being sued for overdue payments to suppliers in a sign that irrational investment in China’s rapidly expanding electric-car market may be starting to backfire.
Zhuhai Yinlong New Energy, an electric bus and battery manufacturer based in southeast China, is alleged to have delayed payments of more than 1.2 billion yuan to its suppliers, prompting one of them to file a lawsuit with a local court, financial media outlet Caijing reported on Tuesday.
Yinlong issued a statement via a law firm on Thursday morning, confirming it was involved in a “contract dispute” with a supplier. But it said the amount owed had been “exaggerated”, without offering an alternative number.
Yinlong’s problems come after troubled Chinese entrepreneur Jia Yueting saw his LeEco empire start to crumble under a mountain of debt late last year after expanding into the electric car business.
Established in 2009, Yinlong has been a leader in China’s electric bus market, based on contracts with local governments. The company gained further momentum in 2016, when a consortium led by Dong Mingzhu, chairwoman of Gree Electric Appliances, and Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group invested 3 billion yuan in the company for a 22.4 per cent stake.
Yinlong has since then been aggressively building factories all over China.