A Chinese video website operator will apply for a license to make electric vehicles in the world’s largest auto market, as the government prepares a policy to open auto manufacturing to companies from other industries.
Leshi Internet Information & Technology (Beijing) Co, which streams dramas including NBC’s “The Blacklist” on its letv.com website, has spent the past year developing an EV with the ambition of helping China upend traditional auto industry leaders like the US, Europe, Japan and South Koreawhile cutting pollution, according to the Beijing-based company.
“This is our dream and passion,” Chairman and President Jia Yueting, 41, said in an interview by e-mail, without elaborating on when the car will be available for sale. “Look at China’s skies, all responsible corporate citizens want to do something about it. This is the truth.”
Leshi’s announcement comes after Google Inc. in May said that it plans to deploy at least 100 fully autonomous vehicles that it designed in tests starting this year. China is proposing to grant auto manufacturing licenses to companies other than carmakers to encourage innovation and create local challengers to Tesla Motors Inc as part of a broader goal to lead the global auto industry.
Leshi rose 4 per cent to 38.49 yuan in Shenzhen trading as of 9:34 am today, after jumping as much as 7.4 per cent yesterday following Jia’s announcement on his Weibo social-media account. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.9 per cent.
New players
“Leshi has been trying to diversify and it’s the CEO’s wish to become bigger and enter new industries,” Luke Xu, a Beijing-based analyst with iResearch, said by phone. “The government is encouraging the development of the electric-vehicle industry, and everybody sees an opportunity in the fast-developing market.”
China is seeking to finish drafting a policy by the end of the year that would allow new players to produce EVs in the world’s largest auto market, according to the nation’s top planning agency.
Companies should have more than three years of product research and development experience, have capability for vehicle design, and have auto production capacity before applying for licenses, according to a draft circulated for public comment until Dec. 2.
Wanxiang Group Corp., the auto-parts supplier that owns Fisker Automotive, has said it expects to receive a license to produce EVs in China when the rules are finalized.
Lagging behind
The proposal to grant more manufacturing licenses comes as China lags behind its own target for putting eco-friendly cars on the road, even as the government offers billions of dollars in subsidies and pledges to build charging stations for the public.
Leshi’s Jia declined to say how the company plans to fund the development of electric vehicles, saying only it will be “innovative.” The company will bank on its “DNA and experience managing disruptive change to traditional industries” and “redefine the auto industry,” he said, without being more specific.
“We don’t only want to challenge Tesla, we will do better than them,” Jia said.
Richard Lan, a Beijing-based Tesla official, declined to comment.
