Panda New Energy Technology and National Electric Vehicle Sweden has closed a $12 billion partnership to produce 150,000 electric vehicles from 2016 to 2020. The partnership also includes electric vehicle products and services from other NEVS establishments.
Swedish automaker National Electric Vehicle Sweden, known manufacturer of the Saab vehicles, signed a $12 billion contract with Panda New Energy Co., Ltd. The billion dollar contract puts NEVS to produce 150,000 electric sedans for Panda between now and year 2020, as well as 100,000 other electric vehicle services and products from companies under NEVS like Saab.
A lot of startup EV companies might question if this deal is valid, but Panda is a new energy leasing company that liaise with many chauffeured car platform services from China. The company purchases a lot of 'clean' vehicles and rents them out to taxi and limousine services along with other private car services. This agreement makes a lot of sense since Panda plays behind the scenes and lacks visibility on the public's radar.
Panda and NEVS are both excited about the partnership. They see this deal as an indication to a wide shift in the industry towards electrification of car services.
National Electric Vehicle Sweden Vice Chairman Stefan Tilk said that this is strategic collaboration of the company with Panda not only in terms of the vehicle numbers, but also is an important step towards the company's new business strategy and its vision. In the long run, the company wants to provide its customers with both mobility services and sustainable products.
Panda's Chairman Ma Chao shared the company's excitement about bringing these new electric vehicles into the fleet over the years to come. He added that the company is very pleased to form a partnership with NEVS because of its rich heritage in innovations and the ability to fulfill Panda's demands. Being in an emerging market for electric cars, the company is happy to find a partner who shares its commitment to the environment.
Although NEVS is a Swedish company, it is co-owned by Tianjin Binhai Hi-tech industrial Development Area, Beijing State Research Information Technology Co., Ltd. and National Modern Energy Holdings. To sum it up, this is another well-funded Chinese venture to keep an eye on.
