Evergrande has a lot of debt and plans to restore the company’s financial health with the automobile business. From now Evergrande’s first car can be preordered, which is a luxury electric SUV called Hengchi 5. Will the automobile business save Evergrande?
First Evergrande’s car
The China Evergrande Group is the second largest property developer in Mainland China by sales. It was in the news in 2021 due to the Chinese property sector crisis. Its stock prices plummeted, and Evergrande’s total debts were estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Now it wants to bounce back, and the automobile industry might be the answer.
Evergrande New Energy Auto is one of Evergrande’s subsidiaries. It is an automobile manufacturer that specializes in developing electric vehicles. Its primary marque is Hengchi (Shenzhen Hengchi Automobile Trading Co., Ltd). The company has plants in Guangzhou, Tianjin, and Shanghai.
EV Hengchi 5
Hengchi has been in business since 2020. It has developed nine electric models, named Hengchi 1 through 9. There are four Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs), four sedans, and one Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV).
Evergrande’s first mass-produced EV, called Hengchi 5, is a medium-sized SUV. Its production started in 2021. In February 2022, two versions of Hengchi 5, HDE6470BEVA1F and HDE6470BEVA0F, were officially approved to be sold in the Chinese market. Hengchi 5 debuted in July of the same year. According to the company, the vehicle is one of the cheapest of all Hengchi cars and is similar to Audi Q3 and BMW X1.
The official pre-sale price of Hengchi 5 is 179,000 yuan (about 26 thousand EUR). The price is lower than most electric vehicles on the same market level; Tesla Model Y costs 316,900 yuan.
The first deliveries will be made in October. The company aims to sell 10,000 vehicles by 2023. The long-term goal is to produce 1 million vehicles by 2025 and 5 million by 2035. Evergrande counts on commercial success to improve the group’s financial conditions.
Specifications of Evergrande’s first mass-produced electric SUV, Hengchi 5:
- Intelligent assisted driving and parking system
- Seating for four plus a driver, five doors
- Vehicle dimensions: 4725 mm long × 1925 mm wide × 1676 mm tall
- Wheelbase is 2780 mm
- Driver’s area: touchscreen display, also for the front-seat passenger with many functions
- Acceleration of 0-100 km/h is 7.8 seconds
- Battery life: 602 km
- Maximum power: 150 kW motor, total motor horsepower: 204 Ps
- CATL lithium-phosphate battery of capacity of 72.8 kWh
- Power consumption per 100 kilometers: 13.8 kWh
- Maximum speed: 180 km/h
- Maximum torque: 345 Nm
- Curb weight: 1985 kg.
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Images: nev.ofweek.com/2022-04/ART-71008-8330-30556039.html, 易车