Hong Kong firm backed by Li Ka-shing to build China plant for 3D-printed electric cars
WE Solutions says the plant will use technology from US firm Divergent and will produce over 10,000 vehicles a year, aimed at taxi and ride-hailing companies
A Hong Kong firm backed by billionaire tycoon Li Ka-shing will build a plant in Shanghai to produce 3D-printed electric cars for ride-hailing and taxi firms in China, the latest entrant into the country’s booming market for new-energy vehicles.
Hong Kong-listed WE Solutions, a former jewellery trading firm turned electric vehicle (EV) investor, teamed up with Shanghai Alliance Investment, the private equity arm of the Chinese city’s government, to build the plant, which will make over 10,000 vehicles a year, WE said in a recent media briefing.
“The EV market in China is at an inflection point, with unparalleled growth in demand and government policy stimulus,” said Eric Ho King-fung, chairman of WE Solutions.
“It will only be a matter of time before policies come out stating that old vehicles have to be abolished. As a result we have to get ready, not only for the EV industry but for the world’s largest automobile industry. That’s why we’re entering the market,” he said.
WE Solutions is the latest company to get into the EV market in China, where buyers have shown a big appetite for such vehicles since 2014 due to a government push to phase out fossil fuel vehicles and promote environmentally friendly alternatives.
