China’s WM Motor to restart production after government-backed revival plan

[BEIJING] Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker WM Motor said on Saturday (Sep 6) that it aimed to resume production and launch new models at its plant in the eastern city of Wenzhou after new owner Shenzhen Xiangfei Auto Sales took over part of the struggling firm.

The EV startup, which once counted Chinese tech giant Baidu as a backer, filed a restructuring plan in 2023 as it struggled to make profits in the capital-intensive auto sector.

“The resumption of work and production at the new WM Motor has received strong support from the Shanghai and Wenzhou municipal governments, providing a stable and favourable environment,” it said on an official microblogging account.

In the posting, the firm said that it aimed to resume production in September of its EX5 and E5 models at the base in Zhejiang province, and to launch more than 10 new models in the next five years.

WM Motor said that it is targeting an annual output of one million units in 2030 and revenue of 120 billion yuan, adding that Wenzhou authorities, in particular, had helped with new investor Xiangfei’s financing, and would consider subsidies to upgrade the production line.

The firm said that it planned to reach full capacity operation in 2026 and generate more than 3,000 jobs to boost tax revenues.

The carmaker has been challenged in recent years by issues from sluggish capital markets to large price swings in raw materials and setbacks in securing capital for operations and development.

Chinese EV makers have faced years-long price wars as they battle intense competition in an overcrowded sector.

Founded in 2015 by renowned auto veteran Freeman Shen, WM Motor was among the rising EV startups Nio, Li Auto and XPeng.

Its business was also hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, as annual losses doubled to 8.2 billion yuan (S$1.5 billion) over the three years to 2021, according to a stock prospectus for a planned Hong Kong IPO that never materialised. REUTERS