On December 14, Lifan Technology announced that it intends to jointly invest in the establishment of a joint venture with Geely Automobile Holdings Co., Ltd., which has a registered capital of RMB 600 million, and the two parties will each invest RMB300 million in monetary funds, with a shareholding ratio of 50%.
Related information about the joint venture company, image source: Screenshot of Lifan Technology Announcement
Lifan Technology also revealed in the announcement that the joint venture company was set up in the direct management area of Liangjiang New District, Chongqing, and its business scope is vehicle design, research and development, and sales (including accessories, parts processing equipment, automotive decoration); import and export of goods, agent import and export, technology import and export; software development; technology development, technical services, technical consulting, and technology transfer. At the same time, the joint venture company has set up a shareholders' meeting, a board of directors, a board of supervisors, etc., of which 6 members of the board of directors, Lifan Technology and Geely Automobile each appointed 3 directors members; the board of supervisors is composed of 3 supervisors, Lifan Technology and Geely Automobile each appoint 1, the other is the employee representative supervisor. In addition, the general manager, deputy general manager, financial leader and other senior management personnel of the joint venture company are nominated by Lifan Technology and appointed by the board of directors of the joint venture company.
In terms of business management, Geely Automobile will fully support the management and operation of the joint venture's car-making business, and rely on Geely Automobile's systematic advantages in the whole process of car-making, through fine management and industrial empowerment, integrate, improve and upgrade Lifan Technology's automobile R&D system, supply chain management, technology platform, sales channels and systematic full-manufacturing management program, and promote the transformation and upgrading of Lifan Technology's automobile industry. In addition, Geely Automobile and Lifan Technology will also coordinate travel companies and power exchange service companies to match models and reasonably create a power exchange network ecology.
Lifan Technology and Geely Automobile jointly established a new joint venture, which is considered to be another major strategic move after Geely invested in Lifan. In January this year, Lifan Automobile announced the official listing of Lifan Technology (Group) Co., Ltd. and the introduction of a replacement pure electric MPV model under the majority shareholder Geely Technology Group. However, the new model introduced by Lifan Technology is inextricably linked to Geely's Maple Leaf Automobile, which is regarded as the latter's replacement car. According to the data, Maple Leaf Automobile is a new new energy brand launched by Geely Holding Group in 2020, and there are currently two models, namely a pure electric small SUV - Maple Leaf 30X and a pure electric MPV - Maple Leaf 80V.
Lifan Technology introduced the first new model, image source: Lifan Technology
After Geely reorganized Lifan Automobile, in addition to introducing Maple Leaf 80V at the product level, it also continued to increase its size in the management. Among them, the chairman of Lifan Technology is Xu Zhihao, CEO of "Geely Technology Group" from Geely Holding Group, and Yang Jian and Zhong Xian from Geely Fang serve as non-independent directors in Lifan Technology.
With Lifan Automobile changing lanes to enter the field of new energy vehicles as "Lifan Technology", its passenger car sales have also achieved a significant increase. According to the November production and sales report released by Lifan Technology, it achieved vehicle sales of 1,140 vehicles in November, an increase of 608% year-on-year. From January to November this year, Lifan Technology's cumulative sales volume was 1,992 units, of which sales of new energy vehicles reached 1,970. From this point of view, Lifan Technology after bankruptcy and restructuring is rapidly recovering with the help of Geely's strength, and the establishment of the joint venture company means that the two sides will further strengthen cooperation in technology, research and development, products and other aspects.