Lentuo International ("Lentuo" or the "Company"), a leading non-state-owned automobile retailer headquartered in Beijing, today announced that it has begun a strategic expansion into the electric vehicle ("EV") and plug-in hybrid EV ("PEV") value-added services as an extension of its after sales business strategy.
The Company aims to become an early mover into a new sector that is poised for substantial growth with strong support from the Chinese government.
This strategic expansion will help the Company accelerate growth, improve profitability and further strengthen its brand by leveraging its extensive industry experience to cooperate with internationally respected EV and PEV industry players.
Due to increasing environmental concerns over CO2 emissions, the Chinese government has made it a priority to support the EV industry by enacting several subsidies and incentives. China's General Office of the State Council issued Guidance on Speeding up the Popularization and Application of New Energy Vehicles in 2014 which encouraged private investment in charging stations, removed the 10% purchase tax, and mandated government and party offices across the nation to purchase EVs and PEVs.
This along with the government's mandate of 78 EV standards has increased confidence in the industry's future. According to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, over 83,900 EVs and PEVs were produced in China in 2014, nearly four times the amount produced in 2013. EV and PEV production inDecember 2014 alone exceeded 27,200, a new global monthly production record as China's EV industry enters an explosive stage of growth.
The Company is in active discussions with a German company, that is a highly experienced developer and manufacturer of automobile roof-integrated solar systems, leveraging specialized curved roof surface technology, that are used in a number of models manufactured by a few world-class OEMs.
Meanwhile, this company is already integrating its roof systems in smart EV charging stations in China, a market with great growth potential. The German company's controlling shareholder is a market leader and the largest non-state-owned manufacturer and operator of EV and PEV charging stations in China and has already constructed, and is currently managing, charging station networks in some of China's largest urban areas.
Lentuo believes that these discussions will lead to a strategic partnership agreement to enter the EV industry. And, the Company will provide progress updates by way of press releases as appropriate.
