Evergrande’s NEVs fitting in Wanfeng's lightweight auto parts

Dec 16, 2020 (China Knowledge) - China Evergrande (3333), the country’s largest real estate developer with revenue nearing half trillion Chinese yuan, has been in the limelight recent years after declaring its ambition to be a leading global new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturer. Its chairman Xu Jiayin is pursuing this goal with multi-billion dollars of investment commitment and launched China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group (0708) worth HKD 240 bln today. Xu’s NEV brand Hengchi aims to target the mid- and high-end segments, and eye on the best materials and parts to compete in the fiercely contested NEV market; most notably the Tesla (TSLA) and NIO (NIO).

According to an announcement filed with Shenzhen Stock Exchange last week, Wanfeng MLTH Holdings Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of Zhejiang Wanfeng Auto Wheel (002085) known for its cutting-edge lightweight auto parts, received a RMB 42 mln worth order to supply two models of cross car beams for Hengchi EM3 project. In addition, Wanfeng Auto Wheel will continue to develop new products matching other newer car models.

With technological advantage in stamping and lightweight magnesium alloy auto parts, Wanfeng is luring big NEV players in the domestic market to adopt its applications. These include U.S-listed Chinese manufacturers like NIO and Xpeng (XPEV), which are likely to follow suit to ensure quality consistency.

Under this backdrop, Wanfeng Auto Wheel expects to win more orders from major NEV manufacturers, reaping the benefits from deep market entrenchment in China with customers like First Auto Work (FAW), Dongfeng and Changan.