Zotye Auto Denies Reports It Will Produce Vehicles for BYD
Market rumors have surfaced recently that Zotye Auto will help BYD produce its Dolphin, a hot-selling EV model. In April, some domestic media outlets reported that Zotye’s Changsha Factory will produce cars for BYD. In July, the factory was reported to be storing a large number of BYD vehicles.
Regarding the matter, on August 17, an insider close to Zotye Auto told domestic media outlet Time News: “The news is false. Before, some BYD cars were indeed stored in Zotye’s factory only because its production base was full, while Zotye’s Changsha Factory had been idle for nearly two years and had enough space to store vehicles.”
A staff member of Zotye Auto’s Securities Department replied, “The news that we work for BYD is untrue. We are contacting other car companies. It has not been determined yet, and the specific information is inconvenient to disclose.” Some insiders have said that Zotye Auto does have the demand to produce for other car companies, mainly to keep its vehicle production qualification.
Due to the hot sales of its models, BYD’s current production capacity is relatively tight. Wang Chuanfu, Chairman of BYD, publicly stated in June that BYD had more than 500,000 vehicle orders, and the delivery cycle could take five to six months. According to company data, BYD produced 163,500 vehicles and sold 162,500 vehicles in July, among which the Dolphin model sold 20,493 units in that month, ranking the top three in the new energy vehicle market in China.
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On the other hand, financial report data show that in 2021, Zotye Auto’s vehicle business was in a state of suspended production, and the capacity utilization rate was 0%. Since 2019, the carmaker and its related subsidiaries involved in vehicle manufacturing have gradually fallen into crisis. From June 2020 to June last year, the company and its eight subsidiaries have been accepted as bankrupt by Chinese court. In 2021, the company and its production base had basically stopped or slowed production. Later, in December 2021, it finished reorganization.
