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Seemingly beneath all of our noses, a peculiar trend has been sweeping the auto industry lately, that trend being companies from other industry sectors trying their hands at building a car. Apple’s mulled the idea, as have Uber and the US Postal Service. But the latest EV venture from the Chinese real estate company Evergrande is breaking records for promising the world and underdelivering.
Being the second-largest real estate firm in all of China, Evergrande’s EV division had accessed a large financial backing when the company strangely decided they wanted to challenge Tesla for the title of the world’s top EV.
Initial investments looked promising, spearheaded by their acquisition of 51% of NEVS, the Swedish holding company for the assets of the recently bankrupted Saab.
In 2020, the company announced a daring plan to introduce a fleet of as many as six different EV models from coupes to sedans, minivans, and of course, SUVs.
The company made lofty claims of having interiors that rivaled aerospace vehicles in their quality and the ability to endure extreme changes in hot and cold temperatures.
Aspirations to begin production as early as 2021 brought keen interest from investors. At one point, Evenrgrande’s valuation surpassed that of even GM and Ford. The optimism was not to last. As of October 2021, Evergrande EVs has failed to sell a single car, let alone mass produce one.
As its parent real-estate company faces a debt crisis totaling over a quarter of a trillion (yes, trillion with a T) dollars, it should be no surprise that company stocks cratered to 96% since their peak just six months ago.
As it’s turning out for Evergrande, and like us, gearheads have known all along, manufacturing a passenger vehicle is a lot more complicated than just throwing gargantuan amounts of money at your problems. You need legitimate engineering prowess to get the job done. That’s why Elon Musk gets paid the big bucks. It’s not like he’s exactly poor himself, mind you.
Initial investments looked promising, spearheaded by their acquisition of 51% of NEVS, the Swedish holding company for the assets of the recently bankrupted Saab.
In 2020, the company announced a daring plan to introduce a fleet of as many as six different EV models from coupes to sedans, minivans, and of course, SUVs.
The company made lofty claims of having interiors that rivaled aerospace vehicles in their quality and the ability to endure extreme changes in hot and cold temperatures.
Aspirations to begin production as early as 2021 brought keen interest from investors. At one point, Evenrgrande’s valuation surpassed that of even GM and Ford. The optimism was not to last. As of October 2021, Evergrande EVs has failed to sell a single car, let alone mass produce one.
As its parent real-estate company faces a debt crisis totaling over a quarter of a trillion (yes, trillion with a T) dollars, it should be no surprise that company stocks cratered to 96% since their peak just six months ago.
As it’s turning out for Evergrande, and like us, gearheads have known all along, manufacturing a passenger vehicle is a lot more complicated than just throwing gargantuan amounts of money at your problems. You need legitimate engineering prowess to get the job done. That’s why Elon Musk gets paid the big bucks. It’s not like he’s exactly poor himself, mind you.
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