On December 15, NIUTRON Energy Technology Co., Ltd. officially released the Chinese and English names of its auto brands. The former is “Ziyoujia”(Chinese “自游家” and the latter is “NIUTRON“.
In an interview, NIUTRON announced that it has completed a total of US$500 million in Series A financing. Investors include IDG Capital, COATUE and other institutions.
At the same time, NIUTRON also determined the parallel route of two technical routes of electric BEV and extended range electric EREV. Based on the platform, the first product, NIUTRON NV, is positioned as a medium and large high-end SUV, and the competition target is aimed at LIXIANG ONE. It will be officially listed in the first half of 2022, and delivery can start in September.
NIUTRON NV has cumulatively carried out three rounds of engineering trial production, with a research and development test mileage exceeding one million kilometers. The first round of winter and summer tests have been completed, and the second round of winter tests is currently underway.
It is reported that NIUTRON was founded by the founder of NIU Technology (a electric motocycle manufacturer listed in NASDAQ: NIU). The car-making plan was first launched in November 2018. The brand is headquartered in Beijing, and the research and development center is located in Shanghai.
At present, NIUTRON has a core R&D team of nearly 1,000 people, all of whom are from mainstream first-tier automobile companies in China and abroad, with an average working life of more than 10 years. It is reported that the design team of Xpeng P7 was poached by high salaries.
NIUTRON has a modern intelligent manufacturing base covering an area of 770,000 square meters in Changzhou China, with an annual production capacity of 180,000 units. Now the factory is undergoing transformation and calibration before mass production and will be put into use in March 2022. Interestingly, the LIXIANG Auto’s factory is also in Changzhou.
In terms of marketing and sales, NIUTRON will continue to build its own sales channels by building its own branded stores.
