Yulon in Taiwan and China's Geely to Partner in E-Vehicle Biz

Taipei, Nov. 11, 2009 (CENS)--Taiwan-based carmaking conglomerate Yulon Group plans to sign an agreement with the Chinese automaker Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. late this month to expand their partnership into lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs), according to Taiwan's Chinese economic daily Economic Daily News (EDN).

Yulon has tied up with Geely to build conventional cars, with the locally-assembled Geely Panda mini car to be launched in Taiwan by year-end. The Taiwan-assembled Panda will be sold under Yulon's "tobe" brand by a newly-established firm under the Yulon Group.

Industry insiders pointed out that Yulon has also developed a BEV based on the Panda platform, which is expected to be sold in China as early as 2010.

Yulon president K.R. Chen, also the chairman of the new "tobe" company, pointed out that many safety equipment have been added to the locally-assembled Panda to meet Taiwan's safety requirements, so the new car would be priced at least NT$350,000 (about US$10,770). Currently, a high-end Panda in China is priced about 62,000 renminbi (RMB or Chinese yuan), about NT$310,000 or US$9,540.

The scheduled introduction of the "tobe" brand, industry analysts said, has clearly defined Yulon's overall private branding strategy: The group's LUXGEN nameplate is to handle development of medium-range passenger cars, while "tobe" entry-level mini models.

Yulon reportedly had decided to sell "tobe" cars via its SUM used-car dealers island-wide, but instead will set up a new subsidiary.