Future Mobility raises $200 million from investors

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Chinese electric-car venture Future Mobility Corp, co-founded by former BMW and Nissan Motor executives, has raised 200 million US dollars from investors including China's Suning and Fullshare Holdings in its latest round of financing.

Future Mobility, which plans to launch three vehicles by 2022, has a premium midsize crossover SUV ready to go into the next "serious" phase of development - that is preparing for production and sale in the world's top two auto markets, China and the United States, as well as in Europe, according to Daniel Kirchert, Future Mobility's president.

Charging posts at Beijing Capital Airport. /Xinhua Photo‍

Future Mobility also plans to launch the sport-utility vehicle by the fourth quarter of 2019 and another two - a sedan and a 7-seater multi-purpose vehicle - by 2022.

The SUV will likely be priced at around 300,000 yuan (44,874 US dollars) in China to be able to compete with the Tesla Model 3 sedan that may cost 43,000 US dollars, plus tax.

There is plenty of policy support for smart, electric-vehicle ventures in China, but funds are getting harder to come by, while policymakers try to weed out companies with mediocre technology, analysts and executives at EV startups say.

China is now leading the world in the new energy vehicle development. The country's new energy auto industry experienced a robust expansion and it has become the world's largest market since 2015, according to a survey, the E-Mobility Index (2Q/2017), jointly released by German consultancy Roland Berger and automobile study institute Forschungsgesellschaft Kraftfahrwesen Aachen.

Source(s): Reuters