AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)10/23 Report--

Following the European and Southeast Asian markets, the new power of Chinese car-making is accelerating the distribution of the Middle East market.

BeyonCa, a start-up brand of luxury smart electric vehicles, announced through its official Weibo that the company signed a memorandum of investment and strategic cooperation with Saudi Arabia-based investment group Al Faisaliah Group Holding Company (AFG) on Oct. 23. On the same day, BeyonCa also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Q Auto, which has rich experience and resources in the automotive industry in the Middle East.

As of press time, the two sides did not disclose the specific amount of investment. But according to people familiar with the matter, AFG invested hundreds of millions of dollars in BeyonCa this time.

According to public data, BeyonCa belongs to Beijing Bingli Information Technology Co., Ltd., established in June 2021 with a registered capital of 200 million US dollars, is an enterprise mainly engaged in science and technology promotion and application service industry. The company is wholly owned by BeyonCa HK Limited and has three wholly-owned subsidiaries: Shanghai Binli Information Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing Bingli Automotive Technology Development Co., Ltd., and Wuhan Bingli Information Technology Co., Ltd., founded by Su Weiming, former global executive vice president of Volkswagen Group.

BeyonCa officially launched in October 2022, along with its first model, BeyonCa Opus 1, which is positioned as a luxury smart electric car with a price of millions and a Porsche Taycan after its launch. Since then, however, BeyonCa has rarely been seen in the public eye until the official announcement of the two strategic partnerships.

BeyonCa said that the signing of the two strategic cooperation agreements and memorandums marked the high recognition of BeyonCa by the capital markets and industrial markets in the Middle East. Su Weiming, chairman and chief executive officer of Renault China and chairman of BeyonCa, said: "luxury electric cars will enter the high growth phase of the S curve between 2025 and 2030, which will be the best window for the luxury car market. At the same time, the ecosystem composed of three-electricity technology, high-voltage fast charging, autopilot and intelligent cockpit is also becoming more and more mature. Luxury electric cars will become the most internationally competitive high-end manufacturing brand business cards in China. "

In addition to the above cooperation, BeyonCa and Q Auto formally signed a strategic cooperation agreement, the two sides will jointly carry out business cooperation in the Middle East and other regions. "through cooperation with BeyonCa, we will build a hub of China's electric vehicle industry in the Arab region," said Marwan Emile Faddoul, chairman of Q Auto.

In fact, there have been a number of new car-building forces in the Middle East market since the beginning of this year. On June 20, Xilai announced a share subscription agreement with CYVN Holdings, an Abu Dhabi investment agency, which will make strategic investments totaling about $1.1 billion through private placement of new shares and transfer of existing shares. Then, on July 10, Xiaopeng announced a cooperation with Israeli car dealer Freesbe to expand the local market. On the same day, Polar Krypton officially announced that it had signed an agreement with Israel United Group and planned to launch two models of Polar Krypton 001 and Polar Krypton X in the local market in the fourth quarter. Prior to this, including Aichi and Nathan cars, it was also announced or entered the Israeli market.

It should be noted that before the new car-building powers entered the Middle East market, traditional Chinese carmakers had taken the lead in testing the waters in this market. According to statistics, in 2020, the Middle East accounted for 33% of Chinese brand car exports overseas, about 326700 vehicles. Among them, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are the first and second largest markets for Chinese brand cars in the Middle East. According to CCTV, Chinese-branded cars accounted for more than 10% of the market in many Middle Eastern countries last year.

So far, more than 20 Chinese car brands have entered the Middle East. Under this background, more and more new car-making companies have also begun to enter the Middle East market.

With the continuous improvement of new energy vehicle penetration in China, the United States, Europe and other major markets, great changes are taking place in the global car market, especially in the Chinese market. Data show that in 2021 and 2022, domestic car exports were 2.015 million and 3.111 million respectively, while in the first nine months of this year, car exports climbed to 3.388 million, and the proportion of exports in total car sales increased from 4 per cent in 2020 to 16.1 per cent now. from January to September this year, the overseas sales of Great Wall, Geely and Chang'an were 211700, 194000 and 173,800 respectively.

As for the Middle East market, according to statistics, car sales in all countries in the Middle East totaled about 1.56 million last year, with Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the largest car consumer, and other markets reaching record highs. According to reports, in July this year, the United Arab Emirates, one of the major car importing countries in the Middle East, announced a new policy-electric cars will account for half of the vehicles on the road by 2050. the Middle East market, which is in urgent need of substantial transformation, is in urgent need of a better industrial chain and a higher level of self-research to fill the gap in the market.

It should be noted that, unlike Japanese and South Korean car companies, while Chinese car companies have entered the Middle East market on a large scale, some local dealers have also raised concerns. Take the Saudi market as an example, a local automobile industry observer said: "most car companies pay more attention to sales in the Middle East, but when consumers buy cars, in addition to comparing configurations and prices, they will also pay attention to the supply of spare parts, the ability to solve after-sales problems and the residual value of second-hand cars," but Chinese car companies still need to improve after-sales.

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