China’s industrialisation continues.
A Reuters interview with Freeman Shen, former executive at Chinese car conglomerate Geely, said that the emerging businessman is keen on offering buyers a different kind of electric car through his new marque, WM Motor. Offerings are set to be more mainstream, and crucially, more affordable.
“I don’t think traditional car companies are doing well with selling cars,” he said. “With smart, connected cars, I believe I can change that.” Shen suggests that cars ought to be a connected part of their owners’ lives, rather than exist as a separate entity the way they do now.
“We’re not a traditional car company,” he said. “We see ourselves as a service company.”
WM Motor has boldly claimed that it will be offering no less than 4 EVs when it comes to market in 2018. This is perfectly logical, as most EVs run the same platform underneath, and simply require a different body to be placed on top of that platform. On top of that, WM Motor says they will release a new addition to its range every year, until its range fills out by 2025.
“Building a fancy car to impress people is actually fairly easy, as long as you’re willing to spend the money. The most challenging part is mass production - coming up with a car that everyone can buy, with high quality at significantly lower cost,” Shen said. WM Motor is expected to hit the market with an MPV, a sedan, a wagon, and an SUV.
By 2022, WM Motor will want to hit 100,000 sales annually, sold predominantly in the Chinese market, with the US market being mooted as a possibility. They say that the cars themselves will not be luxury cars like EV competitor Tesla, but will feature “luxury-like quality in a mainstream car.”
No details on what kind of powertrain we should expect from the ambitious new marque, but it seems that WM Motor already has a partnership agreement with technology company and smartphone manufacturer Huawei, so that’s something. Maybe it’ll offer dual cameras.
Check out our gallery below for renderings of what WM’s cars might look like.
