BEIJING — Chinese electric car start-up WM Motor filed Wednesday to go public on the Hong Kong Inventory Change.
Also referred to as Weltmeister, the electric car firm disclosed its annual losses doubled over the past three years to 8.2 billion yuan ($1.2 billion), whereas income greater than doubled throughout that point, rising by about 170% to 4.7 billion yuan in 2021.
The public version of the filing didn’t embody pricing data.
Though China’s electric car market is the most important globally and a fast-growing one, automakers reminiscent of BYD and Tesla dominate gross sales. Chinese start-ups reminiscent of Nio and Xpeng — each listed in the U.S. and Hong Kong — have made headlines, however nonetheless have a small portion of the market.
WM Motor has offered even fewer vehicles. The corporate stated in the submitting that as of Dec. 31, it has offered 83,495 electric vehicles since its first mannequin launched in September 2018.
Xpeng launched its first mannequin across the identical time, and stated its cumulative deliveries reached 137,953 as of the tip of December. Nio stated its cumulative deliveries totaled 167,070 as of the tip of December, though it launched its first car a few 12 months earlier than its start-up rivals.
WM Motor CEO Freeman Shen advised CNBC in January he anticipated demand for electric autos in China this 12 months to practically double from final 12 months. He stated, nonetheless, chip shortages and Covid-related provide chain disruptions would improve prices for corporations making the vehicles.
WM Motor’s SUVs and sedans promote in a value vary of about 160,800 yuan to 280,000 yuan, the submitting confirmed. That is comparable to Xpeng’s value vary.
The corporate stated in Wednesday’s submitting its aggressive benefits embody a give attention to the mainstream market, self-owned manufacturing amenities and robust analysis and improvement capabilities.
As of the tip of final 12 months, the submitting confirmed WM Motor spent 20.7% of income on analysis and improvement, whereas Xpeng reported it spent 19.6% of income on such analysis.
Learn extra about electric autos from CNBC Professional
Nonetheless, Xpeng has more than triple the headcount at 13,978 workers versus WM Motor’s 3,952, filings confirmed for the tip of final 12 months.
WM Motor stated it had 1,141 workers in analysis and improvement, or 28.9% of a complete headcount. Manufacturing employees accounted for the best share, at 54.1%.
For comparability, Xpeng stated its gross sales and advertising and marketing crew accounted for the best share of its workers, at 45%. A complete of 5,271 analysis and improvement workers accounted for 38% of headcount.
