By YANG Shihan
Dubai-based company NWTN has acquired a 27.5 percent stake in Hengchi, an EV brand owned by the troubled property developer Evergrande Group, for US$500 million (3.6 billion yuan) with plans to export 50,000 vehicles to the Middle East each year.
Listed on Nasdaq in November 2022, NWTN was originally a Tianjin-based car maker named ICONIQ established by WU Nan who remains CEO. Founded in 2015, ICONIQ obtained a vehicle manufacturing license in 2019.
In June 2022, the company rebranded as NWTN and relocated its headquarters to Dubai, making NWTN the first EV manufacturer in Abu Dhabi. In November 2022, NWTN went public via a SPAC merger.
As of the end of 2022, NWTN's cash and cash equivalents totaled approximately US2 million—insufficient to cover its US0 million investment. Moreover, the company's total debt stands at US million, a deficit that has widened each year, compounded by three consecutive years of zero revenue.
NWTN plans to open an EV plant in Zhejiang province in 2024, capable of producing 100,000 cars annually.
