Aiways

Aiways is a Chinese automobile manufacturer of electric cars founded in 2017. Aiways stands for "AI (artificial intelligence) is on the way".[2]

Aiways Automobiles Co Ltd
IndustryAutomotive
Founded2017 (2017)[1]
Founder
  • Fu Qian
  • Gu Feng
HeadquartersShanghai, China[2]
Number of employees
251-500+ approx. (2019)[3]
Websitewww.ai-ways.eu
Aiways
Traditional Chinese愛馳汽車
Simplified Chinese爱驰汽车

History

Aiways was founded by Fu Qian, former China sales chief of Volvo cars.

In August 2019, Aiways acquired a 50 percent stake in Chinese domestic automaker Jiangling Holdings. Jiangling was relaunched as a 50-25-25 three-way partnership with Aiways, Jiangling Motors Corporation Group and Changan Automobile. Aiways paid 1.75 billion yuan ($248 million) acquiring the stake, according to information disclosed by Changan Automobiles. The deal enables Aiways to obtain a license to produce EVs from China regulators and to use Jiangling's auto production plant to increase output.[4]

One of the company's first models, the Aiways U5, was released in November 2018 and has been approved for the EU market.[5]

Sales strategy

Sales of the vehicles produced in Shangrao[2] started in December 2019 in China. In Europe, the first models are due to hit the stores in mid-2020. Instead of being carried by ship, the vehicles are to be transported by train, which should reduce the transport time from six weeks to 16 days.[6] The vehicles are to be sold in Germany via Euronics Deutschland, a cooperative chain of independent consumer electronics and white goods retailers. Maintenance and spare parts logistics are to be carried out by the cooperation partner A.T.U.

Vehicles
Aiways U5

Aiways' first vehicle is the 4.68m long electric CUV Aiways U5. It was presented at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2019 and has been sold in China since December 2019.

The manufacturer's concept car Aiways U6ion, which was to be presented at the Geneva Motor Show 2020, as an SUV Coupé. Due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic the vehicle could not be delivered from China to Europe. Regardless, the debut was expected to take place remotely through a live conference at the Geneva Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland. As the Swiss government banned events with more than 1,000 participants on 28 February 2020 due to the epidemic, the Geneva Motor Show was canceled. The planned press conference finally took place on 3 March 2020 in Leonberg.[7]

Gumpert Aiways Automobile
Gumpert Nathalie

Gumpert Aiways Automobile is a subsidiary based in Ingolstadt, which is managed by Roland Gumpert. The methanol fueled vehicle Gumpert Nathalie is the first model of this company.[8]

References
  1. "Aiways overview".
  2. Gregor Soller (2018-10-22). "Aiways: Start-up mit höchsten Ambitionen". vision-mobility.de.
  3. "China EV startup Aiways will launch SUV in Europe".
  4. "Aiways buys majority stake in Jiangling".
  5. "Chinese EV Aiways U5 approved for the EU market".
  6. Peter Maahn (2020-04-14). "Elektro-SUV aus China zum kleinen Preis". n-tv.de.
  7. Torsten Seibt (2020-03-04). "Aiways U6 Ion Concept: Elektro-SUV-Coupé aus China". auto-motor-und-sport.de.
  8. Gerd Stegmaier,Marcel Sommer (2020-03-12). "Elektro-Supersportwagen mit Methanol-Brennstoffzelle: Gumpert Nathalie startet mit Sonderserie". auto-motor-und-sport.de.
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