KG Mobility, a South Korean sport utility vehicle maker, has teamed up with China’s Chery Automobile to co-develop a range of vehicles including plug-in hybrid cars to expand its global presence.
According to a KG Mobility regulatory filing on Monday, the auto brand signed a platform technical license agreement with Chery Automobile on Friday to collaborate in areas as such the design and development of vehicles as well as car manufacturing and distribution.
The deal includes sharing the intellectual property of the T2X platform, a technology the Chinese automaker uses to manufacture plug-in hybrid vehicles. The regulatory filing notes that the area to be impacted by the eight-year contract includes all countries in the world except for China and the United States.
“KGM started as a KG Group family company, and we are successfully pushing to increase production, strengthen our global market strategy and normalize management by launching a range of models with improved product quality as well as new models such as the Torres EVX and Actyon,” said KGM Chairman Kwak Jea-sun.
“Through this strategic partnership and technological cooperation with Chery Automobile, we will be able to develop a number of models, reduce the time it takes to develop new cars and produce new models that meet our customers' demand for a more nimble response to the fast-changing auto market.”
The chairman highlighted that KG Mobility will develop a Korean-style SUV to offer distinctive mobility value based on the brand’s new strategy of “practical creativity.”
A KG Mobility official explained that the Chinese partner’s T2X platform can be used to develop not only plug-in hybrid vehicles but also cars with internal combustion engines, noting that the market for plug-in hybrids is growing.
According to KG Mobility, Chery Automobile sold 1.75 million vehicles between January and September this year, up 40 percent from the same period last year as the auto brand continues to expand its market presence. Chery Automobile also became the largest auto exporter in China after shipping about 937,000 vehicles abroad last year. In na August ranking by US business magazine Fortune, Chery Automobile came in 385th place among the world's top 500 firms, with annual revenues of $39 billion.
