Rumors Say Didi Confirms Foundry to Be Responsible for Automotive Business

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi’s new energy vehicle will be manufactured by automaker Zedriv with the company’s factory in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province about to be renovated for the new contract with Didi, local media outlet IT Times reported on August 19.

This factory has an investment of 8 billion yuan ($1.17 billion) and a planned production capacity of 300,000 vehicles each year. Two mini electric vehicles and a small electric SUV have been put into production before, with a price range of 65,800 yuan to 139,800 yuan. According to the China Passenger Car Association, the total sales volume of new energy vehicles of Zedriv in 2021 was only 1,840 units, while in the first five months of 2022 the cumulative sales volume of the three models on sale was only 1,061 units.

Commercial information searching platform Tianyancha shows that Sinomach Automobile currently holds 40% of Zedriv and is the largest shareholder, while Shenzhen Guoji United Investment Co., Ltd. and Sinomach Capital hold 27.5% and 17% respectively.

Earlier, it was reported that Didi was negotiating to acquire a third of Zedriv’s shares for a total of 1 billion yuan. However, Sinomach Automobile denied this rumor on June 12, and issued a notice saying: “The company and Zedriv have not signed intention agreements or cooperation agreements with other enterprises.”

SEE ALSO: Chinese Regulators Respond to Didi Review Questions

In April last year, Didi started its own car-building plan, code-named “Da Vinci.” In order to attract the needed specialists, Didi offered to pay out a one million yuan annual salary plus options. The car making team located in Shunyi District, Beijing has recruited 1,700 employees, covering R&D, senior algorithm engineer and so on. The salary of Didi’s auto team is higher 40% to 50% than the average level in the industry.