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| Industry | Automotive |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2017; 8 years ago (2017) |
| Founder |
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| Headquarters | Shanghai, China |
Number of employees | 251-500+ approx. (2019) |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references [1][2][3] | |
| Aiways | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 愛馳汽車 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 爱驰汽车 | ||||||
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Aiways Automobiles Company Ltd is a Chinese automobile manufacturer ofelectric cars founded in 2017. The Aiways name is derived from the phrase "Ai (meaning 'love' in Chinese) is on the way".[2]
Startup Aiways was founded by two Chinese entrepreneurs, Fu Qian and Gu Feng, in 2017 inShanghai. From the very beginning, the goal was to develop a range ofSUVs withelectric drive.[4] A study preview of the first production Aiways vehicle was theprototype U5 Ion Concept presented in November 2018, with plans to introduce the series character next spring.[5] On the occasion of the first study, Aiways announced sales plans concerning not only the domesticChinese market, but alsoEuropean.[6]
In line with previous announcements, the first production car of the Aiways brand was themid-sizeSUVU5 presented in March 2019.[7] In January 2020, Aiways announced the official European debut of the U5 atGeneva Motor Show 2020,[8] thus becoming the first fullyChinese brand to officially start selling an electric car in this region.[9]
Due to the cancellation of theGeneva Motor Show as a result of theCOVID-19 pandemic,[10] the premiere ofAiways U5 did not take place. The start of sales of the model in selected Western European markets is scheduled for August 2020.[11] In July 2020, the first transport of 500 U5 units will arrive inEurope, which will operate as part of theHertz car rental company in the FrenchCorsica.[12] In April 2021, Aiways introduced its second production car in the form of a mid-sizeSUV Coupe calledU6. The vehicle has an avant-garde design, for which former stylistFerrari,Ken Okuyama was responsible.[13]
In December 2022, Aiways won a contract to supply up to 150,000 EVs from Thai e-mobility service provider Phoenix EV.[14]: 58
In mid-2023, the company's financial situation collapsed, which led to the suspension of employee salaries and production stoppages.[15] Then, in August 2023, the current president of the company left and was replaced by a new manager who decided to restructure. He decided to intensify his activities on foreign markets, withdrawing Aiways from the domestic, too difficult Chinese market and preparing to rebuild its plans for the European market.[16] At the beginning of 2024, Aiways was on the verge of bankruptcy, from which Aiways was protected from Chinese state authorities in March 2024 and together withHaima andZhidou provided stable financing for the resumption of full-scale operations.[17]
In May 2024, Aiways announced that it was exiting the Chinese market due toextreme price competition, and will focus on sales in Europe and other overseas countries. Simultaneously, it announced that it will launch a public listing onNasdaq in a $400 million USD deal with Hudson Acquisition, an American takeoverSPAC, by the end of 2024. It will move its headquarters to Europe sometime after the merger, which will handle marketing, sales and finance, while R&D and production will continue in existing facilities in China. Previous investors of Aiways,CATL andDiDi, will continue to be shareholders after the merger.[18][19][20]
In 2017, German engineer and entrepreneurRoland Gumpert, after his companyGumpert went bankrupt and was sold to Hong Kong investors, who changed its name toApollo Automobil, decided to create a new business initiative. He entered into cooperation with the Chinese Aiways, creating the companyGumpert Aiways Automobile. In 2021, it was planned to produce a hybridcoupeRG Nathalie,[21] however, it did not materialize and the company remained inactive at the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century.
Sales of the vehicles produced inShangrao[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.[22] The vehicles are to be sold in Germany viaEuronics 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 partnerA.T.U.
The company has Global headquarters inShanghai, China plus European headquarters and R&D centre inMunich, Germany.
Aiways invested ¥13.3 billion in building a factory inShangrao. The factory is engineered toIndustry 4.0 standards and uses a cloud-based monitoring system developed bySiemens. The plant operates using products from Swiss-Swedish robotics supplier,ABB, which deliver 90% automation across the plant. In the body shop, robots supplied by German companyKuka join the chassis components and body panels.
The paint shop was built by German plant manufacturerEisenmann and the assembly shop was erected by German manufacturing specialistsDurr.
The factory currently produces the Aiways U5 and will be able to produce 300,000 vehicles per year when operating at full capacity.[23]
In 2018 Aiways started producing battery packs at its plant inChangshu, Jiangsu, China. The factory produces Aiways' patented ‘sandwich’ structure battery pack which is used in the Aiways U5 and U6 models.
Aiways vehicles come with variousAdvanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) as standard including:[26]
TheAiways U5 is Aiways' first vehicle, and is a 4.68m long electricCUV. It was presented at theGeneva Motor Show in March 2019 and was launched in China in December 2019. Exports from China began in 2020 and the U5 is now sold in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, La Reunion, Suisse (Garage Emplatures) and the Netherlands
In 2021 the U5 was given a ‘facelift’ which included new convenience technology features, new paint colors and a new 63kWh battery.
TheAiways U6 is Aiways' second vehicle, a CUV with an aerodynamic design of the U6 is heavily influenced by the U6 ion concept, its design sitting somewhere between coupe and more traditional crossover.[27] The U6 will go on sale in China by the end of 2021 and in Europe at the beginning of 2022.
The manufacturer'sconcept carAiways U6 ion, which was to be presented at the Geneva Motor Show 2020, as an SUV Coupé. Due to theCOVID-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 theGeneva Motor Show inGeneva, 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 inLeonberg.[28]
TheAiways U7 ion concept car was unveiled at Auto Shanghai in 2019[29] to demonstrate the companies ‘FRM’ concept (family, roomy mobility). It featured a self-learning robot which can move around the vehicle[30] and smart mobile console with touch screen that can move around the cabin.
Aiways works with various technology suppliers from Europe to manufacture its range of vehicles.[23]
Gumpert Aiways Automobile was a subsidiary based inIngolstadt, Germany, which is managed byRoland Gumpert. Themethanol fueled vehicleGumpert Nathalie was the first model of this company.[31][32]
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