Evergrande NEV announced that the first production vehicle of its first model, the Hengchi 5, has rolled off the production line today, 12 days ahead of schedule.

(Image credit: Evergrande NEV)

After multiple twists and turns, debt-ridden Chinese real estate developer Evergrande Group has finally seen its vehicle roll off the production line.

Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group (Evergrande NEV), Evergrande's vehicle-building arm, announced that the first production vehicle of its first model, the Hengchi 5, has rolled off the production line today, 12 days ahead of schedule.

Evergrande NEV launched the Hengchi brand in August 2019, and it has announced nine of the 14 vehicles it has designed, but none have yet begun mass production.

The company has car production plants in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Tianjin. But with the outbreak of funding chain problems, only the Hengchi 5 and Hengchi 6 projects have been retained, with the faster-moving Hengchi 5 set to launch first, according to a report by local media outlet LatePost in October last year.

According to the previous Evergrande NEV model plan, the Hengchi 5 is positioned as an A-class SUV priced below RMB 200,000 ($31,400), positioning as a low, inexpensive model of the Hengchi family.

On November 9, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (the MIIT) released a preliminary list of models that will be allowed to be sold, seeking public feedback, with a deadline of November 16.

The Hengchi 5 LX was listed at the time, containing the HDE6470BEVA1F and HDE6470BEVA0F models.

Appearing in the MIIT's catalog is the last major regulatory process for a model to be sold in China, usually only 4-6 months before the vehicle is officially launched.

However, both models disappeared from the final list released by the MIIT on December 8, for reasons that are not known.

Evergrande's car-making progress suffers new setback as its models disappear from regulatory list