Hengchi 5 must be in mass production by June 22, Hui Ka Yan, or Xu Jiayin, chairman of Evergrande Group, said Tuesday.

(Image credit: Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group)

Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group (Evergrande NEV), the car-making arm of Chinese real estate developer Evergrande Group, is stepping up its efforts to advance the mass production of its first model, the Hengchi 5, after completing the last major regulatory process.

Hengchi 5 must achieve mass production by June 22 to lay a solid foundation for the healthy and sustainable development of Evergrande's car business, Hui Ka Yan, or Xu Jiayin, chairman of Evergrande Group, said Tuesday.

Evergrande NEV (HKG: 0708) held a working meeting on Tuesday to advance the Hengchi 5's mass production efforts, with Hui in attendance.

Earlier this month, the Hengchi 5 SUV was included in the second batch of models allowed to be sold this year in a catalog released by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Being included in the catalog is the last regulatory process for a model to be able to begin sales in China, usually several months before its official launch.

Evergrande NEV launched the Hengchi brand in August 2019, and it has already announced nine of the 14 vehicles it has designed.

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

According to Evergrande NEV's plan, the Hengchi 5 is positioned as an A-class SUV priced below RMB 200,000 ($31,550).

On January 12, Evergrande NEV announced that the first production vehicle of the Hengchi 5 has rolled off the production line, 12 days ahead of the original plan.

Evergrande NEV's Tianjin production site has begun production of the Hengchi 5 and is expected to start pre-sale within the second quarter of this year, National Business Daily said today, citing sources close to the company.

Hengchi 5 is expected to roll off the production line in the third quarter, Evergrande Group non-executive director Liang Senlin said in response to questions from creditors on Tuesday.

Evergrande NEV is currently mobilizing all its resources to ensure mass production of the Hengchi 5 model and prepare for subsequent marketing, he said.

Evergrande Group is also actively pushing forward the introduction of strategic investors for Evergrande NEV in an effort to restore its value, Liang said.

Evergrande's first EV model gets regulatory approval to go on sale