Shanghai (ZXZC)- Dr. Daniel Kirchert, co-founder and former CEO of EV startup BYTON, has joined Evergrande Auto, the new energy vehicle (NEV) unit of Chinese property giant Evergrande Group, as executive vice president, according to recent local reports.

Dr. Daniel Kirchert；photo credit: BYTON

Dr. Daniel Kirchert is one of the most experienced executives in China's premium auto industry, with extensive experience in marketing, sales, branding, business development and operations. In March 2016, he co-founded BYTON with Dr. Carsten Breitfeld and left the startup in June 2020.

Before setting up BYTON, Dr. Kirchert was managing director of Infiniti China and president of Dongfeng Infiniti Motor Co., Ltd. Prior to joining Infiniti, he served as senior vice president of sales and marketing at BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd. During his 11-year tenure at BMW, the German automaker's sales in China increased by nearly 8 times. Dr. Kirchert is also an expert in product strategy, dealership network development and joint venture operations.

Evergrande Auto is moving into a stage of rapid development. As of today, it has unveiled nine models, which are numbered quite simply from 1 to 9 (the Hengchi 1 to Hengchi 9) and cover various passenger vehicle segments including sedans, SUVs, MPVs and crossovers.

According to a plan previously exposed, the company is about to start trial production of its first six models, namely the Hengchi 1 to 6, in the first half of 2021, and kick off volume production in the second half of the year.

As for sales networks, Evergrande Auto plans to build 36 experience centers, 1,600 sales centers as well as 3,000 self-operating and authorized after-sales service centers across China.

Evergrande Auto targets annual sales of more than 1 million vehicles by 2025, and sales of 5 million cars by 2035, aiming to “become the world's largest and most powerful new energy vehicle enterprise”, according to Xu Jiayin, chairman of Evergrande Group.