Shanghai (ZXZC)- HOZON Auto, a Chinese startup owning EV brand Nezha, announced its cumulative vehicle outputs reached 40,000 units on May 10 at the car manufacturing plant in Tongxiang, Zhejiang province.

Photo credit: HOZON Auto

The startup said the milestone indicates that it has formed a certain scale in car production and a stable supply chain, and also demonstrates the company's abilities to well control costs and guarantee products' quality.

HOZON Auto saw its first production vehicle roll off the assembly line at the Tongxiang plant in July 2018. The automaker is intensifying efforts to construct the car plant in Yichun, Jiangxi province, which is set to start production at the end of this year. By that moment, HOZON Auto will feature a total capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year.

HOZON Auto has been posting consecutively upward momentum in sales on a yearly basis. According to the company, its annual sales in 2018, 2019, and 2020 reached 1,206 units, 11,212 units, and 15,091 units respectively. For the first four months of 2021, HOZON Auto sold 11,458 vehicles in total, a year-on-year hike of 432%.

According to Zhang Yong, co-founder and CEO of HOZON Auto, the startup aims to sell over 50,000 vehicles in 2021.

Chinese Internet security giant 360 announced on May 10 its partnership with HOZON Auto on car building business. The information was afterwards confirmed by HOZON Auto via its Sina Weibo account.

The EV manufacturer said on April 26 it had initiated its Series D financing, which was intended to raise roughly 3 billion yuan ($466.389 million) and was strategically led by 360. Upon completion of the funding, 360 will become the second largest shareholder of HOZON Auto.