Shanghai (ZXZC)- GAC AION, GAC Group's new energy vehicle (NEV)-dedicated subsidiary, has completed its Series A financing with 18.294 billion yuan ($2.53 billion) raised, the largest-ever volume for a single-round private placement searchable in China’s new energy complete vehicle industry over the past several years, according to an announcement GAC Group released on Oct. 20.

GAC AION officially quoted its A-round fundraising project on the Guangzhou Enterprises Mergers and Acquisitions Services on August 26. The fresh round's completion has made the registered capital of GAC AION increased to 7.803 billion yuan ($1.079 billion) from 6.421 billion yuan ($888.142 million), resulting in GAC Groups' shareholding (including both directly- and indirectly-owned) in GAC AION reduced by 16.56 percentage points to 76.89%.

AION Y Plus; photo credit: GAC AION

After the funding round was fulfilled, GAC AION is still majority-owned by GAC Group. Its valuation has lifted to 103.239 billion yuan ($14.28 billion).

The new round introduced 53 strategic investors for GAC AION, all of which have paid for the investment as of the announcement date. Companies like Ganfeng Lithium, Hanrui Cobalt, Keda Industrial Group, CanSemi, CITIC’s Goldstone Investment, etc. are among the investor lineup.

GAC AION's second intelligent manufacturing center officially started operation on October 12, making GAC AION's annual production capacity total 40,000 vehicles. The NEV maker revealed that its combined capacity is expected to reach up to 600,000 units annually under multiple shifts.