Shanghai (ZXZC)- Zotye Auto, a China-based privately-owned automaker, said its net profit attributable to shareholders in the third quarter of 2019 (Q3) plunged 521.5% year on year with a loss of around RMB 470 million ($66.6 million). According to the announcement released on October 28, Zotye's Q3 revenue reached roughly RMB360 million ($51 million), tumbling 88.41% over the previous year.

The net losses in the first three quarters amounted to about RMB760 million ($107.7 million), a nosedive of 283.02% from the profit of the year-ago period. Meanwhile, the Q1-Q3 revenue totaled RMB 5.4 billion ($765 million), slumping by 59.59% year on year.       

The automaker indicated that the decline in revenue was mainly attributed to the sales drop and the increase in research and development (R&D) expenses of its new models. 

The figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed Zotye’s Q1-Q3 sales totaled 135,000 units, a year-on-year fall of 32.4%.     

The company plans to roll out over 10 NEV models by 2020 as part of its NEV strategy targeting the next fifteen years, according to a press release from the carmaker.

In order to improve the mix, Zotye Auto is trying to form a single “E” series by integrating products under the existing Series Z, T and Cloud. Currently, the Series E contains three NEV models, namely, the Cloud 100 plus, Z500EV Pro and E200 Pro.

Moreover, the automaker determines to reinforce efforts to push forward with the R&D over core auto parts and key technologies, and independently develop fuel cells to enrich product portfolio (photo source: Zotye).