Shanghai (ZXZC)- Chinese EV startup Byton signed on Jan. 4 a framework agreement with Foxconn Technology Group and Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone to jointly promote the volume production of the M-Byte.

Under the agreement, the Apple supplier will provide the automaker with its manufacturing technologies, operation & management experience as well as industrial resources. 

Foxconn plans to plow roughly $200 million in Byton and both companies expect to start the mass production of the Byton M-Byte by the first quarter of 2022, a person briefed on the matter said earlier this week. Nevertheless, the formal agreement does not mention the investment value.

M-Byte; photo credit: Byton

The aforesaid deal will provide a lifeline for the EV maker who is mired in cash trouble and struggling to output its first mass-produced vehicle M-Byte several years after the concept model was unveiled.

A growing number of technology companies start tapping the next-generation automobile businesses, such as autonomous driving technologies and Internet of Vehicles (IoV) system. Foxconn is the most important manufacturing partner of Apple, which is reportedly developing its self-owned autonomous cars.

In an internal e-mail exposed by a media outlet, Byton has decided to shut down business for another six months ended June 30, 2021 as it still does not have the conditions for production and operation resumption. However, the company will pay living allowance to employees based on relevant laws and regulations when they are in furlough. 

A Byton representative said he cannot comment on the report and the company is evaluating and adjusting personnel based on its business development scheme. 

Byton would restart its operation soon as its board of directors and board of shareholders had approved the company's restructuring plan, a local report said in October, which cited sources close to the matter.

From March to June, 2020, the company was repeatedly reported to withhold salaries. Financial pressure piled up since an expected new financing round failed to complete. Consequently, it said at the end of June that it would suspend operations for the next 6 months, starting from July 1.