Business x 09CONTACT US AT: 8351-9185, MLLMX@MSN.COM

Thursday August 24, 2017

An employee works at an assembly line at a Ford manufacturing plant in Chongqing in this fi le photo. Ford Motor is exploring setting up a joint venture with Chinese fi rm Anhui Zotye Automobile to build electric passenger vehicles in China under a new brand, tapping into a boom for such vehicles in the world’s top auto market. SD-Agencies

Tencent’s team getting upper hand in food fi ghtIN a takeout delivery fi ght between China’s web giants, Tencent shows to be the stron-gest, analysts say.

Food delivery service provider Ele.me, which is backed by Alibaba, has merged with Bai-du’s food and beverage delivery service Baidu Waimai, domestic media has reported.

The deal is valued at around US$500 million and is funded by a combination of cash and equity, The 21 Century Busi-ness Herald reported yesterday, citing unnamed sources close to the matter.

The possible merger could

be another step in the ongoing battle between Internet giants Alibaba and Tencent. The merger, however, will nonethe-less struggle to unseat the Ten-cent-backed Meituan-Dianping, which 86Research says is now the market leader.

The Internet trio of China have been competing to connect smartphone users with neigh-borhood services such as taxis and cinema tickets. Ordering meals online is the next front line — industry revenue is due to reach 300 billion yuan (US$45 billion) in 2018, more than double last year, said Meituan-

Dianping. Internet consultancy iResearch said in a report that the online-to-offl ine market size of the sector is expected to surge 76 percent from a year ago to 978 billion yuan (US$144 billion) by the end of 2017.

Ele.me is backed by Alibaba and its fi nancial service affi liate Ant Financial and local service unit Koubei, while Tencent backs Meituan-Dianping.

Combined, Alibaba’s Ele.me and Baidu’s Waimai would have about 50 percent market share, putting them roughly on par with Meituan-Dianping, said 86Research’s Wang Xiaoyan.

But Meituan-Dianping is in a stronger position, Wang said. Integrating two work-forces and technology plat-forms could distract Ele.me, and prompt restaurants and delivery drivers to defect to Meituan-Dianping. The latter also has a built-in advantage in its ties to Tencent’s WeChat, the phenomenally popular chat app, Wang said.

The takeout delivery industry has seen an expensive subsidy war but investors say this is already abating.

Meituan-Dianping is report-edly raising as much as US$5

billion at a valuation of up to US$30 billion. About US$1 bil-lion of the new funds would come from an additional investment from Tencent.

Meituan-Dianping, which has 200 million monthly active users, opened its fi rst offl ine concept store last month, where consumers can go and buy gro-cery items and seafood using the company’s app.

It also looks to expand its base of strategic partners and invest in backend technology, small-scale ride-hailing services as well as in the travel ticketing business.

(SD-Agencies)

FORD Motor is exploring set-ting up a joint venture with Anhui Zotye Automobile Co. to build electric passenger vehicles in China under a new brand, tapping into a boom for such vehicles in the world’s top auto market.

China, struggling with alarm-ing pollution levels in major cities, is aggressively pushing plug-in vehicles and has poured in tens of billions in investment, research funding and subsidies, drawing many new automakers to launch projects.

Tesla, Daimler AG and Gen-eral Motors are among fi rms that have already announced plans for making electric vehicles (EVs) in China, which wants electric and plug-in hybrid cars to make up at least a fi fth of the country’s auto sales by 2025.

Ford, whose overall China sales are down 7 percent this year, said in a statement Tues-day that it had signed a memo-randum of understanding with Zotye Auto to build a new brand under which the electric vehicles will be sold. Both fi rms will hold a 50-50 stake in the JV, it said.

It did not provide details of fi nancial commitments nor say by when it will take a fi rm deci-sion on the JV.

Ford sees China as the fastest growing market in the world for new energy vehicles (NEV) and forecasts that segment to grow

to 6 million vehicles per year by 2025, of which approximately 4 million would be all-electric. Deliveries of such vehicles rose 53 percent to 507,000 units in 2016, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The potential JV with Zotye Auto would represent a deep-ening of commitment to electric vehicles in China by Ford. In April, it outlined plans to offer by 2025 hybrid or fully electric versions of all models built in China with its domestic joint venture partner, Chongqing Changan Automobile Co.

However, it also said at the time that it would take a cautious approach to the market due to uncertainty about consumer

interest and government policy.Zotye, which Ford described

as the market leader in China’s all-electric small vehicle seg-ment, sold more than 16,000 all-electric vehicles this year through July, representing a year-on-year growth of 56 per-cent, it said.

The privately-owned com-pany, which is headquartered in Anhui Province, also makes sport utility vehicles and cargo trucks. On Monday, it reported a near six-fold jump in fi rst-half profi ts.

Ford said it would release details about the brand, prod-ucts and production volumes at a later date, pending a fi nal agreement and regulatory approvals.

Ford has said it plans for 70 percent of all of its vehicles sold in China to have electrifi ed powertrain options by 2025. The automaker currently has joint ventures in the country with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. and Jiangling Motors Corp.

Ford’s plan follows that of Volkswagen AG, which received approval in May for a new joint venture to produce electric cars. Daimler AG and BMW AG also have electric car brands under their partnerships with BYD Co. and Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. Volvo Car Group plans to offer only hybrid or fully battery-powered motors on every new model rolled out as of 2019. (SD-Agencies)

Audi to develop solar-embedded panoramic roof with HanergyAUDI, Volkswagen’s main profi t driver, yesterday said it was working with China’s Hanergy Thin Film Power Group to integrate solar cells into panoramic glass roofs for an upcoming Audi electric vehicle (EV).

Alta Devices, a unit of the Chinese solar cell fi rm Hanergy, will design the solar-embedded vehicle roof that will eventu-ally help increase the range of EVs by feeding solar energy into internal electrical systems, such as air conditioning and

other appliances, Audi said in a statement.

The prototype of the vehicle with a solar roof will be built by end-2017, the automaker added, without giving any details on investment and estimated time frame for mass-production.

Audi, which has been grap-pling with car recalls, prosecu-tor investigations and persistent criticism from unions and man-agers over an emissions scandal and its performance post-diesel-gate, is currently looking to shift its focus to EVs.

Last month, Audi said it aimed to cut costs by about US$12 bil-lion by 2022 to help fund the shift. It is also looking to free up funds for investments in zero-emission technology by devel-oping a new production platform with Porsche, allowing both VW brands to save money by sharing components and modules.

In its statement yesterday, Audi said it plans to make three battery-electric models by 2020 and aims to cover one third of its vehicles with fully electric drivetrains by 2025.

At a later stage, Audi said it hopes to be able to use solar energy to directly charge the traction battery.

“That would be a milestone along the way to achieving sustainable and emission-free mobility,” said Dr. Bernd Mar-tens, board of management member for procurement at Audi.

Hanergy presented four solar-powered EVs last year, and has been seeking to cooperate with car producers to mass produce its solar devices. (SD-Agencies)

Ford, Zotye team up to build EVs

At a Glance

Chery overseas salesCHERY Automobile Co. wants to grow its share of overseas sales to a third of total sales, up from a quarter currently, but plans to do so organically and not through acquisitions, its chief executive said.

Chen Anning said in an interview yesterday that while the company was open to forms of cooperation such as joint ventures, it was not actively looking for mergers in its bid to crack markets such as western Europe. Namibian beef dealCHINA is considering review-ing a beef import agreement with Namibia, the country’s ambassador to Namibia Zhang Yiming said Tuesday, raising the possibility that restrictions could be eased.

Namibia had expected to start exporting bone-in beef to China last year, making it the only African country allowed to export beef to the country, but an outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) in July last year halted that.Gasoline exports GASOLINE exports of China rose 5.9 percent from a year ago in July to the third-high-est monthly level since at least 2000 while diesel exports remained high, customs data showed yesterday.

China’s July gasoline exports rose to 1.02 million tons, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. That was the high-est since at least 2000.Corn imports CHINA imported 910,000 tons of corn in July, the fourth highest volume on record, customs data showed yester-day, the latest sign of strong demand for cheaper grain after domestic prices surged earlier in the summer.

July corn imports were 910,000 tons, up from 383,093 tons in June and 28,985 tons in July last year, according to the data.