Wanxiang receives approval to produce Karma electric cars

Wanxiang Group, a significant Chinese auto parts provider has got approval from regional regulators to produce electrical automobiles in China.

Wanxiang had almost 3 years ago purchased the possessions of defunct California-based plug-in hybrid automaker Fisker Automotive. Wanxiang later on changed Fisker’s name to Karma Automotive.

As per a notice on Friday on the site of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s leading financial and industrial organizer, Wanxiang has the thumbs up to construct a factory with capability to produce 50,000 electrical cars annually.

The move indicates the former Fisker Automotive, which was founded in part with a U.S. government loan and stopped production of its $100,000 plug-in electrical hybrid cars in 2012 after a series of technical problems and expense overruns, continues to survive under Chinese ownership after Wanxiang provided it a second life.

Wanxiang, a Hangzhou-based company which in 2012 also obtained U.S. lithium-ion battery maker A123, is the sixth company to be allowed to produce new-energy vehicles in China.

More companies are currently being encouraged to get in the automotive industry in China but only if they want to produce so-called new-energy vehicles, mainly all-electric cars and greatly electrified plug-in hybrids.

Apart from from Wanxiang, NDRC has authorized five companies to produce new-energy vehicles, including Ch-Auto’s Qiantu Motor, and Changjiang Auto. More companies like WM Motor, Future Mobility, Singulato Motors are looking for approval.