Chinese electric-vehicle startup Aiways aims to boost annual exports to 10,000 vehicles in 2021, ten times the number registered last year, further expanding its global sales footprint.
The company disclosed the goal Wednesday after it delivered more than 1,000 vehicles overseas in the first quarter alone.
In May 2020, Aiways started to ship its first product, the U5 compact crossover, to Europe — its first export market. By the end of last year, it was delivering the U5 in France, Germany and the Netherlands.
In the first quarter, it began exports to Belgium, Denmark and Israel.
For the remainder of 2021, it will focus on further developing markets in Europe and the Middle East, Aiways said.
The U5, similar to the Audi Q5 in size, is powered by a 140-kilowatt electric motor and has a range of more than 400 kilometers.
The company plans to roll out its second product, the U6 ion, a coupe-like compact crossover, in China later this year.
Aiways was established in Shanghai in 2017 by Volvo Car Corp.’s former China sales chief, Fu Qiang, and SAIC Motor Corp.’s former CFO, Gu Feng. Its assembly plant is located in Shangrao of east China’s Jiangxi province.
Aiways is the second largest Chinese EV exporter in Europe, following SAIC Motor Corp., the major state-owned automaker based in Shanghai.
SAIC started to export the EZS, a compact electric crossover, under the MG brand to Europe in mid-2019. By the end of 2020, total deliveries of the EV in Europe topped 10,000, SAIC said in January.