Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group’s electric trucks. (image: Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group)
SEOUL, Feb. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean auto parts maker Myong Shin Inc. is set to develop electric trucks in collaboration with Chinese automobile manufacturer Geely Auto Group.
The company said it held a virtual meeting with Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group on Monday and signed an agreement on the basic framework of a plan to jointly develop, produce and sell electric vehicles.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two parties will pursue the certification and development of electric vehicles optimized for the domestic market.
If the coverage of their partnership goes beyond the development of electric trucks towards mass-production, it’s likely that production would be carried out at Myong Shin’s plant in Gunsan, some 270 km south of Seoul, which was acquired from GM Korea Co.
In such a scenario, it would be the first time that a Chinese automaker produces electric vehicles in South Korea.
“The current agreement represents only the planning stages for development. It focuses on joint development of EV models and, if possible, selling them in both South Korea and China.” said Park Ho-seok, vice president of Myong Shin.
In response to concerns that the domestic EV car market could be eroded by Geely, he added, “Given that this segment has only a maximum size of 3,000 to 4,000 units, it’s an exaggeration to say that the domestic EV market could be occupied by the Chinese firm.”
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
