Wanxiang is not in a rush to produce electric cars in the United States

China’s auto parts maker Zhejiang Wanxiang Group stated that after the purchase of Fisker, an electric vehicle manufacturer, Wanxiang was not in a hurry to resume Fisker sports car production in the United States.

Wan Guanqiu, Chairman of Wanxiang Group’s Board of Directors, told reporters that it is not certain when Wanxiang will resume production of the Fisker sports car. If we do not solve the remaining issues first, it is not realistic to resume production. However, he said that in the future Fisker sports cars will be listed in the United States first.

Ni Feng, president of Wanxiang Group’s North American company, also stated that there are many problems with the Fisker sports car at the moment. When will Wanxiang solve these problems, when will it be possible to resume production? He disclosed that currently Wanxiang is negotiating cooperation with suppliers.

In 2013, Wanxiang acquired the A123 system company on the verge of bankruptcy, and in less than two years, the American battery manufacturer's operations improved rapidly. Earlier this year, Wanxiang completed the acquisition of Fisker, which filed for bankruptcy, and established a complete electric vehicle production chain in the United States. Fisker went into bankruptcy due to confusion in decision-making, self-ignition of its sports car and poor product quality management.

Ni Jin admits that Fisker's problem is more complicated than A123. The Fisker sports car has more than 2,000 parts and there are at least thousands of suppliers for these parts, and Wanxiang needs to work with suppliers to solve problems.

Wanxiang’s acquisition of Fisker was considered by the market to compete with Tesla, a US pure-electric-vehicle automaker. Ni said that the latecomers can stay at the top. The time difference itself is not a problem. The question is whether Wanxiang has advantages that no one else has.

On the 25th, Lu Guanqiu was also invited to meet with US Vice President Biden in Washington. Biden welcomed Wanxiang’s investment in the United States and stated that the United States will give Chinese companies fair investment treatment.