CHINESE electric vehicle startup Leapmotor Technology said it has secured a 3.7 billion yuan (US$529 million) investment from State-owned carmaker FAW Group and disclosed plans to increase its annual sales by more than six times within the next decade.

FAW Equity Investment Tianjin will take a 5% stake in the EV maker by buying about 74.8 million new shares priced at HK$55.29 each, Leapmotor, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month, said in a stock exchange filing Monday.

The Hangzhou-based company is one of China’s fastest-growing new energy vehicle producers. Deliveries surged 114% to 536,100 autos in the 11 months ended Nov. 30 from a year ago, with the full-year figure expected to exceed 600,000. Last year, sales doubled to 293,700.

Laying out plans to reach annual sales of 4 million vehicles within the coming decade, founder and chief executive Zhu Jiangming said that Leapmotor aims to become a world-class EV maker.

Zhu, who also chairs Leapmotor, noted the strategic value of having both Stellantis and FAW as shareholders, saying their involvement enhances the EV maker’s stability and resilience in a competitive market. He pointed out that strategic, product, and parts supply collaborations with these partners will bolster the firm.

Compared with other Chinese NEV startups, Leapmotor has demonstrated strong in-house development capabilities for key components, with a high share of self-developed parts and systems in its vehicles, enabling it to operate not only as a full vehicle producer but also as a Tier-1 parts supplier.(SD-Agencies)