In recent years, more and more young firms and brands have appeared in China, flooding the market with cheap and technologically advanced products. The competition between them is growing, and not everyone is coping: as Reuters writes, the automobile company WM Motor, founded in 2015, went bankrupt after a series of serious financial losses. Even the patronage of the tech giant Baidu, which acted as an investor, did not help.
WM Motor was founded eight years ago in Shanghai by Freeman Shen with a long track record: in 22 years he managed to work for Geely, BorgWarner and Fiat. In 2016, it raised a billion dollars from investors that included Baidu and Tencent.
Later, the startup registered a trademark with a louder name, under which it decided to produce mass-produced electric cars – Weltmeister. From German it is translated as “world champion”. There were some plagiarism scandals: Weltmeister was accused of stealing a Mitsubishi render, but the Chinese denied everything.
WM Motor reported massive annual losses in 2021, doubling to $1.13 billion over three years. That same year, however, sales more than doubled to 44,152. At that time, the company sold three electric crossovers – EX5, EX6 Plus and W6, as well as the budget E5 sedan.
Another model was being prepared for release – the flagship M7 sedan, which was promised three lidars, over-the-air updates and high-tech assistants. It was supposed to appear in 2023.
The management of WM Motor hoped to achieve placement of shares on the Shanghai STAR Market and in Hong Kong, but attempts failed. In September, US-listed used car dealer Kaixin Auto Holdings announced a non-binding agreement to acquire the troubled electric car maker. In the meantime, the WM Motor bankruptcy case is being considered by a court in Shanghai.
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