Since last July, a little-known automaker in China’s southwest has dominated the world’s largest electric car market, outselling bigger players and even Tesla Inc. almost every month with a tiny, bare-bones EV that starts at just $4,500.
The Hongguang Mini is the brainchild of SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co., a joint venture between SAIC Motor Corp. and Guangxi Automobile Group Co. — two state-backed automakers — and U.S. giant General Motors Co.
Based in the city of Liuzhou, known for its limestone mountains and river-snail soup, the company has even bigger ambitions for the future. Having sold some 270,000 of its cars within nine months, making it the best-selling EV in China, the firm is also aiming for annual sales of 1.2 million vehicles next year — almost equal to the number of EVs churned out by all China’s carmakers in 2020 combined.