Jia Yueting, founder and CEO of LeTV Holdings at a press conference on October 27, 2015. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)
China's Internet company LeTV Holdings will release its first electric vehicle at the Beijing auto show in April 2016, targeting the booming new-energy auto market.
The company's first electric vehicle, called Mule Car, has completed testing in the U.S. and a small scale trial production is on the horizon, said Ding Lei, co-founder of LeTV's car division Le Auto, at a press conference in Beijing on Oct 27.
Ding, a former vice president of State-owned automaker SAIC Motor Corp, said Le Auto has more than 700 employees worldwide, with 400 of them based in the U.S..
LeTV said that it has formed a partnership with Aston Martin, the British premium car brand that's most associated with James Bond, to explore opportunities in the electric car industry.
The Internet company made public its car-making plans earlier this year. It has big ambitions in the new-energy vehicle industry, which is being encouraged by the central government to cope with China's air pollution.
LeTV is already a large shareholder of Atieva, designer of models such as the Tesla Roadster, Audi R8eTron and Chevrolet Volt.
In early September LeTV became a major investor in a new-energy vehicle charging station producer as part of its green auto campaign.
Beijing Dianzhuang Technology Co, a startup that builds and rents charging posts, said it has received "tens of millions of yuan" from LeTV, although the investor did not disclose a specific investment amount.
In the first nine months, China sold 136,733 new-energy vehicles, a 230 percent surge year-on-year, according to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
LeTV has also released a premium smart television and an inexpensive smartphone, targeting China's new rich and tech-savvy young users.
Jia Yueting, founder and CEO of the Beijing-based Internet company, unveiled a 500,000 yuan 3D TV that is more than 2 meters tall and 1.5 meters wide.
"It is ideal for the rich guys in China," Jia said on Tuesday, adding that users will receive a number of content services, such as blockbuster movies free of charge.
The 120-inch screen is as big as more than 70 iPad Pros put together. The Chinese company said it is the biggest 3D TV commercially available in the world.
