LeEco’s fundraising plans are progressing smoothly and there are no plans to give up on its supercar dream, billionaire founder Jia Yueting said on Sunday, reassuring investors about the company’s capital condition which came under further scrutiny after trading in the shares of its Shenzhen-listed unit was halted last week.
“The supply chain problem [of LeEco’s smartphone business] is being solved gradually, and product supply will return to normal soon ... [the company] is moving forward smoothly on related fundraising plans, and we will make an announcement at an appropriate time,” Jia said at a business forum in Beijing.
Media reports in November said LeEco had defaulted on payments to its suppliers amid a cash crunch which cast doubt on its plan to produce an electric car, a dream that Jia has heavily invested in.
Jia said the plan was going ahead and LeEco will announce substantial progress on its production plant, in Deqing county in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, by the end of this month.
The company announced in August a plan to invest 12 billion yuan in an electric car factory capable of making 400,000 cars a year by 2018.
I have to thank every one who ‘planned’ all these things behind the scenes. It’s our competitors that put us on the stage – not our friends
LeEco is also in partnership to make electric cars in the US with electric car start-up Faraday Future, which was also said to have halted construction of its Nevada factory.
