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Electric vehicles: China’s Chery Automobile enters UK’s car rental business as its Omoda EVs are leased out by Octopus
- The state-owned carmaker takes a step into European EV markets as its Omoda E5 model partners with UK car rental company Octopus Electric Vehicles
- ‘As a new name to the UK, we know we have to earn the trust of British car buyers,’ says Victor Zhang, Omoda UK’s executive vice-president
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Why you can trust SCMP
Daniel Renin Shanghai
Chinese state-owned carmaker Chery Automobile has taken a step towards tapping European EV markets after its Omoda brand established a partnership with UK car rental company Octopus Electric Vehicles.
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Omoda’s battery-powered cars will be leased out by Octopus, which will offer low-cost charging and charger installation services, according to the British company.
It did not say how many Omoda cars would be included in the leasing business. Chery could be reached for comment on Tuesday.
The tie-up between Octopus and Chery comes just a month after the UK company signed a preliminary agreement with China’s BYD to buy 5,000 cars from the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) builder over the next three years.
“The fleet business in developed markets like Europe offers growth opportunities for Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers because their cars enjoy the advantage in production costs,” said Qian Kang, a Zhejiang-based entrepreneur who owns car components businesses. “Car rental services also help Chinese EVs build their brands abroad.”
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Cheap EV alternative to Tesla and BYD takes off in small-town China
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Chery, based in eastern China’s Anhui province, is one of several Chinese carmakers actively pursuing growth in European markets, along with BYD, Zeekr, SAIC and Nio.
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