Alibaba, Foxconn lead $350 million funding in electric car startup BEIJING (Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Foxconn Technologies Co Ltd have led a two.two billion yuan ($347.74 million) funding round in Chinese electric automobile maker Xiaopeng Motors as competition escalates in the new energy automobile (NEV) market. A like it view of the Alibaba Group booth during the 2018 CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. January 9, 2018. REUTERS/Steve Marcus The most recent injection brings the startup company's total funding to five billion yuan, it stated in a statement. It follows an earlier round in December in which Alibaba also participated. Xiaopeng, which debuted its electric vehicle at CES in Las Vegas this month, is one of a number of Chinese begin-ups searching to speed up improvement of battery-powered technology and compete with international leaders which includes Tesla Inc.
China's new energy car sales are anticipated to develop by 40 % in 2018, according to an business body, even as the country's conventional automotive industry slowed sharply in 2017.
The http://redrhinotrailers.com/ logo of Foxconn, the trading name of Hon Hai Precision Business, is seen on leading of the company's headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan March 29, 2016. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo Xiaopeng says its initial automobile, the 'G3', will hit the industry this year. Alibaba has invested heavily in wise automobile technologies and partnered with a handful of classic western and Chinese carmakers, such as Ford Motor Co and BMW. Other investors in the round consist of IDG Capital as nicely as preceding investors GGV Capital, Morningside Venture Capital and Matrix Partners, Alibaba stated on its press internet site on Sunday. Russian billionaire investor Yuri Milner is also supporting the initiative, the web internet site stated. ($1 = 6.3265 Chinese yuan) Reporting by Cate Cadell Editing by Gopakumar Warrier