Relatively Unknown EV Manufacturer WM Motor Raises $1 Billion In Funding

A relatively unknown new electric vehicle manufacturer, WM Motor, has managed to secure $1 billion in funding for the new venture, according to recent reports.

How exactly? And who’s behind the new electric vehicle (EV) company? The answers are: 1) primarily through Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, and 2) a former Volvo exec by the name of Freeman Shen.

Given the amount of investment cash sloshing around in China, and the country’s rapid adoption of EVs, the news isn’t actually that surprising, despite the numbers.

Autoblog provides more, noting that “Freeman Shen, who worked for Geely when it acquired Sweden-based Volvo from Ford in 2010 for $1.8 billion and eventually became CEO of Volvo China, is spearheading WM Motor. The company’s goal is to build its first vehicle in 2018 and then ramp up to make as many as 100,000 units a year by 2021, Bloomberg says, citing an interview with Shen. It’s a good thing that modesty isn’t an issue with Shen, as the name WM is short for weltmeister, which means ‘world champion’ in German.”

The coverage continues, with the comment that, “Shen is hoping that the combination of his experience and Chinese government muscle pushing for more electric vehicle adoption can make those goals a reality. Shen has worked in the automotive industry for more than two decades, including stints with both Fiat and Borg Warner. The Chinese government is pushing for a tenfold increase in plug-in vehicles — to about 3 million a year — over the next ten years as a way to deal with its notorious pollution problems.”

WM Motor will of course have competition, from “local” companies such as Faraday Future and Karma Automotive, as well as outsiders such as Tesla.