Renault-backed BeyonCa plans to build Hong Kong's first EVs

FILE PHOTO: Beyonca's GT Opus 1 concept car is unveiled during an event at the electric vehicle (EV) start-up's headquarters in Beijing, China October 30, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo

BEIJING (Reuters) -Premium EV maker BeyonCa, backed by Renault and Dongfeng Motor, said on Friday it plans to set up a final assembly plant and its international headquarters in Hong Kong, developing the territory's first car brand.

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Beyonca, an electric vehicle (EV) start-up, is seen on the facade of its headquarters in Beijing, China October 30, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo

Following the one-two punch that the 2019 protests and pandemic delivered to Hong Kong's economy, the city has sought to diversify and build up other industries.

"We aim to achieve a breakthrough in Hong Kong's auto manufacturing industry, becoming the first international premier electric vehicle brand made in Hong Kong," BeyonCa's founder and chairman Weiming Soh said in Hong Kong.

While BeyonCa's cars will be assembled in a government-owned industrial park in Hong Kong, with most of the manufacturing - stamping, body welding, and painting - to be completed in mainland China.

The company did not disclose the value of its investment.

Beyonca said in 2022 it would begin production in China but planned to build an overseas plant within five years to serve markets including the Middle East, ASEAN countries and Europe.

Soh said the company aimed to sell 100,000 EVs annually with three to five models available by "a few years after 2025".

(Reporting by Sarah Wu and Zhang Yan; editing by Jason Neely and Jane Merriman)