October 20th, GAC Group announced that its EV subsidiary, AION, has completed its A-round financing, introducing 53 strategic investors, with a total financing of RMB18.3 billion (EUR2.62 billion). This brings AION’s valuation to RMB103 billion, which is highest among all unlisted EV company in China. GAC Group still directly and indirectly holds 76.89% of AION as the controlling shareholder.
AION's newest high-end EV model
Among the investors are many well-known companies, financial institutions and national industrial funds, such as Ganfeng Lithium, China Communications Capital, Shenzhen Venture Capital, Yuexiu Industrial Fund, Orient Assets, ICBC Investment, Mixed-Owned Reform Fund, etc., the lineup is very luxurious.
"GAC AION is one of the few car companies with full-stack self-research capabilities of "EV+ICV" (electrify + intelligence), and the other is BYD, which is an important reason why investors think it is worth betting on." One major investor comments.
In the electric vehicle market of 2022, AION has already proved its strength with scale. From January to September, AION's cumulative sales exceeded 180,000 units, far ahead of new forces such as NIO and Xpeng, and will hit 300,000 units by end of this year.
AION's newest high-end EV model
According to AION's plan, it will be listed on the STAR Board in Shanghai (China's stock market for tech & innovation companies) in 2023, and will become the first stock of EV company on the STAR Board. If it successfully IPO in Shanghai, AION's market valuation will be further raised, and it is expected to even surpassing the major listed EV companies like NIO and XPeng in Nasdaq and Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
As per GAC grop's vision, AION's goal is not only to surpass NIO and Xpeng, but also to compete with market leaders such as Tesla, BYD, and Volkswagen, and become the "top three high-end smart electric vehicle brands in the world".