By Li Panpan

Chinese commercial vehicle manufacturer Foton Motor(福田汽车) announced to form a joint venture with battery giant CATL to develop battery leasing business on December 5, reported JW Insights.

The pair will set up a 50:50 joint venture in the Huairou district of Beijing, with a registered capital of RMB200 million ($28.6 million), added BAIC Group-backed Foton Motor in the announcement.

Beijing-headquartered Foton Motor said that the joint venture will help improve the market competitiveness of its new energy products, promote the sales of new vehicles, and get more market shares.

Foton Motor is a supplier and service provider of logistics vehicles, such as heavy trucks and buses, and core components, including engines and transmissions.

Headquartered in Ningde, southeastern China's Fujian Province, CATL is China's leading automotive lithium-ion battery maker. It’s accelerating its battery replacement projects and has recently reached cooperation with DPCA(神龙汽车) to develop a combined battery replacement model.