(JW Insights) Jun 21 -- Two related companies of BYTON(拜腾汽车), an electric vehicle brand in China, have filed for bankruptcy on June 18, reported Pandaily on June 19.

The companies, Nanjing Zhixing New Energy Vehicle Technology Development(南京知行新能源汽车), and Nanjing Zhixing Electric Vehicle(南京知行电动汽车), had their bankruptcy cases added on June 14. The applicants for the case were Nanjing Kunou Auto Service and Shanghai Huaxun Network System.

Despite arguments that BYTON still had hope for revival and was ready for mass production, undergoing asset restructuring, and having a market value significantly higher than its book value, the court ruled in favor of the bankruptcy proceedings.

The court stated that although the companies had a large amount of property, the rights and interests of the creditors had not been protected for many years. Additionally, there were legal defects that made it impossible for the court to execute effectively. Therefore, the court decided that there were reasons for bankruptcy and that the application for the debtor’s bankruptcy repayment was in compliance with the law and should be accepted.

Known for its promising beginnings, BYTON is a new energy vehicle brand under Nanjing Zhixing New Energy Technology Development, officially launched in September 2017.

At its establishment, the company showed great potential with its core management team consisting of key personnel from giants such as BMW and Tesla. Its global operations headquarters, smart manufacturing base, and R&D center were all set up in Nanjing, eastern China’s Jiangsu Province.

The company’s North American headquarters, responsible for the development of cutting-edge technology such as smart car user experience and autonomous driving, was based in Silicon Valley. The design center responsible for vehicle design and product concept development was located in Munich, Germany.

However, this promising start did not last. As of July 1, 2020, BYTON’s Chinese mainland operations were suspended, retaining only a small number of employees. In early 2021, BYTON announced a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Foxconn Technology Group and Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone, claiming to strive for the mass production of the first model before the first quarter of 2022.

Unfortunately, due to BYTON’s deteriorating financial conditions, even China FAW Group, Nanjing Municipal Government, and Foxconn gave up on “rescue”. With the recent arrival of bankruptcy news, the dream of BYTON’s first M-Byte model has been shattered, and it was unable to achieve mass production, according to the Pandaily report.

(Gao J/Yuan XY)