
Beyonca EV project funded by Renault promotes health monitoring and targets Audi in China
With a new premium electric vehicle, Beyonca, a start-up founded by a group of former Volkswagen executives, plans to compete with brands like Audi and BMW in China starting in 2019. The company is betting that features like health monitoring will appeal to customers.
The two-year-old Beyonca expects to unveil its first production car in the first quarter of next year, with deliveries beginning in 2024, according to Soh Weiming, the current CEO of Renault China, who is supported by Renault and Dongfeng Motor. On Sunday, the business unveiled a concept car with features like sensors that can track a driver's blood pressure, alerts that can notify Beyonca doctors of an emergency, and an autonomous parking option.
Beyonca's chairman, Soh, stated that the business was aiming for the high-end premium sector, where they would compete with cars like the A8L from Audi, the 7 Series from BMW, and the S Class from Mercedes.
Soh added, referring to the three high-end German brands, 'We need to face them. 'We'd have a chance with the medicals and all those things we're to deploy,' the person said. But as competition in the nation's EV industry heats up, signals of waning demand in the largest car market in the world are emerging at the same time as the debut. Analysts predicted a price war after Tesla recently cut prices in China.
Soh acknowledged the challenging environment, but he highlighted the premium car segment's sustained growth and estimated 3 million potential yearly sales in China.
He opted not to disclose how much money Beyonca had received from investors or how much of the business Renault and Dongfeng owned.
Renault acknowledged its investment and said it will accelerate the group's transition from an auto manufacturer to a tech behemoth with vehicles at its core. An inquiry for comments was not answered by Dongfeng.