Hengchi 5 goes on sale for $26,690 but will customers buy it?

Hengchi 5 has officially gone on sale with a starting price of RNB 179,000 ($26,690) after all the subsidies available for electric car buyers. It comes from Evergrande NEV - the automaker arm of the property development company known worldwide for having to be bailed out by the government as it couldn’t repay its spiraling debts.

The company is clearly trying to entice customers and convince them to look away from its patchy history and join it on the new adventure. The president of EVergrande NEV repeatedly stated that the Hengchi 5 is the best SUV in under RMB 300,000 ($44,770) market. Are the customers listening?

Hengchi 5 - the cheapest electric SUV on the market

Maybe not as much as the company hoped for, Evergrande NEV is offering to reserve a Hengchi 5 for a RMB 1,000 deposit - that’s less than $150. From August 1 the deposit goes up to RMB 10,000 ($1,500) and will only be refundable in the first 15 days, for now the lower deposit is fully refundable.

Launch of Hengchi 5

To further address worries expressed by potential customers, the deposits are being paid into separate accounts and will not be used for any other purposes. That has never happened in automotive history and we can see the company is trying hard to show it has turned the page.

The automaker is dangling yet another carrot - all RMB 10,000 deposits will be redeemed at a value of RMB 20,000 ($3,000). So technically you could bag a bargain at about $17,000 if you were to trust these guys with your money.

Hengchi 5 interior

Hengchi 5 is a medium-sized SUV at 4,725mm of length, it comes with a 150kW electric motor developed by Bosch and the 72.8 kWh battery is supplied by CATL. Claimed CLTC range is 602 km (374 miles) and the car can be charged in 28 minutes from 30 to 80% at a DC fast charger.

Evergrande NEV is a separate entity from the main company, so technically its customers should be safe from the fallout. $17,000 for a brand new electric SUV is a real bargain even by Chinese standards, but when a deal is too good to be true it often is and caution is advised.

Will the glossy displays and cheap prices be enough to attract customers?

Source

Reader comments

  • Sahara

they will give away 100's of these to employees' families and "friends".. try to get them on the road, and some suckers will buy them.. but the whole brand will disappear into oblivion within 2 years.

  • Maishanu

By god parmission i will buy this car am just weathing for time

  • Anonymous

It is an 'ugly' brick like the Rivian. Nothing new to see here. Move along...

FEATURED