HiPhi is set to make a comeback thanks to a Lebanese investor

The troubled premium electric car brand HiPhi from Chinese manufacturer Human Horizons is said to have found a lifeline: According to Chinese media reports, a financier from Lebanon has invested in HiPhi. Business is now to be resumed with the existing electric cars.

According to Chinese media reports, HiPhi has changed its majority owner and has begun preparations for a resumption of work. Only 30.2 per cent of the brand is currently owned by its previous owner, Human Horizons. According to Chinese media, the remaining 69.8 per cent has been taken over by the Lebanese company EV Electra Ltd.

HiPhi’s production lines have been at a standstill for over a year. The brand initially caused a stir with very extravagant electric cars and later presented a Model Y competitor in the form of the HiPhi Y – the X and Z models were already available to order in Norway and Germany. However, HiPhi had to cease production in February 2024, when there was talk of a six-month break. Later, there were signs of hope in the form of alleged interest from Changan and a Hong Kong-based organisation. However, a deal was apparently never finalised, and the break became longer and longer. In August 2024, rumours also emerged that parent company Human Horizons was on the verge of insolvency.

Now things are apparently moving forward thanks to EV Electra’s investment. As reported by CN EV Post, among others, citing a local medium called 21jingji, a new company called Jiangsu HiPhi Co Ltd was founded as part of the investment commitment from Lebanon and provided with the equivalent of around 143 million dollars in capital. Production of the original models is now to be ramped up again at the existing HiPhi factory in Yancheng in the Chinese province of Jiangsu. To this end, the company is recalling former employees, according to rumours.

If the rumour is confirmed, the acquisition of HiPhi would be another purchase in the eMobility business for EV Electra. At the end of 2023, the company bought the rights to the Emily GT project from Saab successor company NEVS, a sporty electric saloon with four 90 kW wheel motors and a 175 kWh battery with a range of more than 1,000 kilometres. And in 2021, EV Electra announced an investment of over 500 million US dollars in the acquisition of a majority stake in Detroit Electric.

cnevpost.com