Chinese EV maker Byton shuttered

Ambitious Chinese electric vehicle start-up Byton has closed its doors, blaming financial and production challenges imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

In a move that will initially see staff stood down and production ceased for six months while management seeks new funding, the shutdown comes as Byton prepared to commence manufacturing of its first production model, the M-Byte SUV.

Unveiled as a concept at the 2018 CES in Las Vegas and in production form at the Frankfurt motor show in 2019, the M-Byte is a 4.875m five-door SUV that was to come with a choice of 71kWh or 95kWh lithium-ion battery packs, rear- or all-wheel drive and a driving range up to 520km.

However, it was perhaps best known for the massive 48-inch video screen atop its dashboard.

While there was no official word on Australian exports, Byton only recently announced plans to sell the M-Byte in Europe and North America in 2021.

Byton is the latest in a series of EV start-ups to get into serious trouble, others being Faraday Future, LeEco and Nio.

Established in 2017, Byton had backing from Chinese state-owned automaker FAW Group and battery supplier Contemporary Amperex Technology and had looked in a good position to succeed.

Management was provided by a group of ex-BMW and Nissan staffers, it had a tooled up factory in Nanjing and design and engineering divisions in Europe and the USA.

However, there had been some management shake-ups as far back as 2019 that have resulted in a lawsuit, the Chinese on-sale date of the M-Byte was pushed back and staff furloughs were reported at its US site in April.

A Byton statement quoted by Automotive News China reads: “The new coronavirus epidemic has brought great challenges to Byton's financing and production operations.

“After careful consideration and joint consultations with our shareholders and management, we have decided to, from July 1, kickstart a plan to lower employee costs and promote the company's strategic reorganisation.”

According to a company spokesman that means virtually all staff will be let go and production stopped for six months while management seeks funding to restart operations.

But the Detroit Bureau quotes Sam Abuelsamid, principal auto analyst with Navigant Research, expressing doubt about a Byton return.

“It’s possible a big Chinese company could come in with cash, like what happened with Nio. I wouldn’t bet money on it,” he said.