WM Motor set up today a car leasing subsidiary in Tianjin with a registered capital of CNY 800 million (around USD 116 million).
Image credit: WM Motor website
According to Qichacha (企查查), an online platform providing credit information of enterprises, reported that WM Motor had set up today a car leasing subsidiary in Tianjin in northern China.
WM Motor itself holds a 75 percent stake of the new venture, and the remaining stakes are held by a Japan hotel.
This WM car leasing unit was registered with a paid-in capital of CNY 800 million (around USD 116 million) and its legal person is Liu Xianzhi (刘宪志). Earlier this year, Liu was appointed the vice president of WM Motor, taking charge of the financial affairs of the company. Shen Hui (沈晖), founder and CEO of WM Motor, is the chairman of the subsidiary.
Several days ago, WM Motor kicked off of its Series D funding round. When interviewing with Bloomberg, Shen said the company expected to raise up to USD 1 billion, mainly from overseas investors.
The newly-set subsidiary will be an ambitious move in the domestic market. Apparently, WM Motor can use the fund to invest in R&D and to scale production. Also, this kind of leasing will be beneficial to occupy as much as possible the market. Besides, by collecting feedback from lessee, the company is able to improve its current car models.
The car leasing business is not a mature industry in China. Only in 2016 has the government approved the sale-leaseback financing, which is the major type of financing of car leasing companies.
Today, many car manufacturers such as Ford, BMW, TOYOTA have started to expand their businesses to car leasing. Compared to third-party platforms, they have the advantage of abundant vehicle resources. Likewise, the WM car leasing company can rely on the car supply of its parent company and help the latter in various aspects, reaching a win-win situation.