Weltmeister ( zh, 威马汽车) is an electric car brand owned by WM Motor Technology Co Ltd, a Shanghai-based automotive company specialised in the creation of battery electric vehicles (BEV's). In 2017, Weltmeister started a partnership with German specialty automaker and design service provider

Isdera Isdera AG or ''Ingenieurbüro für Styling, Design und Racing'' (English: Engineering Company for Styling, Design and Racing) is a privately run German specialty automaker and design service provider based in Saarwellingen, with a design studio ...

to design and produce electric cars, with the 2018 Isdera Commendatore GT being the first vehicle developed as a result of this partnership and was unveiled at the 2018

Beijing Auto Show Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, Beijing Motor Show or Auto China () is an auto show held biennially in Beijing, China since 1990. China is currently the largest auto market in the world. 2020 The 2020 Auto China show was due to open o ...

. It launched its first production car, the EX5 in May 2018 at the

, with deliveries starting in September 2018. WM investors include Chinese technology companies

Baidu Baidu, Inc. ( ; , meaning "hundred times") is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and artificial intelligence (AI), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the l ...

and

Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the wo ...

. Weltmeister vehicles are manufactured at WM Motor's self owned and operated manufacturing facility in

Wenzhou Wenzhou (pronounced ; Wenzhounese: Yuziou �y33–11 tɕiɤu33–32 ), historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province in the People's Republic of China. Wenzhou is located at the extreme south east ...

, Zhejiang Province, which has an annual capacity of 100,000 units. WM Motor also maintains R&D facilities in China, Germany and the USA. WM Motor is expected to release its next pure electric SUV model, the EX6, at the 2019

Guangzhou Auto Show China (Guangzhou) International Automobile Exhibition (), also called Guangzhou International Motor Show () or Auto Guangzhou (), is an auto show held by Guangzhou Zhanlian Exhibition Service Co., Ltd, in November and December every year in the G ...

, followed by a new 7-Series sedan at

Auto China Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, Beijing Motor Show or Auto China () is an auto show held biennially in Beijing, China since 1990. China is currently the largest auto market in the world. 2020 The 2020 Auto China show was due to open o ...

in April 2020. Weltmeister is a "world champion" in German language.

History

WM Motor was founded in January 2015 by Freeman Shen, a former executive at

Geely Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd (ZGH), commonly known as Geely (吉利 "auspicious"), is a Chinese multinational automotive company headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The company is privately held by Chinese billionaire entrepreneur ...

and later Chairman of

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

's China operations. Prior to WM, Freeman also co-founded and was CEO of Pateo Group, a leading vehicle connectivity and telematics company. In November 2016, the company commenced construction of its first plant in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. The facility has been mass-producing the company's first vehicle model, the EX5, since 28 September 2018. In August 2017, WM Motor acquired

Polarsun Automobile Polarsun Automobile () was a Chinese automaker headquartered in Shenyang city, Liaoning province. History Originally called Songliao Automobile (), the company was reconstructed in 2003 to become Shenyang Zhongshun Automobile (), or Polarsun Autom ...

(), a licensed passenger vehicles manufacturer in China, and subsequently gained the relevant licenses to produce all types of passenger NEVs. In January 2018, the company began construction of its second manufacturing facility in

Huanggang Huanggang is a prefecture-level city in easternmost Hubei Province, China. It is situated to the north of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and is bounded in the north by the Dabie Mountains and is named after Mount Huanggang. It border ...

Hubei Province Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

Manufacturing

Wenzhou Plant

Wenzhou Plant has a site area of , and is currently operational. The plant currently has an operating capacity of 100,000 units per annum. Construction of the facility began in September 2016, and mass production commenced on 28 September 2018.

Huanggang Plant

WM Motor's second manufacturing facility in Huanggang, Hubei Province, is currently under construction and scheduled for completion in early 2020.

Mobile App - GETnGO

WM Motor operates a proprietary app called GETnGO (), which is primarily aimed at offering search, navigation and payment options for public chargers in China. As of October 2019, the GETnGO app had registered 200,000 public chargers to the service through its partnerships with public charging providers, including the

State Grid The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), commonly known as the State Grid, is a Chinese state-owned electric utility corporation. It is the largest utility company in the world, and as of 2022, the world's third largest company overall by re ...

Models

Weltmeister E5 The Weltmeister E5 is a battery electric compact sedan that is manufactured by the Chinese NEV manufacturer WM Motor (Chinese: 威马汽车) under the brand Weltmeister. The E5 is the first product of the economy E series products of Weltmeist ...

(2021–present), an electric compact sedan * Weltmeister EX5 (2018–present), an electric compact SUV * Weltmeister EX6 (2019–present), an electric mid-size SUV *

Weltmeister W6 The Weltmeister W6 is a battery electric mid-size crossover SUV that is manufactured by the Chinese NEV manufacturer WM Motor (Chinese: 威马汽车) under the brand Weltmeister. Mass production of the W6 began in January 2021. Overview The ...

(2021–present), an electric compact SUV File:2021 Weltmeister E5.jpg, Weltmeister E5 File:2019 Weltmeister EX5 (front).jpg, Weltmeister EX5 File:Weltmeister EX5 Pro 001.jpg, Weltmeister EX5 Pro File:Weltmeister EX6 Limited 001.jpg, Weltmeister EX6 Limited File:Weltmeister W6 002.jpg, Weltmeister W6 File:Weltmeister Evolve Concept 001.jpg, Weltmeister Evolve Concept File:Weltmeister Maven Concept 001.jpg, Weltmeister Maven Concept

References

External links

* {{Automotive industry in China Car brands Chinese brands Cars of China Chinese companies established in 2015 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2015 Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers Electric vehicle manufacturers of China