Yang Rong (; born 1957), also known as Yung Yeung and Benjamin YeungReport: Hybrid Kinetic Motors to spend $500 million for Italian styling
green.autoblog.com, Jan 21st 2010 is an exiled Chinese

tycoon A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

. He was born in Shanghai in 1957. Only a year after the magazine ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' proclaimed him China's third richest businessman in 2001, Yang fled to the US following a dispute with the Chinese government. Famous for his close association with a Chinese microvan manufacturer, Yang has continued to be involved in the automotive industry since his flight to the US. There, his ventures have yet to achieve the same scale of success as those in his native China have done. In the US, Yang has been involved with at least two businesses,

Greentech Automotive GreenTech Automotive (GTA) was a U.S.-based automotive manufacturer dedicated to developing and producing 100% electric vehicles. It was a subsidiary of WM Industries Corp. History GTA was founded in 2009 by Charles Wang. In May 2010, GTA acq ...

and Hybrid Kinetic Motors. The latter is a

hybrid vehicle A hybrid vehicle is one that uses two or more distinct types of power, such as submarines that use diesel when surfaced and batteries when submerged. Other means to store energy include pressurized fluid in hydraulic hybrids. The basic princip ...

company with an aim of manufacturing cars in Alabama, and the former planned to build all-electric vehicles in Mississippi. Hybrid Kinetic later dropped its Alabama plans due to a funding shortfall in 2009, and Yang has distanced himself from his other American venture, Greentech Automotive.

Brilliance Auto

Yang, the founding chairman of

Brilliance Auto Huachen Automotive Group Holdings Co. Ltd., known for its brand name Brilliance Auto Group, was a Chinese multinational automobile manufacturer holding company headquartered in Shenyang. Its products include automobiles, microvans, and automotiv ...

,''Politics fuels battle for Renault plant'' by ALEXANDRA HARNEY and

Richard McGregor Richard McGregor (born 1958) is an Australian journalist, writer, and author. He is currently working as a Senior Fellow at the Lowey Insititute based in Sydney, Australia. He previously was based in Japan and also other locations such as Shangh ...

Financial Times. London (UK): Nov 30, 2004. pg. 28 was involved with the companyExiled China tycoon in U.S. clean vehicle plan
reuters.com, Fri Oct 16, 2009 6:50am EDT during the 1990s. Some blame his immigration to the US on a failed bid to locate a production base in

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

. As Ningbo is near the rich coastal city of

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, this was contrary to Chinese state policy encouraging economic growth in the poorer regions, and Yang incurred the wrath of the government of

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

in the attempt. In 2002 he was accused of embezzlement, and an arrest warrant was issued precipitating Yang's flight from the country. While Yang was in control, Brilliance Auto Group made a number of

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

s. These included listing a subsidiary

on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

in 1992, the same subsidiary again on the

Stock Exchange of Hong Kong The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. As of the end of 2020, it has 2,538 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of HK$47 trillion. It is repo ...

(SEHK) in 1999, and that same year a takeover another listed company

Shenhua Holdings Shenhua may refer to: * Shenhua CTL, a planned coal liquefaction plant in Ningdong, Ningxia, China * Shenhua Group, a state-owned coal mining and energy company in China ** China Shenhua Energy Company, subsidiary of Shenhua Group * Ling Shenhua ...

on the

Shanghai Stock Exchange The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) is a stock exchange based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the three stock exchanges operating independently in mainland China, the others being the Beijing Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exc ...

Hybrid Kinetic Motors and other ventures

After leaving China in 2002, Rong began a start-up car company in the United States, Hybrid Kinetic Motors Corporation (). While its desire to manufacture in the US did not come to fruition, in the early 2010s the company expressed interest in several Mainland China production base sites and in 2013 broke ground for a new facility in the Lianyungang Economic and Technological Development Zone, Lianyungang prefecture, which may produce batteries and become operational in 2018. ;JAC joint venture: As of 2010 the company will enter a possible

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

with

Jianghuai Automobile JAC Motors (; officially Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co., Ltd.) is a Chinese automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturer.

selling parts in China for use in

green technology Environmental technology (envirotech) or green technology (greentech), also known as ''clean technology'' (''cleantech''), is the application of one or more of environmental science, green chemistry, environmental monitoring and electronic device ...

vehicles.UPDATE 1-Hybrid Kinetic to make green auto parts in China
reuters.com, Mon Dec 13, 2010 3:50am EST A

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

Shandong province Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizatio ...

, production base will be complete by 2013, and while the original intent was to manufacture whole vehicles,UPDATE 1-China's Jianghuai to invest $4.4 bln in new-energy cars
reuters.com, Mon Aug 9, 2010 8:04pm EDT this JV will only supply parts. ;2009 Alabama factory plan: As of 2009 the possibility of producing Hybrid Kinetic vehicles at an undeveloped site in

Baldwin County, Alabama Baldwin County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama, on the Gulf coast. It is one of only two counties in Alabama that border the Gulf of Mexico, along with Mobile County. As of the 2020 census, the populat ...

, was discussed. ;2009 Mississippi factory plan: Here, plans for an auto factory fell through amid a weak American economy. ;2017 Inks $68 Million Collaboration with

Pininfarina Pininfarina S.p.A. (short for Carrozzeria Pininfarina) is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930. On 14 December 2015, the Indian mu ...

: Collaboration agreement was reached totaling $68 million with Pininfarina design firm for a total term length of 46 months. According to this agreement, "Pininfarina will support Hybrid Kinetic in the turnkey development of an electric car from the styling concept and development of the vehicle to the engineering development and virtual and physical validation for series production" During this development, some of the vehicles in development include the following:
H600 4 Seater Sedan

K550 5 Seater SUV

K750 7 Seater SUV

HK GT 4 Seater GT

K350 4 Seater Sedan

H500 4 Seater Sedan

References

External links

Hybrid Kinec Motors
Official Site {{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Rong Brilliance Auto Chinese founders of automobile manufacturers Businesspeople from Wuxi 1957 births Living people