SAIC Motor, an early adopter of the smart car, sets up US$1bil fund to invest in Internet-linked vehicles with Alibaba

SAIC Motor would invest 5.4bil yuan to create the 7.2bil yuan fund with Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park Development, according to an exchange filing. Hengxu Capital will separately contribute less than 0.1 per cent of the fund’s capital to invest in smart electric vehicle technologies. — SCMP

SAIC Motor, China’s largest state-owned carmaker and the Chinese partner of General Motors, has established a private equity fund to finance its forays into developing smart cars with the country’s biggest technology company Alibaba Group Holding.

SAIC Motor would invest 5.4bil yuan (RM3.33bil) to create the 7.2bil yuan (RM4.45bil) fund with Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park Development, according to an exchange filing. Hengxu Capital, a fund of funds platform under the carmaker’s SAIC Capital unit, will separately contribute less than 0.1% of the fund’s capital, used in a collaboration with Alibaba (China) Network Technology to invest in smart electric vehicle technologies.