Mullen has acquired Qiantu's North and South American intellectual property and distribution rights, allowing the assembly and distribution of the Qiantu K50 in the Americas. | Mullen Automotive Inc
(Image credit: Qiantu)
Qiantu inks deal with Mullen to tap US market, K50 supercar to be rebranded as Mullen GT and GTRS
Mullen has been granted Qiantu's North and South American intellectual property and distribution rights, allowing the assembly and distribution of the Qiantu K50 in the Americas.
Qiantu Motors, which is almost forgotten in its home market of China, is partnering with an American electric vehicle (EV) maker to bring its electric supercar back to life.
Qiantu recently signed a strategic partnership agreement with Mullen Automotive to expand into the Americas, according to a press release from the Chinese startup today.
Qiantu will leverage its strengths in vehicle design, technology development, and process innovation, combined with Mullen's manufacturing and sales strengths in the Americas market, to bring new EV options to consumers in the Americas, the release said.
Qiantu's partnership with Mullen dates back to 2019, when the two partnered on the marketing of the Qiantu K50 in North America.
With the signing of the latest partnership agreement, the Qiantu K50 will transition from the marketing phase to a substantial production and sales phase, the release said.
The partnership area will also be expanded from the North American market to include the entire Americas, according to the release.
Separately, Mullen said in its March 20 press release that it has been granted the North and South American intellectual property and distribution rights for Qiantu and its affiliates, allowing assembly and distribution of the Qiantu K50 in the Americas.
Mullen will begin its program to re-engineer and re-design the product to meet requirements for US certification and customer expectations for today's supercars, with final assembly in Mishawka, Indiana, the US EV maker said.
These modifications will be consistent with Mullen's current vehicle design language in the Mullen FIVE and Mullen FIVE RS.
To ensure supercar status, the car will also feature an updated powertrain, targeting a 0-60 mph time of less than 2.0 seconds and a top speed of more than 200 mph.
(Image credit: Mullen)
Qiantu, a wholly owned subsidiary of CH-Auto Technology Co Ltd, was founded in 2015 and was one of the first EV startups in China.
Qiantu's first model, the Qiantu K50, was launched in 2018 at a then subsidized price of RMB 686,800 ($99,860), but the model did not earn recognition for the company and was discontinued in November 2020.
On December 18, 2021, Qiantu held a strategy sharing session at its plant in Suzhou, marking its return after a two-year hiatus.
On June 6, 2022, Qiantu announced the start of pre-sales in China for its second model, the Qiantu K20, a two-door, two-seat hatchback with a pre-sale price range of RMB 86,800 to 149,800.
On October 24, 2022, Qiantu and Appollen EV held a launch event in Malaysia to showcase and start pre-sales of the Qiantu K50, Qiantu K25, and Qiantu K20.
They were renamed S1, A1 and A2 respectively in Malaysia, with the Qiantu K25 making its global debut and not previously launched in China, the company said at the time.
($1 = RMB 6.8772)
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