SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Chinese electric truck startup Windrose is increasing its final round of funding to $300 million, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said, as it plans more assembly plants in Europe and the United States.
The company, which was previously aiming for $200 million in this round in equity investments and debt, is also planning an initial public offering in the United States to raise $400 million this year, doubling its previous target, said the person, who declined to be named as the matter is private.
Windrose has selected sites for three assembly plants – one in each of the United States, France, and Belgium, said the person, adding the size would vary and each plant would have a research and development team.
It is also seeking to build a second manufacturing base in the U.S. which would be bigger, and is still scouting locations, the person said.
Windrose did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
CEO Han Wen said last year Windrose was aiming for a global production capacity of more than 10,000 trucks annually by the end of 2027, with planned plants in Georgia and Belgium piecing together chassis and other vehicle parts manufactured in China.
Windrose’s heavy truck will compete directly with Tesla’s Semi at the same price of about $250,000. The trucks will come with a battery pack of more than 700 kilowatt-hours, with a capacity to run more than 670 kilometres (418 miles) on a single charge fully loaded at 49 metric tons.
(Reporting by Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh. Editing by Mark Potter)
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