The electric-vehicle division of Changan, called Deepal, has completed another stage of capital raising. This concerns a Series C round, as a result of which the company received 6.122 billion yuan, equivalent to about $874 million at the current exchange rate. Deepal itself emphasized that these funds will serve as a foundation for further expansion and will accelerate the brand’s development amid fierce competition in the EV market.
An important point is that along with the financing, two new participants have appeared in the ownership structure. The shareholders are the state-owned Yufu Holding Group from Chongqing, as well as CMB Financial Asset Investment, which is a subsidiary of China Merchants Bank. At the same time, control of the project still remains with Changan: after the deal, the company retains 50.9959% of the shares. Yufu’s stake amounted to 12.0934%, and CMB Financial received 2.4187%. The other existing investors slightly reduced their stakes.
It is worth noting that Deepal as a separate brand was launched in 2022. The first model was the SL03, unveiled on July 25, 2022 and initially aimed at competing with the Tesla Model 3. Now the lineup is noticeably broader: it includes the L06 and L07 sedans, as well as the S05, G318, S07, and S09 crossovers.
In terms of sales, the brand is showing confident growth. From January to November, Deepal sold 302,118 vehicles, which is 45.73% more than a year earlier. In November, 33,060 cars were sold: this is already the third month in a row that the brand has stayed above the 30,000 mark, although year-on-year the figure fell by 8.23%. In total, Deepal’s deliveries exceeded 700,000 vehicles, and its geographic presence expanded to nearly 100 countries and regions. The production base was also strengthened: Changan acquired Hyundai’s Beijing plant in Chongqing and retooled it for Deepal production lines (source: cnevpost.com).
