(Yicai Global) Sept. 26 -- Beijing Automotive Industry Corp.'s Beijing Electric Vehicle has finished preparations for a back-door listing and has changed its name to BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology [SHA:600733]. It also announced a resumption of trading tomorrow as China's first publicly-traded new energy vehicle shares.
BAIC BJEV produced and sold 103,199 NEVs last year in a 98 percent rise on 2016 to claim 23 percent of the domestic NEV market share, becoming the first pure-electric vehicle company to make over 100,000 vehicles per year, its annual operating results show.

The company has been the champion in sales for five straight years, with a yearly turnover of over 100,000 vehicles last year, but its subsidies for the entire year were CNY5 billion (USD730 million), meaning it got CNY50,000 (USD7,395) for each vehicle, per statistics by business news portal Changjiang Times.
The firm sold 70,118 new vehicles in China from January to last month, a 67 percent rise on the same period last year, but moved a mere 46.75 percent of its annual sales target of 150,000 vehicles in a disappointing finish.

Xi'an, Shaanxi province-based BYD Auto, BAIC BJEV's major rival, sold 20,887 NEVs last month and up to 115,515 vehicles from January to then. NEV sales of another rival, Shanghai Automotive Industry, also surged, beating BAIC BJEV's for three straight months.\
Reduced subsidies frustrate any attempts to predict whether BAIC BJEV will return to normal profitability in coming years, however, an insider said.

The grant is zero for NEVs with a driving range of less than 150 kilometers, CNY20,000 (USD2,958) less than last year, and CNY15,000 for those between 150 kilometers and up to but not including 200 kilometers -- CNY21,000 less than last year -- per new government subsidy policies that kicked in this year.

Rampant NEV subsidy fraud in recent years has prompted the Chinese government to curtail its grants to the sector, which now finds itself in an increasingly sink-or-swim situation.

Editor: Ben Armour