(Yicai Global) Dec. 23 -- Chinese new energy vehicle startup WM Motor is partnering with Italian smart energy service company Enel X and South Korean automotive parts supplier Myoung Shin Industrial to cultivate sales channels for its electric vehicles abroad.

WM Motor will leverage Rome-based Enel X’s global network spanning more than 80 countries to access overseas markets, and in particular the Southeast Asian market, starting the first quarter next year, according to the deal signed between the two parties yesterday.

Enel X will also provide smart charging solutions and one-stop after-sales services for Shanghai-based WM Motor vehicles exported overseas. The two companies will also explore vehicle-to-grid technology in Europe.

Gyeongju-based Myoung Shin will help WM Motor enter the Korean electric car market, it said. They will work together to find opportunities for co-operation along the whole industrial chain from procurement to production to sales.

South Korea’s EV sector already has good connectivity and an established customer base, the firm’s president said. As a leading NEV startup, WM Motor fits in well with the needs of the country's EV consumer groups, he added.

Other big Chinese electric car makers are also building up their consumer base overseas. Shanghai-based Nio has set up a program codenamed the Marco Polo Project to export vehicles to Europe, and Guangzhou-based Xpeng has just delivered its first order of 100 G3 pure electric sport utility vehicles to customers in Norway.

Editor: Kim Taylor