(Yicai Global) Oct. 14 -- Renovation work on the production line at the Tianjin factory of China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group has been interrupted due to the carmaker’s failure to pay equipment suppliers, potentially delaying mass production of its Hengchi 5 model scheduled for early next year, according to a report by LatePost.

LatePost said the affected suppliers are Germany’s Kuka Robotics, Japan’s Taikisha, China Automotive Engineering and Tianjin Motor Dies. The plant’s stamping workshop, built by Tianjin Motor Dies with National Electric Vehicle Sweden, is the only part still fully operational as the car body parts maker uses it to supply other automakers, the report said.

Evergrande NEV President Liu Yongzhuo said at a meeting with partners on Oct. 11 that the Guangzhou-based company expected the first Hengchi 5, its debut vehicle, to roll off the production line at the Tianjin plant early in 2022, the report said.

The firm’s shares [HKG:0708] jumped as much as 13 percent in Hong Kong the next day, closing up 4.3 percent at HKD3.67 (47 US cents), still 95 percent below a record high HKD72.45 set on Feb. 26. The Hong Kong exchange is closed today for a market holiday and was shuttered yesterday due to a typhoon.

Evergrande NEV, which is part of the heavily indebted China Evergrande Group, started its electric vehicle business in 2017. It announced the acquisition of a 51 percent stake in Swedish electric carmaker NEVS for USD930 million in January 2019, obtaining the Tianjin plant, which needs revamping to produce the Hengchi 5.

The company also has plants in Guangzhou and Shanghai, but it transferred production personnel, equipment, and prototype vehicles from there to Tianjin, as it failed to obtain the production qualification in Guangzhou, according to the LatePost report.

Editor: Futura Costaglione