(Yicai Global) April 15 -- Faraday Future, a US smart car company that is planning to go public in the second quarter, will use an asset-light sales model also adopted by Tesla.

The firm, which is expected to roll out its first vehicle in about 12 months after the initial public offering on the Nasdaq via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, will use an online-to-offline direct sales model, the California-based enterprise said in a press release yesterday.

The company will use online platforms, self-owned stores, partner-owned stores, and showrooms to market its vehicles, it added. By that, it is joining other carmakers such as Nio and Tesla that are moving toward online sales to avoid heavy overhead.

Faraday Future is founded by Chinese entrepreneur Jia Yueting who was recently banned from doing any securities business at any institution and from serving as a director, supervisor, or senior manager at any listed or unlisted companies in China, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission's statement posted on April 13. 

To escape mounting debts in 2017, after ranking 37th in the Forbes China Rich List the previous year, Jia fled China for the US. In September 2019, the firm said that he has stepped down as Faraday Future's chief executive.

The carmaker's goal is to sell its vehicles in 20 top cities around the world, based on yesterday's statement. The firm has joined hands with US-based electric vehicle dealership Jolta and China Harmony New Energy Auto Holdings to distribute its vehicles in the US and China. 

China Harmony is a familiar backer as it was reportedly part of Faraday Future's private investment in public equity deal along with other Chinese investors. The Zhengzhou-based dealership, which cooperates with Ferrari and Maserati, had nearly 80 outlets by last June, covering 36 Chinese cities.

The new energy vehicle maker is also partnering with Germany's Formal D on after-sales services. The Cologne-based service provider has more than 10,000 employees around the world.

O2O Sales Vice President Christian Gobber, who joined Faraday Future in March 2018, will lead the company's commercial sales strategy, it added. 

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi