Cycle & Carriage is bringing Chinese EV brand Ora to Singapore
CYCLE & Carriage Singapore (C&C) has inked a distribution agreement to bring Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Great Wall Motor’s (GWM) Ora brand of electric cars to Singapore.
C&C and GWM marked their partnership with an agreement signing ceremony held at Jewel Changi Airport on Wednesday (Mar 8).
Starting with the Ora Good Cat, which is by former Porsche designer Emanuel Derta, C&C plans to continually introduce new models into the city-state leading up until 2030. This will allow Ora to gain an early head start into the market in view of Singapore’s plans to phase out internal combustion engine vehicle registrations by 2030, said the group.
Noting the significance of younger adults with higher disposable incomes among early adopters of EVs, C&C believes Ora’s entry in Singapore will allow the group to tap a new customer segment that is “younger, more value-oriented, appreciates safety features, and cares about the environment”.
In the group’s view, Ora’s range of products offers an attractive entry-point pricing for early adopters.
“C&C is convinced that Ora is a compatible addition to the current C&C stable and will appeal to the active and young-at-heart consumers within the mass market segment... Through this collaboration (with GWM), C&C can also accumulate wider and deeper expertise in serving the EV community,” said the group in a press statement.
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It also highlighted GWM as “the perfect partner” as one of the first Chinese auto enterprises to go global, with over 500 overseas networks beyond China, as well as several research and development centres around the world.
C&C further expressed confidence that Ora will appeal to younger customers and do well, given increasingly better reception of Chinese-made battery EVs in Singapore.
Government incentives such as the Vehicular Emissions Scheme rebate and the EV Early Adoption Incentive are also set to drive greater adoption in Singapore, it added.
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“We have been working on this project for quite some time now, and it’s time to make Ora the newest member of the C&C family,” commented C&C’s managing director Wilfrid Foo.
“With the rising wave of EV adoption, C&C sees a good opportunity to bring our expertise to the fore and we are well-prepared for an electrified future.”
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