Volt Auto to distribute BAIC and Arcfox China car brands in Singapore

[SINGAPORE] Car group Volt Auto has been appointed as the authorised distributor in Singapore for two brands from major Chinese carmaker Beijing Automotive Group Company – BAIC and Arcfox.

Soh Ming, CEO of Volt Auto, confirmed this on Thursday (Sep 17), with its subsidiary Volt Auto Venture appointed as distributor.

He told The Business Times that new showrooms will be set up for the brands. Sales are expected to begin in January 2027 with debut models encompassing four sport utility vehicle (SUV) models across different segments.

Volt Auto is the distributor for China car brands Dongfeng and Voyah in Singapore and Malaysia.

The Beijing Automotive Group Company is commonly known as BAIC, derived from its former name of Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation.

BAIC is the eponymous mainstream passenger car brand of the group, and known as Beijing in other markets. It focuses on petrol-powered models, including hybrids and conventional cars. The name was revived in 2020 after BAIC retired the former mainstream brand Senova.

Founded in 2017, Arcfox focuses on premium electric vehicles (EVs), the most popular and competitive EV segment currently. The brand delivered more than 100,000 vehicles in the first seven months of 2026, a year-on-year increase of 80.2 per cent.

In August, the brand’s latest model, the αT7 mid-sized sport utility vehicle, secured 10,000 orders in its two-hour, pre-sales launch window.

BAIC’s going right

Volt Auto’s signing makes Singapore the third right-hand drive market (RHD) in the Asia-Pacific to begin sales of BAIC passenger cars, following Indonesia and Malaysia.

BAIC does offer commercial vehicles under the Foton brand in the region’s RHD markets, but has yet to begin official sales of cars in Thailand and Australia.

Apac’s RHD markets are a key target for Chinese carmakers, most of whom are aggressively ramping up export sales as their domestic market becomes increasingly hard fought and saturated.

Founded in 1958 and owned by the Beijing Municipal Government, BAIC is a major Chinese carmaker that manufactures passenger and commercial vehicles in China.

It makes passenger cars through BAIC Motor, which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

For the six months ended June 2026, BAIC Motor reported a loss of 1.6 billion yuan (US$237.7 million) as revenue fell 29.9 per cent to 57.7 billion yuan, reflecting a significant decline in sales and profitability, with fierce price competition as a contributing factor.

In its earnings update, BAIC Motor said the Beijing brand will launch luxury and light off-road sub-brands in 2026, and expand into high-value and high-volume product sales to drive volume growth across market segments.

BAIC also owns truckmaker Beijing Foton, electric vehicle-focused BAIC BluePark (the parent entity of Arcfox), and has joint manufacturing ventures with Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz in China. Since 2024, it has also produced the Stelato brand of luxury cars with tech giant Huawei.