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Detroit Electric Car to Return After 100 Years

JINHUA, CHINA and SANTA ROSA, CA – U.S. electric car pioneer ZAP and China Youngman Automotive Group are reviving the 100-year-old electric car brand Detroit Electric for their automotive joint venture.

by Staff
February 8, 2008
2 min to read


JINHUA, CHINA and SANTA ROSA, CA – U.S. electric car pioneer ZAP and China Youngman Automotive Group are reviving the 100-year-old electric car brand Detroit Electric for their automotive joint venture. Detroit Electric will bring new vehicle technologies to market by 2009, as well as the possibility of bringing new manufacturing and green collar jobs to California.

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Detroit Electric plans to introduce its first electric cars and buses in 2009. The ZAP Alias, which is under development for the joint venture, will be one of several vehicles being planned to carry the Detroit Electric brand. ZAP is planning a presentation on Detroit Electric for North American auto dealers at NADA 2008.

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Management will be opening offices in California and evaluating manufacturing opportunities for economic development within the state.

Detroit Electric plans to build an array of cars, trucks, and buses with the latest automotive technologies. The vehicles will be manufactured under the supervision of Youngman Automotive, one of China’s newest automotive manufacturers and a leading manufacturer of buses and trucks. Youngman is a government-sanctioned, private holding company with 12 manufacturing subsidiaries. Youngman is expanding its manufacturing in China, which covers an area of more than 4 million square feet. With seven new production facilities in process, Youngman expects to soon have the capacity to produce 200,000 vehicles per year, including more than 10,000 buses annually.

ZAP will manage the sales, marketing, and distribution of the joint venture products. ZAP is selling a full-line of electric vehicles through a growing number of dealerships in the United States. ZAP is also organizing international distribution for its current and future vehicles.

For more information about Detroit Electric, visit http://www.detroit-electric.com.

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