Zotye inches back toward carmaking as export EV enters batch trial production

Zotye Auto says its export-focused Wink Y01 international edition has entered batch trial production, an interim milestone in the bankrupt-restructured carmaker's effort to restart vehicle manufacturing. Investors cheered the progress: the Shenzhen-listed stock hit its 10 percent daily limit on two straight sessions before slipping back about 2 percent on Thursday.

The small EV rides on Zotye's S platform and is a centerpiece of the company's overseas push. At 3,912 mm long with a 2,520 mm wheelbase, it is pitched at urban commuting abroad, though Zotye has released no pricing, range or powertrain details and has given no firm dates for mass production or deliveries. In a filing on the unusual share moves, the carmaker flagged uncertain overseas certification, sales network building and demand.

First-half results underline how fragile the recovery remains. Revenue fell 32.08 percent year-on-year to 190 million yuan ($28 million), and while net profit reached 80.39 million yuan, that swing rested on one-off items such as compensation from shutting down inactive subsidiaries and litigation gains — excluding nonrecurring items, the loss widened to 152 million yuan.

Zotye is also leaning on debt settlements to rebuild capacity, including a June agreement covering about 170 million yuan that returned a dismantled final assembly line to the company. Whether it can fund mass production, clear certification abroad and establish distribution will determine how far the comeback goes.