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VIAUTO is a new new energy passenger car brand officially launched by Qingdao Hongri Investment Co., Ltd. in December 2022. Its headquarters are in Qingdao, Shandong Province, with its new energy vehicle production base located in Wulian County, Rizhao, Shandong. The brand focuses on the micro electric passenger car segment, targeting the sub‑100,000 RMB market, primarily in the A00 and A0 sub‑segments. Its target users include family consumers and young upgraders. Guided by the concept of "Smart Micro Travel+," with "large space, home multi‑functionality" as its differentiator, VIAUTO aims to redefine the value standard of home‑oriented all‑electric small cars in the new energy micro‑car market.
VIAUTO is a key strategic move by Hongri Group as it transitions from low‑speed electric vehicles to the high‑speed passenger car sector. Hongri Group was established in January 2014 and was formerly known as Hongri Shares, primarily engaged in the R&D, manufacturing, and sales of low‑speed electric vehicles. Hongri Group Chairman Zhang Jianjun is also the founder of VIAUTO. In the low‑speed EV space, Hongri Group has accumulated nearly a decade of micro‑EV R&D and manufacturing experience, holding a leading position in the low‑speed EV market in 2022. Driven by national policies and rising demand for A00‑class new energy passenger cars, Hongri Group has fully upgraded from the low‑speed track to the high‑speed NEV passenger car sector, systematically advancing the simultaneous upgrade of core technologies and brand value.
The operating entity of the VIAUTO brand is Shandong Weiao Automobile Technology Co., Ltd., established on May 13, 2020, with a registered capital of 80 million RMB. Its legal representative is Hao Lijiao. The company is 100% held by Qingdao Hongri Automobile Technology Co., Ltd., and had 30 employees in 2024.
VIAUTO has established a brand operation centre in Beijing, an R&D centre in Qingdao, and a production base in Rizhao. The base covers 1,200 mu (approximately 80 hectares), planned to passenger car standards, with four major process workshops—stamping, welding, painting, and assembly—and a designed annual production capacity of 600,000 vehicles. The brand employs a global R&D layout of "one core, five locations, one institute" and has obtained 142 independent R&D patents. On the product strategy front, VIAUTO adopts a "subtraction" differentiation strategy—not blindly pursuing complex product line layouts, but deeply understanding target users' core pain points and cultivating the micro home EV track with a minimalistic approach. Key management personnel include: Zhang Jianjun, founder of VIAUTO, who oversees the brand's long‑term strategic planning; and General Manager Pan Changcun, formerly head of the low‑speed EV sector, now in charge of domestic marketing and overseas business coordination, responsible for the international trade high‑speed passenger car segment.
VIAUTO's development can be divided into three main stages: Low-speed transformation and brand preparation period, brand launch and model rapid landing period, global adjustment and strategic accumulation period.
Low-speed transformation and brand preparation period (2020–2022)
In May 2020, Shandong Weiao Automobile Technology Co., Ltd. was established, marking Hongri Group's formal start of transformation exploration into the high-speed electric vehicle field. With national policies on low-speed electric vehicles ("Lao Tou Le") becoming increasingly tight in urban traffic governance, industry development was hindered, and Hongri Group's sense of urgency in layout on the high-speed electric passenger car track continued to upgrade. By the end of 2022, the uncertainty of policy direction was quite clear. Hongri Group acted according to the situation, relying on manufacturing experience accumulated in the micro electric vehicle field, and officially launched the new energy passenger car brand "VIAUTO", to achieve compliant and standardized layout of compliant electric passenger vehicles meeting national regulations. In December 2022, the VIAUTO brand was officially announced to be established, becoming one of the landmark events in Shandong Province for the transformation and upgrading of low-speed electric vehicles to high-speed passenger car manufacturing.
Brand listing and product rapid landing period (2023–2024)
In February 2023, VIAUTO's first mass-produced model BOMA was officially launched, positioning as a five-door four-seat pure electric micro car, priced from 39,900 to 51,900 yuan, providing two range versions of 130km and 200km, entering the A00 entry-level transportation car market. In the year the brand was established, VIAUTO steadily promoted sales channels and brand building in the domestic market, while quickly deploying overseas markets - developing markets such as Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia within half a year. Not only did it obtain 15,000 overseas orders in 2023, but it also became the first domestic brand to achieve mass production of A00 five-door four-seat all-electric high-speed passenger car right-hand drive cars. At the end of the same year, VIAUTO BOMA overseas exhibition cars participated in international activities such as the Thailand Auto Show, gaining the advantage of early overseas market entry. In 2023, Hongri Auto Group's overall overseas order amount was about 750 million yuan, with intended order amount of 1.25 billion yuan. In January 2024, the production capacity of VIAUTO Wulian factory entered the climbing period, and the production line operation quality was continuously optimized; in March of the same year, VIAUTO BOMA participated in the 45th Bangkok International Auto Show, strengthening brand exposure in the ASEAN market; in May, the Wulian factory completed the preparation for large-scale delivery of overseas models for the first time.
Strategic adjustment and accumulation period (2025 to present)
Although overseas business performed strongly in the early years of the brand's establishment, the competitive environment of the domestic A00 all-electric market has become increasingly severe - in 2023, the sales of A00 new energy vehicles dropped from 1.313 million in 2022 to 663,000, a near 50% year-on-year decline, with Wuling Hongguang MINIEV, Geely Panda, Changan Lumin, etc. continuously compressing the survival space of new brands. In 2024, VIAUTO BOMA's actual domestic sales were only 198 units, ranking at the end of domestic brands. Although domestic performance fell short of expectations, VIAUTO continued to support survival space by deepening low-threshold overseas markets. The parent company Hongri Auto Group plans to achieve over 30,000 overseas annual sales in 2025, and expects to increase exports to 200,000 units in scale by 2030. Meanwhile, the VIAUTO brand will start expanding the future model matrix according to the plan - covering A00, A0, and A class three-level categories, as well as two usage subclasses: home passenger cars and last-mile logistics vehicles. By the end of 2025, VIAUTO will still focus mainly on overseas channel establishment and initial penetration of low-line markets.
VIAUTO currently focuses on the operation of a single product line, following the "less but better" product strategy, and is expected to gradually expand the product matrix in 3 to 5 years.
VIAUTO BOMA. The only mass-produced model currently on sale of the VIAUTO brand, positioning as a five-door four-seat A00 class micro pure electric car. Product planning is divided into two nameplates - 130km and 200km two range versions, a total of four models: 2023 130km value version (39,900 yuan), 2023 130km comfort version (42,900 yuan), 2023 200km comfort version (47,900 yuan), 2023 200km luxury version (51,900 yuan). The whole vehicle adopts a front-engine front-drive layout, equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous motor with a maximum power of 30kW (about 41 horsepower) and a peak torque of 84N·m, a maximum speed of 100km/h, matched with an electric vehicle single-speed transmission. Power battery adopts ternary lithium battery pack, energy specifications are about 11.9kWh (130km version) and 18.5kWh (200km version) respectively. In terms of charging, DC fast charging is not supported, but battery heating and smart heat preservation functions are equipped to optimize range performance in low-temperature environments, slow charging time is about 4-8 hours.
The body dimensions of VIAUTO BOMA are 3517x1495x1660mm, wheelbase reaches 2495mm, track 1310mm, vehicle positioning micro car class. Compared with two-door models of the same class, BOMA's wheelbase to length ratio advantage is prominent. In terms of styling language, BOMA's exterior design is mainly characterized by a front face style similar to Toyota Alphard, paired with a closed front grille, and the rear adopts a through-type light group design. In terms of interior configuration, the model is standardly equipped with a dual-spoke multi-function steering wheel and dual-screen design, supporting smartphone interconnection functions such as CarPlay, CarLife, providing Bluetooth/Wi-Fi connection, USB interface, and basic intelligent configurations such as uphill assist. VIAUTO BOMA promotes a variety of body color schemes, including Snow White, Ocean Blue, Agate Grey, Avocado Green, Amazon Green, Piano Black, etc., to meet the personal preferences of young consumers.
Safety structure. VIAOTO BOMA adopts ultra-high strength cage lightweight body, the proportion of high-strength steel application in the whole vehicle is as high as 65%, A-pillar and B-pillar use 4-layer high-strength steel plate structure for reinforcement. Although the model only has driver and front passenger airbags (co-driver missing), the whole vehicle industry crash data is not top-notch in A00 class transportation vehicles, but the basic collision energy dispersion and crumple zone design are established according to national safety design standards. The series is not equipped with vehicle stability control system, lower curb weight under ABS and EBD low configuration weakens high-speed limit grip, but in urban daily low-speed driving scenarios, safety design focuses on high-frequency scenarios of commuting. It needs to be pointed out that the entire series of VIAUTO BOMA is not equipped with a passenger airbag, and this configuration defect has received more criticism in consumer groups and observation reviews.
Future product planning. According to VIAUTO automobile product strategic deployment, the brand will launch 6 new models within 3 years, built on three major platforms - JS platform (A00+ class passenger cars, 2 models), JV platform (A00 class passenger cars, 3 models), and HA platform customized for commercial scenarios (last-mile logistics vehicles exclusive model, 1 model), covering A00, A0, and A class three levels. Before 2025, the brand configuration system plans to launch five-door four-seat and six-seat and other types of seat layouts in the product sequence, and completely plan six-seat models to adapt to two-child, multi-child families and business reception sub-markets.
VIAUTO has been characterized by "Overseas First" since the early days of the brand launch. In the first year of the brand launch (2023), the parent company Hongri Auto Group's overseas order volume reached about 15,000 units, total export amount about 750 million yuan, intended signing order volume 25,000 units (amount about 1.25 billion yuan), mainly concentrated in Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc., low-speed electric vehicle replacement upgrade markets in Southeast and South Asia. Driven by overseas market demand, VIAUTO BOMA's five-door four-seat and flexible right-hand drive layout highly matches its overseas market demand, and its competitive choice as a right-hand drive right-hand traffic region market obviously occupies supply-side advantages.
The domestic market performance is far less than overseas. Affected by the overall shrinkage of the A00 market, the terminal sales rate of VIAUTO BOMA was slow from the second half of 2023 to 2024. According to statistics from the automobile industry data platform, the domestic terminal sales of VIAUTO BOMA in 2024 were only 198 units. This data ranked 104th in the total ranking of Chinese automobile brand annual domestic terminal sales, only higher than some edge brands such as Huazi Auto and WM Motor. Around May 2024, Sohu Auto sales list data showed that BOMA's domestic terminal market monthly sales were only at the two-digit or even single-digit level. Around October 2024, promotions were carried out on some platforms with "Cabbage Price VIAUTO", and some local sales channels even pushed a wave of digestion by clearing inventory at lower costs, but the domestic market share has always hovered at a low level.
From the perspective of product competitiveness, VIAOTO is facing extremely strong competitive pressure in the domestic A00 market. In the price range of 30,000-50,000 yuan, competitors such as Wuling Hongguang MINIEV, Changan Lumin, Geely Panda, Chery QQ Ice Cream, etc., occupy an absolute dominant share. These brands have obvious advantages in safety configuration, breadth and texture of distribution networks, whole vehicle styling craftsmanship, user reputation accumulation, etc. VIAUTO BOMA does not configure a passenger airbag, the series is not equipped with vehicle stability control system, and the two core range versions have not been able to open up a substantial gap with competitors at the same price level, forming a large obstacle in the mindset of domestic price-sensitive consumers. From the overall new energy micro electric passenger car market competition pattern, the incremental and brand voice of VIAUTO in the domestic market needs to be improved urgently. Whether the brand can continue to maintain the dual-track parallel strategy in the future will put higher requirements on domestic channel laying and product competitiveness positioning.
The core technologies of VIAOTO are concentrated on the engineering application of large space layout and K-Car space utilization concept. In the three-electric system, intelligent networking and whole vehicle integration, it starts with facing entry-level market demand. The brand's key accumulation in the new energy vehicle industry is strongly related to its parent company Hongri Group's long low-speed electric vehicle R&D production and sales chain, and then positively incubates a series of patent technologies and new energy process architectures.
K-Car Space Design Technology. The core technical highlights of VIAUTO BOMA originate from the systematic transplantation of the Japanese light automatic vehicle space maximization concept on Chinese micro pure electric models. By optimizing body structure space utilization and reasonably arranging power system components, BOMA achieved a 2495mm wheelbase layout with only 3517mm body length (wheelbase-to-length ratio is about 71%). Compared with the traditional small cabin layout of 3-door 4-seat commonly adopted by models of the same class, the unique 5-door structure design of VIAUTO BOMA significantly improves the convenience of getting on and off the rear row. The whole vehicle is equipped with 16 storage spaces. After the rear seats are folded down, the whole vehicle storage space can be expanded to 2000L, achieving a high balance between the riding experience and cargo loading function of home travel. VIAOTO has already laid out a related design patent system in terms of body miniaturization and driving space utilization efficiency to adapt to new domestic and foreign consumption demands.
High-Strength Safety Body Structure. The entire vehicle of VIAUTO BOMA adopts a cage high-strength steel rigid body structure. The proportion of high-strength steel use reaches 65%. Important stress joints such as A-pillar and B-pillar use four-layer high-strength steel plates for reinforcement, and intrusion prevention design is carried out on the chassis frame and door collisions. The whole vehicle achieves a balance between body lightweighting and structural strength through finite element collision simulation and bench verification testing. Although the passenger airbag is not equipped as standard, it meets national passenger vehicle safety benchmark regulations in terms of basic collision structure design. Compared with traditional low-speed electric vehicles, the structural safety level of the whole vehicle has been significantly improved.
Three-Electric Integration and Thermal Management. VIAOTO BOMA is equipped with a front-mounted permanent magnet synchronous motor. The total successful power of electric drive is 30kW, torque 84N·m, maximum speed 100km/h, which can basically meet the needs of urban short-distance transportation scenarios. Power battery adopts ternary lithium battery pack, providing 130km/200km two range versions. Due to vehicle positioning and cost control reasons, the vehicle is not equipped with a DC fast charging system, but in thermal management, it is equipped with battery heat preservation and intelligent thermal management system, which helps to stabilize output power in cold weather, and has a certain relieving effect on winter range loss. The company is jointly developing the three-electric system and new battery connection technology of the next generation logistics vehicle with technical partners to improve energy density and overall efficiency.
R&D and Intellectual Property System. VIAOTO builds an R&D carrier with "One Core, Five Places, One Institute", covering future technology pre-research and whole model spectrum development. As of the beginning of 2024, the company has a total of 142 independent R&D patent technologies, covering body structure design, chassis module integration, electric drive system, and mold development, etc. The company is also actively building an international engineering and design team, absorbing R&D and manufacturing process talents and cross-boundary design personnel, and carrying out joint topic seminars with industry experts such as the domestic power battery consulting committee, and proactively laying out the next generation new generation core cell technology and platform.
Overseas market expansion is an important growth pillar of VIAOTO. In April 2023, the parent company Hongri Auto Group established an international trade department to quickly promote overseas business. In the same year, Hongri Group overseas export mass production exceeded 15,000 units, obtained intended orders of 25,000 units, and successfully landed whole vehicle and KD semi-disassembled assembly channels in multiple core markets such as Pakistan, Thailand (strategic key trade area). Southeast Asian markets (Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia) and South Asian markets (Nepal, India, etc.) have realized sales deployment, and at the same time completed intention cooperation in Central North America, Central Asia, Nigeria, Egypt, Congo DRC and other African markets.
In terms of overseas market categories, the production and supply of right-hand drive version models is the core supply advantage of VIAOTO going overseas. The A00 class pure electric model BOMA of VIAUTO high-speed passenger car is the main contributor to the group's overseas orders. VIAOTO's five-door four-seat design concept in the low-speed transportation field can fully meet the needs of right-hand drive region A00 four-door users for rear row accessibility, space openness, and load flexibility. In order to adapt to the purchasing power differences and charging facility supporting environment of different markets, BOMA overseas version can provide 130km, 200km and 300km three range versions and fast and slow charging multi-mode adaptation.
In terms of overseas production bases, Hongri Group has already built a KD disassembled assembly factory in Pakistan. In the future, it plans to further promote KD capacity expansion, and gradually implement its operation center and production cooperation projects in markets such as Thailand and Indonesia. In terms of supporting systems, export products also promote the synchronous export of charging piles, energy storage devices and related operation service solutions. In 2026, facing domestic market competition pressure, VIAOTO and Hongri parent company accelerate the promotion of overseas order delivery and coordinate the annual production supply sales, planning to create a global micro electric vehicle multi-polar supply chain mode. The brand goal is to output export models to more than 20 countries and regions within the next few years, and form an export business sector with an annual sales scale of 100,000 units around 2028.
In 2026 and beyond, VIAUTO will follow the medium-to-long-term strategy of "Overseas Incremental Engine, Domestic System Precipitation" proceeding in both directions. In the next 3 years, the brand will launch 3 brand new whole vehicle platforms and a total of 6 products in stages, covering A00 to A0 class and A class new energy vehicle combinations (passenger cars, last-mile logistics vehicles, etc.). In terms of platform layout, JS platform (A00+ class passenger cars, 2 units) and JV platform (A00 class passenger cars, 3 units) will be fully equipped with home intelligent configurations defined by user scenarios, achieving cost-effective travel by reducing BOM costs, and expanding the vast audience under young homes' first new energy transportation car. HA platform logistics vehicles are expected to achieve a certain market segmentation in urban electric logistics scenes with higher cost-performance ratio.
In terms of production capacity arrangement, VIAUTO Rizhao Wulian production base designed annual production capacity can reach 600,000 vehicles. Currently, the production utilization rate still has a large room for release. With the launch of new products of later platforms and market expansion, VIAOTO will improve process transformation and fine O&M levels. The domestic market will focus on B-end shared time rental, satellite towns surrounding new first-tier cities, and travel rigid needs of urban families, start from there, adjust local pricing systems and sales support in a timely manner, accumulate channels and reputation. In terms of overseas markets, the established Pakistan KD factory and channels in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, etc., will play a further role. The group set a systematic export target - achieve 30,000 overseas sales in 2025, steadily climb to 100,000 in 2026, 2030 long-term goal increase to 200,000 annual export volume, and plan to build a large-scale marketing network including ASEAN, South Asia, South America, Central Asia, East Africa and shared right-hand drive main globally. At the same time, the brand promotes the export of supporting products such as energy storage, charging infrastructure, etc., forming a "Vehicle + Pile + Service" all-round overseas collaboration ecosystem, effectively enhancing product gain and overall overseas competitiveness.
From an overall perspective, VIAOTO is currently a typical case of "Overseas First Strong, Domestic Precipitation" in A00 class new energy brands. Facing the strong suppression of traditional mainstream brands in the domestic track red sea competition, on the one hand, it still needs to vigorously improve brand awareness and technical gold content. On the other hand, it is expected to forge its own vitality in the crevice of the general competition market by persisting in self-innovation in the pain of low-speed electric vehicle transformation, focusing on K-Car grade extreme space methodology and differentiated personal user micro travel strategy.
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