Ideanomics' MEG signs strategic partnership with China's largest commercial truck service and announces first logistical vehicle orders for its electric vehicles

MEG growing in China as it inks deal with for commercial truck buying and leasing services and elsewhere signs order for first 500 vehicles

Jiangsu AOXIN New Energy Automobile - X30L Model

Ideanomic’s MEG Group has signed agreements with Linghao Zhitong 3000, a SaaS platform for shipping and logistics management in China, so that Linghao Zhitong is now the company’s exclusive agent for promoting truck purchasing and financing services for the next 5 years.

It has also inked an agreement for up to 1,200 small logistical vehicles with a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer worth $24 million for delivery in 2020.

China partnership

Under the terms of the agreement with Linghao Zhitong 3000, Ideanomics' Mobile Energy Global (MEG) division will be the exclusive agent for truck purchasing and leasing services to Linghao Zhitong 3000's growing customer base, which is currently more than 230,000 trucks from over 1,000 fleet operators. Current growth forecasts for Linghao Zhitong extend that number of trucks to 300,000 for 2020 and reaching 500,000 by 2023.

The deal is focused on commercial Electric Vehicle (EV) enablement. However, MEG will also provide procurement and leasing services to the long-distance market, which EV does not currently support, until such time as charging network infrastructure and/or EV battery technology can support the longer distance truck operators.

"The commercial fleet market in China has a depreciated truck replacement in the range of between 20% - 30% per year, which means there's a tremendous amount of cost savings and added value for our MEG division to provide to Linghao Zhitong's 1000 plus fleet operators," said Alf Poor, CEO of Ideanomics. "MEG will offer these shipping and logistics fleet operators the best truck for their specific needs, at the best price, with the most competitive lease financing payment terms available in the industry. We are delighted to be working with Linghao Zhitong's team to extend the range of services available to their fast-growing customer base of commercial fleet operators".

As part of the agreement, MEG and Linghao Zhitong will explore other business opportunities, including a lease financing consortium, insurance product solutions, fractionalized ownership programs, as well as the potential for a capital markets partnership.

Logistics vehicle deal

MEG Group has also placed an order for a total of 1,200 logistical vehicles to be fulfilled by China-based EV manufacturer Jiangsu AOXIN New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd. through their X30L model, with the first 500 ordered in Q4 2019, and the remaining 700 being ordered for Q1, 2020, for a total possible order value of 167 Million RMB, or approximately $24 Million.

The vehicles are city/urban delivery cargo vans intended to facilitate last-mile deliveries. MEG will derive fees from this transaction through arranging the procurement and financing.

"We are thrilled to get our first EV logistical vehicle orders underway, as this represents our largest potential segment of MEG in terms of vehicle order numbers and is the second of our four operating segments to successfully source large-scale EV vehicle orders," said Alf Poor, CEO of Ideanomics. "This helps us confidently plan for 2020, knowing that each of our four segments is going to be active and, along with our bus and heavy truck segments, are already sourcing deal flow. With our taxi activities in Chengdu and Guilin held over until Q1, due to municipal subsidies and new taxi license policies being put in place for 2020, we were able to bring this deal together quickly and efficiently, prior to our lease financing funding channels coming online. This, together with our Taxi activities in Chengdu, Guilin, and Yunnan province in Q1, will provide us with a platform that will ramp up in Q2 and beyond as our business begins to hit its stride."

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