By Daniel Ren,Eric Ng

Copyright scmp

BeyonCa, a Chinese premium electric vehicle (EV) start-up, plans to unveil its first production model as early as the end of October as it edges closer to pioneering car manufacturing in Hong Kong.
The luxury car – known as the Grand Tourer and designed for high-speed, long-distance travel – will be assembled at the Tai Po advanced manufacturing site of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP), according to people familiar with the matter. The car targets customers in Europe and the Middle East, they said.
It would be the city’s first locally built car.
BeyonCa, founded in 2021 by Soh Weiming, who previously served at Volkswagen’s China operation for 16 years, had yet to set a clear time frame for production because it would take several months to get ready for operations, the sources said.
The luxury car would be priced on par with BMW’s 7-series and S-class vehicles from Mercedes-Benz, starting from at least US$100,000, according to the sources.
BeyonCa declined to comment.
Unlike its domestic counterparts that are focused on mainland China, the world’s largest automotive and EV market, Renault-backed BeyonCa envisions building a “Made in Hong Kong” brand and selling its luxury EVs around the globe.
Soh, who is CEO of Renault China, told the Post last year that BeyonCa aimed to create an EV ecosystem encompassing design, innovation, production and marketing in Hong Kong.
He said the company picked Hong Kong as its design and production base because it was an ideal place to build a brand with a combination of culture, art, history and technology.

The government-owned HKSTP provides facilities, office space and support for technology companies.
“Designing and building cars, particularly electric cars, in Hong Kong can help companies like BeyonCa dodge brutal price competition on the mainland,” said Phate Zhang, founder of Shanghai-based -industry data provider CnEVPost. “At the same time, a Hong Kong brand banking on China’s automotive technology and supply chain can impress international EV supporters with a high-performance battery and a sophisticated digital cockpit.”
In October 2022, BeyonCa launched its first prototype model, the GT Opus 1. Its artificial intelligence-powered smart cockpit featured the world’s first in-cabin, real-time monitoring of blood pressure and an online “cloud doctor” service. The system automatically intervenes by slowing down or stopping the car if the driver shows signs of incapacity due to a stroke or fatigue.
Dirk van Braeckel, who has 40 years of automotive design experience and was behind several of Volkswagen’s models, now serves as chief design officer at BeyonCa.
Soh said last year that BeyonCa would build cars and AI systems in Hong Kong, and it was focused on positioning and branding, rather than volume production.
Separately, Hongqi, or Red Flag, a unit of FAW Group, China’s oldest carmaker and once a symbol of the Communist Party’s manufacturing might, also reportedly has designs on building cars in Hong Kong.
Sun Dong, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, said at a press conference on September 20 that “patience would be needed” before a deal about Hongqi’s local car production was finalised.