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Yang Rong (businessman)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In this Chinese name, the family name is Yang.

Yang Rong (Chinese: 仰融; born 1957), also known as Yung Yeung[1] and Benjamin Yeung[2] is an exiled Chinese tycoon.[3] He was born in Shanghai in 1957. A year after the magazine Forbes proclaimed him China's third-richest businessman in 2001,[4] Yang fled to the US following a dispute with the Chinese government.[5]

Famous for his close association with a Chinese microvan manufacturer, Yang has continued to be involved in the automotive industry since his flight to the US. In the US, his ventures have yet to achieve the same scale of success as those in his native China have done.

In the US, Yang has been involved with at least two businesses. One, Greentech Automotive, planned to build all-electric vehicles in Mississippi.[6] Yang has distanced himself from Greentech Automotive.[7]

A second business, Hybrid Kinetic Motors, is a hybrid vehicle company that had a goal of manufacturing cars in Alabama.[8][9] Hybrid Kinetic later dropped its Alabama plans due to a funding shortfall in 2009.

Brilliance Auto

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Main article: Brilliance Auto Group

Yang, the founding chairman of Brilliance Auto, was involved with the company during the 1990s.[5][10][4]

Some blame his immigration to the US on a failed bid to locate a production base in Ningbo, China.[5] As Ningbo is near the rich coastal city of Shanghai, this was contrary to Chinese state policy encouraging economic growth in the poorer regions, and Yang incurred the wrath of the government of the province of Liaoning in the attempt.[5] In 2002 he was accused of embezzlement, and an arrest warrant was issued precipitating Yang's flight from the country.[11]

While Yang was in control, Brilliance Auto Group made a number of IPOs. These included listing a subsidiary Brilliance Auto on the New York Stock Exchange in 1992, the same subsidiary again on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) in 1999,[12] and that same year a takeover of another listed company Shenhua Holdings on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

GreenTech Automotive

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GreenTech Automotive planned to build all-electric vehicles in Mississippi.[6] Yang has distanced himself from Greentech Automotive.[13]

Hybrid Kinetic Motors

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After leaving China in 2002, Rong began a start-up car company in the United States, Hybrid Kinetic Motors Corporation (SEHK: 1188).[3][11] While its desire to manufacture in the US did not come to fruition, in the early 2010s the company expressed interest in several Mainland China production base sites. In 2013 it broke ground for a new facility in the Lianyungang Economic and Technological Development Zone, Lianyungang prefecture, which it was reported might produce batteries and become operational in 2018.[14]

2008–09 Mississippi factory plan

In 2008, lawyer Xiaolin "Charles" Wang (also known as Charlie Wang) was a front man for Yeung, working on a proposed $6.5 billion plant.[15][16] The plant was pitched as being able to create jobs for up to 25,000 people in north Mississippi.[16] The company planned to raise money from foreign investors through a U.S. program that provides foreign investors with a chance to obtain a visa by investing in a company in the United States.[17]

However, Yeung and Wang argued in late 2008 over control of the company. Yeung cut ties with Wang, and a lawsuit between the two was filed in Mississippi in early 2009 with each accusing the other of dubious business practices.[15][18][16][19] Charles Huang, vice chairman of HK Motors, said: "Charlie Wang was a senior executive, an employee of Chairman Yeung's company. He was simply not possible to be qualified as Yeung's business partner as he does not have the capital, business experiences, or managerial experience."[16]

U.S. federal chief judge Michael P. Mills wrote in an opinion on the dispute that Wang had taken actions of "dubious legality" in issuing stock in connection with Hybrid Kinetic Motors.[20][21] GreenTech was born out of the dispute.[20] The judge noted that the company website described Wang as "a graduate of Duke Law School" who had formerly served as a "partner and the head of Asia practice for a prominent New York law firm" and who had, prior to that, held a similar position with a "prestigious Washington law firm," but the judge went on to comment that "While prominence and prestige are laudable attributes in today’s society, the older virtues of common honesty and integrity sometimes still carry the day."[21] The lawsuit was settled out of court with $1.5 million being paid to Yang, who also retained the name "Hybrid Kinetic," as Wang began anew using the "GreenTech" name.[20]

Plans for the Mississippi auto factory fell through c. 2009.[22]

2009 Alabama factory plan

As of September 2009 the possibility of producing Hybrid Kinetic vehicles at an undeveloped site near Bay Minette in Baldwin County, Alabama, was discussed.[16][23] Hybrid Kinetic later dropped its Alabama plans due to a funding shortfall in 2009.[24]

JAC joint venture

As of 2010 the company was reported as possibly entering a joint venture with Jianghuai Automobile[citation needed] selling parts in China for use in green technology vehicles.[3] A Tianjin,[1] Shandong province,[3] production base was to be complete by 2013,[3] and while the original intent was to manufacture whole vehicles,[1] the JV was only to supply parts.[3]

2017 $68 million collaboration with Pininfarina

Collaboration agreement was reached totaling $68 million with Pininfarina design firm for 46 months. According to this agreement, "Pininfarina will support Hybrid Kinetic in the turnkey development of an electric car from the styling concept and development of the vehicle to the engineering development and virtual and physical validation for series production".[25] During this development, some of the vehicles in development included the following: H600 4 Seater Sedan, K550 5 Seater SUV, K750 7 Seater SUV, HK GT 4 Seater GT, K350 4 Seater Sedan, and H500 4 Seater Sedan.

References

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  1. ^ a b c UPDATE 1-China's Jianghuai to invest $4.4 bln in new-energy cars reuters, Aug 9, 2010
  2. ^ Report: Hybrid Kinetic Motors to spend $500 million for Italian styling green.autoblog.com, Jan 21st 2010
  3. ^ a b c d e f UPDATE 1-Hybrid Kinetic to make green auto parts in China reuters, Dec 13, 2010
  4. ^ a b "China's 100 Richest Business People". Forbes. 12 November 2001. Archived from the original on December 27, 2001. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  5. ^ a b c d Politics fuels battle for Renault plant, by ALEXANDRA HARNEY and Richard McGregor, Financial Times. London (UK): November 30, 2004. pg. 28
  6. ^ a b MOTAVALLI, JIM (September 8, 2011). "GreenTech Intends to Build E.V.'s in Mississippi". Wheels Blog. The New York Times. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  7. ^ Schmitt, Bertel (8 August 2011). "Clinton's Sleepover Fundraising Maven Breaks Ground For 300,000 Car Factory In Inner Mongolia While Chinese Head To The U.S. On $500,000 Green Cards". The Truth About Cars. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  8. ^ Chappell, Lindsay (2 August 2010). "Hybrid Kinetic's big plans -- at least on paper". Automotive News 84(6423).
  9. ^ Niedermeyer, Edward (7 October 2009). "GreenTech Automotive Reveals Prototypes". The Truth About Cars. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  10. ^ "Exiled China tycoon in U.S. clean vehicle plan," Reuters, October 16, 2009
  11. ^ a b "Yang Rong's Hybrid Kinetic Motors signs contract with Giugiaro". Chinaautoreview.com. 2010-01-21. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  12. ^ China's 100 Richest Business People. #3 Yang Rong forbes.com
  13. ^ Schmitt, Bertel (8 August 2011). "Clinton's Sleepover Fundraising Maven Breaks Ground For 300,000 Car Factory In Inner Mongolia While Chinese Head To The U.S. On $500,000 Green Cards". The Truth About Cars. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  14. ^ For HK motors desire for production base site, see "A delegate of HK Motors visited City of Ying Kou, Liaoning Province, China". Hybrid Kinetic Motors. 2012-03-31. Retrieved 3 August 2013. and also see "A delegate of HK Motors visited City of An Shun, Guizhou Province, China". Hybrid Kinetic Motors. 2012-03-22. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  15. ^ a b "GreenTech's plans doubted from start," Trib Live.
  16. ^ a b c d e "Former front man for Chinese-American auto tycoon broke away, now race is on for investors, customers," AL.com.
  17. ^ "Startup company to unveil prototype cars in Miss.," Picayune Item.
  18. ^ "Chinese mogul planning to build cars in U.S.," The Columbus Dispatch.
  19. ^ "THE BLOG; Green Cards for Green Cars," The New York Times.
  20. ^ a b c "The Complicated Legal Backstory of Terry McAuliffe's Former Car Company; A look at the dispute that gave rise to GreenTech," ABC News.
  21. ^ a b Judge Michael P. Mills (June 23, 2009). "Hybrid Kinetic Automotive Holdings v. Charles Wang et. al.," IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI WESTERN DIVISION.
  22. ^ Chappell, Lindsay (2009-08-31). "Very huge and very unconventional". Automotive News 84(6375).
  23. ^ Auto Plant In Bay Minette? wkrg.com, September 24, 2009, cached version
  24. ^ Niedermeyer, Edward (July 28, 2011). "What Happened to Hybrid Kinetic Motors?". The Truth About Cars. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  25. ^ "Pininfarina Official website" (PDF). www.pininfarina.com. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
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