Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance plans to launch Australian-built electric car this year
Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance expects to launch an Australian-built electric car “this year” but the industrialist is yet to shed light on where the vehicle will be built.
SA Business
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Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance expects to launch an Australian-built electric car “this year” but the industrialist is yet to shed light on where the vehicle will be built.
Mr Gupta has previously spoken about his desire to build a small, modular electric vehicle in Australia, with Victoria and South Australia being canvassed as potential sites due to their history of vehicle manufacturing.
Mr Gupta’s long-time friend and business associate Ross Pelligra bought the former Holden car manufacturing site at Elizabeth last year, and has renamed it Lionsgate.
But Mr Gupta has not yet named a preferred site to build the “iStream” electric cars, telling The Advertiser last year the cars would be built where it made sense to from a business perspective.
He told The Australian this week that plans were progressing.
“We’re committed to launching an EV platform in Australia, we’re working very hard on a couple of options and we hope to announce more detail on that very soon,” he said.
“We’ll definitely be launching a car within this year.”
GFG said the eventual target was annual production of 30,000 vehicles across a range of models.
While GFG Alliance is best known in SA for buying the Whyalla steelworks and launching ambitious upgrade plans for the operations, as well as investing in renewable power, the company also has manufacturing operations.
It owns an alloy wheel manufacturer, Liberty Wheels France, which produces two million wheels a year, and another company that manufactures landing gear for aircraft.