China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group has already “lined off” its first mass-produced car under the Hengchi brand and will start selling the SUV soon.

The Hengchi model was included in a list of car production and sales that had been approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It was revealed that authorities had begun examination of the SUV last November, but it was not included in the approval list released in December.

China Evergrande announced in 2018 that it would make forays into the new energy vehicle business, including EVs. The following year, the company unveiled a plan to invest about US$7 billion in the EV business in the next three years and teamed up with foreign makers of auto parts.

In January, the company announced the line-off of its first mass-produced Hengchi model at a factory in the northern coastal city of Tianjin.

The start of Hengchi sales will be the first step for China Evergrande to recoup the vast amount of money it has invested. But given that China’s EV market is dominated by BYD, Tesla Motors and Chinese startups, many observers think it will not be easy for China Evergrande, as a latecomer, to break into the already crowded market.