Coda aims to sell 50,000 EVs by 2015
Coda, like Tesla Motors Inc and Fisker Automotive, is one of several new companies that are banking on mass-market adoption of electric vehicles. Major automakers including Nissan Motor Co and General Motors are also racing to launch electric cars.
Coda is making its first vehicle, the CODA EV, in China in partnership with Hafei, which is controlled by state-owned China Changan Auto, and is scheduled to begin selling it in the United States in the second half of this year.
It will be sold to fleet buyers in California initially and slowly expand into other states, Murtaugh told reporters in Beijing.
"Once we start selling to fleets and get a feel of how we are doing, we will start selling to consumers. Our plan is to go slowly," he said.
Coda has set a target to sell 10,000 to 14,000 units in the first 12 months after its launch.
The Santa Monica-California based company also has a battery joint venture with Lishen Battery Power.
The company had in January tapped Murtaugh, a former General Motors Co and Chrysler executive with extensive experience in China as its new chief executive.
Related News
Macron: France, Germany to provide each other with gas, electricity, to weather crisis
PARIS - France will send gas to Germany if needed while Germany stands ready to provide it with electricity, President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday, saying this showcased European solidarity in the face of the energy crisis stemming from the war in Ukraine.
European gas prices surged, share prices slid and the euro sank on Monday after Russia stopped pumping gas via a major supply route, in another warning to the 27-nation EU as it scrambled to respond to the crisis ahead of winter. read more
"Germany needs our gas and we need power from the rest of Europe, notably Germany," France's…
