SANTA ROSA, Calif., Nov. 8, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ZAP Jonway (OTCBB:ZAAP), a manufacturer of gasoline and new energy electric vehicles (EVs), relocated its domestic sales and customer support headquarters from Sanmen, a small town in Zhejiang Province south of Ningbo, to Hangzhou, a vibrant technology center in the Zhejiang Province of China. The move further establishes the company's presence in one of the up-and-coming automotive centers in China, where ZAP Jonway's EV research and development team resides and where Jonway's license holding company, UFO, is currently located.
"I initiated and am leading the relocation of our sales and customer support headquarters to Hangzhou as part of our plan to strengthen our sales and marketing presence," said Mr. Da Qi Zhang, General Manager of ZAP Jonway. "Our goal is to complete the relocation quickly, before the end of this year, so that we can be settled in to our new location at the start of 2012. Moving our domestic sales headquarters to Hangzhou will improve our marketing and branding efforts, increase our access to local talent to build our business, and establish a strong presence in a technology-focused region where sales of our EV models will begin in 2012."
Alex Wang, ZAP Jonway's Co-CEO, stated: "Mr. Zhang's urge to move the sales and customer support headquarters to Hangzhou provides the foundation for moving our EV manufacturing from Sanmen to a new EV plant in Hangzhou as well. Jonway Automobile has been evaluating the establishment of a new manufacturing plant for our new EV product line in Hangzhou for some time, particularly as our EV R&D center as well as our UFO brand and license holder are headquartered in Hangzhou."
The company expects to relocate 86 customer support and sales personnel to Hangzhou. The move is expected to be completed no later than the end of this year.
With a population exceeding nine million, Hangzhou is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China, about 110 miles south of Shanghai. Its economy has rapidly expanded over the past two decades. Its GDP in 2010 was US$887 billion (594.5 billion RMB) ranked 8th in China's cities. It is one of the advanced technology centers of China, with R&D and manufacturing for telecommunications and consumer electronics, and fast becoming a new energy vehicle automobile manufacturing hub for China.
About ZAP Jonway
ZAP Jonway combines the attributes of both companies, ZAP and Jonway Automobile, to design and manufacture quality, affordable gasoline and new energy electric vehicles (EVs). With Jonway Automobile's established ISO 9000 manufacturing facilities, research and development and sales and customer services facilities in China, ZAP Jonway is well positioned to scale up production and sales for both gasoline and EVs for China and the international markets. ZAP, an early pioneer of EVs, brings to the new combined company a broad range of EV design experience that is being applied to new product lines. ZAP Jonway is focused on addressing EV fleets targeting city delivery trucks and vans used by university campuses, government and corporate markets in China and the United States, while utilizing its gasoline vehicle production quantities to gain economy of scale through its common vehicle parts and platforms. ZAP Jonway benefits from the established China dealership and customer support network developed by Jonway Automobile for its China sales and services. ZAP Jonway is headquartered in Santa Rosa, California and its production facility is located in Zhejiang Province of the People's Republic of China. Additional information about ZAP Jonway is available at http://www.zapworld.com.
The ZAP Jonway logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=10607