Giant Motors, part of the business empire of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu, is developing a made-in-Mexico EV, and plans to launch it commercially next year, Forbes Mexico reported.

Giant Motors will design the new vehicle, and will manufacture it in a joint venture with Moldex, a subsidiary of giant Mexican bread maker Grupo Bimbo. The company plans to seek government funding and collaboration for the project.

Giant expects to reveal a working prototype late this year, and bring the new EV to market in 2018, initially introducing it as a taxi in Mexico City. The company recently announced a $215-million alliance with Chinese automaker JAC Motors to manufacture vehicles in Mexico’s state of Hidalgo.

“We are developing a new Mexican electric vehicle that will not only be assembled [in Mexico], but also designed and modeled to meet the needs of Mexican consumers,” Elías Massri, Giant Motors’ CEO for Latin America told Forbes Mexico.

Source: Forbes
Image: Nicolas Raymond (CC BY 2.0)