Filed under: EV/Plug-in, NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle), Asia, USA
We’ve recently heard reports that claimed that South Korean automaker CT&T is struggling in a pretty serious way. According to the Houston Chronicle, CT&T has “abandoned its pledge to the three states [Hawaii, Pennsylvania and South Carolina] – without notice – and deserted its new U.S. markets amid financial difficulties.” Not so fast, says, Joseph White, chief operating officer of CT&T electric vehicle sales and marketing, who told the New York Times that those claims are erroneous.
In a telephone interview with the Times, White stated:
A lot has changed structurally for us. Our parent company in Korea is now a public company, where it was privately held. Our operation here in the United States has morphed into more of a strategic holding company. We are in the process of adapting to those changes. We are still selling vehicles, delivering them to our customers, and we have significant inventory here – over $ 5 million worth. In fact, a few days ago in Korea, our parent company just unveiled another new four-passenger low-speed vehicle for our lineup
According to White, CT&T still aims to set up shop somewhere in upstate South Carolina. However, there’s no timetable for that and White did admit that CT&T’s promised assembly plant in Hawaii and its assembly and distribution sites in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia Pennsylvania will “have to be for later on.”
The New York Times reports that CT&T United’s phones have been disconnected, but business is somehow still being conducted. When prodded by the NYT, White declined to reveal the number of employees working at CT&T and wouldn’t disclose the automaker’s sales volume. This all seems a bit too fishy to us. You?
[Source: New York Times]
CT&T exec denies automaker is withdrawing from U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 08:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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