Aston, LeEco could expand cooperation

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the relationship between Chinese technology company LeEco and Leshi. Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp. is a publicly traded Chinese company that holds three of LeEco’s businesses.

GENEVA -- A burgeoning relationship between Aston Martin and Chinese technology developer LeEco could grow into a multifaceted partnership.

"In the future you could imagine ever-converging technologies between the two companies," Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer said last week at the Geneva auto show.

Palmer's suggestion comes on the heels of last month's announcement that the two were working together to develop and bring to market in 2018 the RapidE, an electric car based on the Aston Martin Rapide S.

Aston also is collaborating with LeEco on future in-car connectivity.

Aston Martin is among the high-end sports car marques looking for ways to meet emissions regulations while still producing high-powered vehicles. It also is considering gasoline, plug-in hybrid and full electric versions of its DBX crossover coupe set to debut later this decade.

The luxury carmaker also is consulting with Faraday Future on the design and manufacturing of its upcoming electric vehicles. Faraday is the California EV startup backed by LeEco's founder, Jia Yueting.

As part of the collaboration between Aston and LeEco, Aston will use future LeEco and Faraday EV technologies in its vehicles, though not exclusively in the RapidE since it would come to market before Faraday's vehicle, Palmer said.

Faraday ran into difficulty last month when Nevada lawmakers requested as much as $75 million in collateral before the state issues millions of dollars of bonds to support infrastructure improvements to the North Las Vegas site where Faraday plans a plant.

The request came after trading of Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp. shares, the source of much of Jia Yueting's money, was halted in early December on China's Shenzhen market pending an internal reorganization. Trading was to resume on Jan. 31, but that date was pushed back to May 7.

None of this sets off alarm bells for Palmer. "Welcome to China," he said. "You can't judge Chinese companies in the way you do a classical European or American company. Everything I've seen from them so far is genuine, the joint investments that we've made are on time."

Aston's CEO also didn't rule out the possibility of his company building a limited-production run of the 1,000-hp FFZERO1 Concept that Faraday showed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.

"Its not impossible, but it's not contracted," Palmer said, stressing that with Aston's capacity currently near its max, it would be possible only at very low volumes.