E-motorcycle and scooter brand appoints 13 NZ dealers

Horwin has confirmed 13 car dealers for its New Zealand sales – including four Auckland dealer appointments, four in the rest of the North Island and five in the South Island.

The brand will have showrooms in all the main New Zealand centres, a larger footprint than originally planned.

“Interest has been strong, fuelled by the rapid rise in petrol prices, and in consumers and businesses looking for lower cost solutions than the current market has to offer,” says local distributor Goscoot director Anthony MacLean.

“We have been pleasantly surprised by the number of dealer enquiries we have been getting.”

Early dealer appointment GVI Electric in Auckland has a long history with EVs, being one of the pioneers in bringing the Nissan Leaf from Japan.

“Horwin offers us a great product line extension,” says Genuine Vehicle Group director and general manager Hayden Johnston.

“We sell a wide range of electric vehicles from Nissan Leaf through to selected late models that are otherwise hard to get here.

”We already have a customer base for electric scooters and Horwin could well be an alternative for customers who might be looking for a cheaper second car.”

Christchurch dealer Team Hutchinson Ford has already pre-sold e-scooters. 

“The shift towards electric vehicles is rapidly gathering pace, and we are delighted to offer our customers more electric options,” says dealer principal John Hutchinson.

“We’re seeing very strong demand for our electric cars, and Horwin gives us an opportunity to offer electric vehicles to consumers who want to spend much less. Electric scooters are a great solution for short trips; they have a low carbon footprint and are incredibly frugal.”

Prices for the range start from $5295 plus on road costs for the Horwin EK1 (up to 80km range) and extends to $9695 for the delivery service version of the EK3, a 125cc equivalent scooter with 160km range.

The first demonstrators and customer vehicles arrive this week.

The full list of dealers is escoot Auckland – Botany, escoot Auckland – Newmarket, GVI Auckland – Penrose, Tristram European – North Shore, Keppler Hamilton, Cartown Palmerston North, Countrywide Motor Company Sanson, Manawatu; Gazley Wellington, Mag & Turbo Nelson, Team Hutchinson Ford Christchurch, GWD Queenstown, GWD Invercargill, and Dunedin City Motors.

The Chinese brand has been managed by XL Holding, based in Changzhou, China, since 2013, and is only active in the field of electric mobility.

Horwin is represented in Asia, South America and Europe, with Horwin’s European headquarters in Kammersdorf near Vienna, Austria.

About 74% of the European operation is owned by the Wei Zhou family,  and 26% by the Heinzl family from Kammersdorf.

Horwin operates in more than 30 countries and has at least 300 dealers globally.