Kiwi AV company signs US$20m China deal

A US$20 million investment agreement has been reached between Auckland-based HMI Technologies/Ohmio and Heshan city in China.

The deal with the Heshan Industrial City Management Committee allows an Ohmio plant to be established there for making autonomous vehicles (AV), and an artificial Intelligence transport (ITS) research centre.

The agreement, which applies from July 1, was signed by HMI Technologies and its subsidiary Ohmio Automotion founder and chairman Mohammed Hikmet and Heshan Industrial City Administration Committee deputy director Wu Xiaoqing.

“This is another milestone for the success of Ohmio and another ‘vote of confidence’ in Ohmio, following the signing of the Solaseado MoU in Korea earlier in April”, Hikmet says.

HMI Technologies/Ohmio chief executive officer Dean Zabrieszach says not only will Ohmio be able to meet its mass production requirements inside and outside of China, but this investment also adds a huge boost to its existing research activities in establishing an autonomous platform solution.

“While the R&D centre in New Zealand will continue to be the main one, we look forward to the Heshan centre starting as soon as possible, under the supervision of our key technology and artificial intelligence leaders in the company.”

Hikmet says his company regards the milestone agreement as a first step in becoming a global AV manufacturer.

He says New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development helped establish the agreement.

Hikmet says HMI will continue to work with them to secure the company base in New Zealand and Australia, and to gain a foothold in other markets such as Europe and the US.