Alan Wagner was suitably impressed.
The longtime auto executive from Grosse Pointe recently got his first look at the white Skywell electric vehicle on Sandy Munro’s YouTube program, “Munro Live.”
“It’s pretty impressive,” he told Munro, a well-known automatic teardown specialist and consultant, in a video posted last year.
Munro had asked Wagner to look at the gap, the paint and the door to give his assessment, and Wagner obliged, uttering “Wow”, at least once.
Wagner would later tell the Detroit Free Press that “I was actually surprised at the level of quality of the vehicle.”
That introduction to the Skywell EV will be the start of a new journey for the 64-year-old. Wagner said he was going to think about a different direction for the fall of his career, possibly acquiring a supplier, but people hoping to sell Skywell vehicles in the United States were looking for help and that eventually led him to more. a deeper relationship with this Chinese-made EV.
In November, Wagner was announced as CEO of Liteborne Motor Corp., which will have the rights to distribute Skywell EVs in North America. Liteborne, a subsidiary of DSG Global, is a “recently revamped and rebranded” Imperium Motor Co., according to a press release about Wagner’s appointment.
Wagner has held executive positions at companies including or associated with Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Saleen Automotive, Lear Corp. and Entech, and he has worked with General Motors, Ford, Shelby, Toyota, Chrysler and BMW, according to the release.
Wagner describes it as “40 years of hard-core car executive work.”
He is also an automotive history and self-described “car junkie”.
During the Munro program, Wagner and Munro referenced the introduction of Lexus, Toyota’s luxury brand. Industry types in Detroit a few decades ago didn’t think the Japanese could offer an exciting luxury brand, but they were clearly wrong as Lexus has proven. It’s not an exact comparison, but Wagner and Munro clearly saw some parallels when they were introduced to what they considered a high-quality offering from a Chinese automaker hoping to break into the U.S. market, which has been an elusive goal for many Chinese. automakers.
Although it’s early days for his company, Wagner is planning a U.S. sales launch for Skywell EVs in the third quarter of 2023 or early 2024. The company has offices in Southfield, but Wagner wants to move to downtown Detroit. The company has about seven employees, with expectations that can grow to 30 in Detroit and additional people serving the dealer network.
So far, the group has about 1,000 pre-orders in the United States. If the US launch happens later this year, Wagner envisions a “pretty conservative” ramp up plan, with deliveries of 5,000 vehicles by the end of the year, with a cap of around 32,000 vehicles.
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US consumers will first see one of the EVs at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show, branded then under the Imperium SEV nameplate, according to AutoForecast Solutions, which says Skywell is owned by Skyworth Group, based in Shenzhen, China.
Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions, said that “Skyworth itself is not setting the market on fire and is scheduled to produce less than 16,000 vehicles this year.”
But Wagner is betting that the price the company’s EVs will sell will make consumers pay attention.
“When the vehicle is priced right, it’s very beneficial for the US consumer,” he said.
The price point for the initial SUV offering, called Aurium and described as a mid-size SUV, is expected to range from about $34,000 to $48,000, with three models. The EV should manage about 320 miles on a charge. The website for the company also includes information about the pickup and cargo van, but it’s unclear when or if the vehicles will be available in the United States.
Wagner recently tried out one of the SUVs with his wife, Leslie Wagner, who is president of the Grosse Pointe Historical Society, on a drive from Las Vegas to Anaheim, California. They stopped to “top” their load in Barstow, California, which is along the way (Google lists the distance from Las Vegas to Anaheim at 264 miles). Wagner estimates the energy cost to be about $9, compared to $50 to $75 for a gas-powered vehicle.
Wagner admitted to being a little nervous in the first 15 minutes or so of the ride but said that quickly melted away.
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“We are conditioned to watch the gas gauge,” he said. “When you’re in an electric car, things are different.”
Wagner says the customer for his company’s EV will be “almost anyone.” The industry is changing from gas-powered vehicles to EVs, by mandate in some cases, he said.
“This gives the public and consumers another point of entry that doesn’t break the bank, and that’s what we’re all about,” Wagner said.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a customer.
