Chinese e-vehicle firm Byton's chairman to quit -German magazine

Fullshare Holdings

11/04/2019 13:34

BERLIN, April 11 (Reuters) - The chairman and c-founder of
Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Byton, Carsten Breitfeld,
will leave the company soon, a German business monthly reported
on Thursday, citing several unnamed sources.
    Byton, backed by Chinese retailer Suning  002024.SZ  among
others, was facing trouble funding its planned expansion in the
Chinese market, causing tensions inside the company and
prompting the decision, Manager Magazin said. 
    It cited a spokesman for Byton as saying that the company
saw no reason for such speculation.
    Sources told Reuters in January that Byton was seeking to
raise at least $500 million euros to finance its growth plan,
and Breitfeld told a German magazine in October that it might
launch an initial public offering.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1Z71ES urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1X70HY
    Manager Magazin said Breitfeld would leave before Byton's
first premium SUV model, M-Byte, enters mass production this
year, Manager Magazin said. 
    Breitfeld, a former BMW  BMWG.DE  top executive, co-founded
Byton in 2016 and acted as CEO until the startup overhauled its
leadership structure in January, naming Breitfeld chairman and
appointing Daniel Kirchert, a former Dongfeng Infiniti
executive, as CEO.
    

 (Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; editing by John Stonestreet)
 ((Tassilo.Hummel@thomsonreuters.com; + 49 30 2888 51 26;
Reuters Messaging: tassilo.hummel.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))