Interior view of China's first store or an experience center of EV startup Byton, called Byton Place, in Shanghai, China, 23 January 2019. Electric vehicle startup Byton opened a store last week in central Shanghai. It is the first sales outlet the company has set up in China. The store, called Byton Place, also is an experience center. Byton said it plans to open another 29 such stores in Shanghai and other major Chinese cities including Chongqing, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Chengdu by the end of this year. Aside from the Byton Place stores, the EV startup will also establish a franchised dealership network as well as separate service centers in China. Byton, previously known as Future Mobility, was established by former BMW Group executives in 2017 in the east China city of Nanjing. Byton CEO Carsten Breitfeld was a leading engineer for BMW's i8 electric car. Byton is backed by Chinese retailer Suning Holdings Group and Hong Kong-based property developer and health care services provider Fullshare Holdings. The automaker obtained a production license in China last year by acquiring a light-vehicle subsidiary of state-owned automaker China FAW Group Corp. Byton plans to deliver its first product, an electric crossover, at the end of this year. It also expects to launch sales of the EV in the United States and Europe in late 2020.
