Alan Wagner was suitably impressed.
The longtime auto executive from Grosse Pointe had just gotten his first up-close view of a white Skywell electric vehicle on Sandy Munro’s YouTube program, “Munro Live.”
“That’s pretty impressive,” he told Munro, a well-known auto teardown specialist and consultant, in the video posted last year.
Munro had asked Wagner to look at the gaps, the paint and the doors and give his assessment, and Wagner obliged, uttering “Wow,” at least once.
Wagner would later tell the Detroit Free Press that “I was actually shocked at the level of quality of the vehicle.”
That introduction to the Skywell EV would be the beginning of a new journey for the 64-year-old. Wagner said he’d been contemplating a different direction for the autumn of his career, possibly an acquisition of a supplier, but the folks who hope to sell Skywell vehicles in the United States were looking for some help and that eventually led him to a much deeper relationship with these Chinese-made EVs.
In November, Wagner was announced as the CEO of Liteborne Motor Corp., which will have the rights to distribute Skywell EVs in North America. Liteborne, a subsidiary of DSG Global, is the “newly reorganized and rebranded” Imperium Motor Co., according to a news release on Wagner’s appointment.
Wagner has held executive positions at companies including or connected to Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Saleen Automotive, Lear Corp. and Entech, and he’s worked with General Motors, Ford, Shelby, Toyota, Chrysler and BMW, according to the release.
Wagner described it as “40 years of hard-core auto executive jobs.”
He’s also an automotive historian 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 decades ago didn’t think the Japanese could offer a compelling luxury brand, but they were clearly wrong as Lexus proved. It’s not a precise comparison, but Wagner and Munro clearly saw some parallels when they were introduced to what they deemed such a high quality offering from a Chinese automaker hoping to break into the U.S. market, which has been an elusive goal for a number of Chinese automakers.
Although it’s early days for his company, Wagner is gearing up for the expected U.S. sales launch for the Skywell EVs in the third quarter of 2023 or early 2024. The company has an office in Southfield, but Wagner would like to move to downtown Detroit. The company has about seven employees, with expectations that could grow to 30 in Detroit and additional people serving a dealer network.
So far, the group has about 1,000 pre-orders in the United States. If the U.S. launch happens later this year, Wagner envisions a “fairly conservative” ramp up plan, with 5,000 vehicle deliveries by the end of the year, with a cap of around 32,000 vehicles.
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U.S. consumers got an early look at one of the EVs at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show, badged then under the Imperium SEV nameplate, according AutoForecast Solutions, which said Skywell is owned by TV-maker Skyworth Group, based in Shenzhen, China.
Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions, noted that “Skyworth itself hasn’t burned up the marketplace and is scheduled to produce fewer than 16,000 vehicles this year.”
But Wagner is betting that pricing for the EVs his company will sell will make consumers take note.
“When the vehicles are priced right, it is extremely beneficial for the U.S. consumer,” he said.
The price point for the initial SUV offering, called the 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. A website for the company also includes information on a pickup and a cargo van, but it’s not clear when or if those vehicles might 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 off” their charge in Barstow, California, which is along the way (Google lists the distance from Las Vegas to Anaheim at 264 miles). Wagner estimated the energy cost at about $9, compared to $50 to $75 for a gas-powered vehicle.
Wagner admitted a bit of range anxiety for the first 15 minutes or so of the ride but said that melted away quickly.
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“We’re conditioned to watch the gas gauge,” he said. “When you’re in an electric car, things are different.”
Wagner said the customer for his company’s EVs will be “almost anybody.” The industry is changing from gas-powered vehicles to EVs, by mandate in some cases, he said.
“This gives the public and the consumer 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 subscriber.