$100 million

initial investment of Novelis in Changzhou

“If we look at our total automotive sales in the world, China is about 10 percent, fairly small,” said Labat. “But it’s our fastest-growing market that yields the highest percentage of growth — six fold explosive growth since we went there five years ago.”

In March, Novelis expanded its portfolio of clients into the e-vehicle sector by adding NIO, an e-vehicle startup in Shanghai.

Its electric SUV ES8 models will adopt Novelis’ aluminum alloys to create a wide range of structural vehicle components and parts.

The e-vehicle startup has received funding from Baidu Inc, Tencent Holdings Ltd, Temasek Holdings Ltd, Sequoia Capital, Lenovo Group Ltd and other institutional investors.

It also released its full-size seven-seater ES8 at the Shanghai Auto Show in April.

The ES8 has an all-aluminum body to reduce weight and optimize performance.

William Li, the founder and chairman of NIO, called the partnership with Novelis “mutually beneficial”.

“It will bring confidence and new capacities to the booming global EV market,” he said. “We will work together closely and push forward the application of lightweight materials in the next generation of electric vehicles.”

The NIO partnership marks Novelis’ first major commitment in the premium e-vehicle market in China.