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Thursday, 10.11.2011
Prokhorov in search for passenger for his hybrid car Yo-Mobil
Moscow. The Yo-Mobil is to become the high tech car at a low price. For billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov the car however proves to be too expensive. He is searching for a co-sponsor for his project.
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His Onexim group confirmed on Thursday that the speculation on Mikhail Prokhorov being prepared to hand over the control of the developing company Yo-Avto was true. The search for an external investor is on, this is normal practice explained Andrei Beljak, Onexim spokesman to the Internet newspaper gazeta.ru.
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Investors interested in the project
According to Beljak, the search had been initiated by other banks rather than by Onexim himself. This shows that the project is of interest to investors, Beljak emphasized.
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According to an informant to the Internet newspaper, Prokhorov is first of all looking for a lender. The loan is expected to include an option that allows the lender to convert the debt into shares in the company. Prokhorov is also prepared to give up his majority in the project.
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Some € 150 million are still needed to finance the project
So far, the Onexim Group owns 51 percent of Yo-Avto, the remaining 49 percent are owned by the truck manufacturer Jarowit in St Petersburg. Approximate estimated costs for the development of the petrol or gas fueled hybrid car are around € 200 million. Currently there are only € 50 million on own capital available.
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Prokhorov has to speed up his search for a passenger as he has to meet the deadline for the start of mass production. The first Yo-Mobile was supposed to be delivered in September 2012.
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A factory near St Petersburg is indeed under construction but they are still looking for further sites. The area of Smolensk was recently mentioned as a further manufacturing site. The developers have yet not completed all technical requirements.
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Cooperation agreement with Magna
The plan is for a petrol or gas engine to drives an electric generator. This would, via a storage facility drive two electric motors that put the car in motion. The fuel consumption lies around 3.5 liters per 100 km according to the designers.
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In order to speed up the development, the original idea of a purely Russian car has been scrapped. Therefore the austrocanadian component manufacturer Magna is to assist in the design of the car.
Original German text can be found here >>>
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