Li Peng, formerly head of Great Wall Motor's premium EV brand Saloon, left earlier this year to found U Power, a smart electric vehicle brand, caijing.com.cn reported Wednesday.

U Power, which is positioned as a "new type of smart electric vehicle company," has assembled a team of about 100 people in Shanghai, the report said.

The company is developing an electric vehicle chassis that will launch with an integrated battery, similar to 's planned CTC (Cell to chassis) technology, according to the report.

U Power is nearing completion of a Series A round of funding led by MatrixPartners China and followed by ZhenFund, the report said.

The company, which has a registered capital of RMB 193 million ($29.8million) and is legally represented by Li Peng, was founded on Feb. 26, 2021, according to data provider Aiqicha.

The company's business scope includes artificial intelligence public service platform technology consulting services, artificial intelligence public data platform, artificial intelligence public service platform technology consulting services, artificial intelligence public data platform.

On June 5, local media reported that Saloon was preparing to move its headquarters to Beijing, a decision that made employees in the Shanghai area leave, but Saloon did not respond to this.

Great Wall Motor reports strong H1 performance, shares rise by daily cap of 10%

(Photo source: Great Wall Motor)