(Yicai) Oct. 22 -- Founder Motor’s stock price jumped after two of Volkswagen Group’s businesses in China placed long-term component supply orders with the maker of drive motors.

After surging by as much as 8.4 percent earlier today, Founder [SHE: 002196] closed up 6.4 percent at CNY5.18 (73 US cents) a share, while the Shenzhen market added 0.9 percent. The company’s stock is still down 28 percent this year to date.

Founder will supply over 1.6 million stator and rotor assembly sets for drive motors used in electric cars to Volkswagen's parts factory in Tianjin and SAIC Volkswagen Automotive, the German automaker’s joint venture with China’s SAIC Motor, the Zhejiang province-based company announced late yesterday.

The core components, which will be used in Volkswagen's new-generation all-electric vehicles, will start being delivered as soon as the first quarter of next year, Founder added, without revealing any further details.

The orders will help Founder step up its position in the industry and boost its business performance, the company noted.

Founder has been the world’s biggest supplier of drive motors for new energy vehicle in the past three years, with annual production capacity ranking after BYD and Tesla, which mostly make drive motors for their own cars, according to the firm's 2023 financial report. As of Dec. 31, Founder had shipped a total of nearly 2.6 million NEV drive motors used in more than 40 car models.

Other customers of Founder's NEV drive motors include Li Auto, Xpeng Motors, SAIC, and Geely Automobile Holdings.

Editor: Futura Costaglione