THINK announces new sales operation in Finland

First deliveries of the THINK City in Finland will be to green delivery pioneers A2B, through a new THINK dealership in Helsinki. Further full-service dealerships will be opened in the coming months in other Finnish cities such as Turku, Tampere, Lahti, Jyväskylä and Oulu.

Valmet Automotive President, Ilpo Korhonen, said: “Since we entered into collaboration with THINK in 2009 there has been very high level of interest from customers, both business and private, wanting to buy the THINK City. This hasn’t been possible in Finland until now, and we are extremely excited by the prospect of being exclusive distributor here, especially with the experience and expertise of our new sales and marketing director Hans Svensson leading the sales operation.”

THINK CEO, Richard Canny, added: “We know Valmet Automotive very well, and have the utmost respect and pride in their attention to quality and technical excellence in everything they do. We are sure this attitude will carry through to the newly established sales operation in this sophisticated and very electric car ready market.”

The latest generation THINK City is a purpose-built, all electric car with lithium ion batteries that can travel at highway speeds and cover 160 kilometres on a single charge (via conventional household outlet), with zero local emissions.

It is the world’s first electric vehicle to be granted certification with the European CE conformity mark and EU homologation requirements (M1 certificate). To achieve these exacting standards, the THINK City has successfully completed very thorough testing and validation procedures.

European production of the electric cars THINK City continues in Finland with manufacturing partner Valmet Automotive, known for excellent manufacturing quality of premium cars. Customer deliveries are taking place across Europe in selected key electric vehicles markets such as The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, France, Austria, Switzerland and now Finland.

THINK has also announced plans to establish a U.S. production facility during 2011 in Elkhart County, Indiana, and is working with Japanese partner Itochu on developing operations in Asia.

THINK is a pioneer in electric vehicles and a leader in electric vehicle technology with lithium ion batteries, developed and proven over 19 years. It is one of the few companies that has a ‘ready-to-market’ fully electric vehicle – the THINK City. With its market-leading range, driveability and recyclability, the THINK City is the first vehicle of its type to be granted pan-European regulatory safety approval and CE certification.

THINK is also a leader in electric drive-system technology, and was the first to offer a modular and flexible EV drive-train solution in the business-to-business sector. With its Scandinavian origins and sustainability mindset, THINK is one of the most carbon efficient car companies in the world.

Valmet Automotive is a leading provider of automotive engineering and manufacturing services to premium cars makers. In 40 years, the company has produced in Finland over 1,100,000 high-quality vehicles, including 220,000 Porsche Boxster and Porsche Cayman sports cars.

The manufacturing of both the THINK City and the Garia golf car started at Valmet Automotive in 2009. The production of the Fisker Karma hybrid vehicle is scheduled to start next year. Valmet Automotive is a part of Metso Group.

www.thinkev.com