Cenntro Inc.

Cenntro Inc.

Cenntro Inc. started as Cenntro Automotive in 2013, founded by CEO Peter Wang with a small team in Freehold, New Jersey. The firm originally focused on designing electric light-duty commercial vehicles, including the Metro, a compact delivery van. Wang took the company public in 2022 by merging with Naked Brand Group, a legacy lingerie firm, in a deal that gave Cenntro access to US public markets while retaining operational control in New Jersey and its assembly footprint in Europe. Cenntro's product line spans Class 1 through Class 4 electric commercial vehicles — including the Metro, CityPorter, and Logistar series — built for delivery fleets, municipal services, and campus logistics. The company has publicly confirmed purchase orders from DHL Express, Amazon's Last Mile program, and the city of Los Angeles, among others. In a departure from asset-light rivals, Cenntro operates its own vehicle assembly facilities in Düsseldorf, Germany and Howell, New Jersey, using knock-down kit assembly to control quality and tariff exposure. It targets fleet operators in North America, Europe, and Asia, with a distribution partnership in Japan via Sumitomo Corporation. By 2024, Cenntro reported delivering over 200 vehicles in a single quarter and scaling its New Jersey assembly plant to support higher-volume orders. The company also secured a $50 million equity line of credit in 2023 to fund working capital without diluting operational focus. Peter Wang remains Chairman and CEO, overseeing a lean team that outsources component manufacturing but retains final assembly and homologation in-house — a structure more akin to a boutique truck body upfitter than a typical EV startup. Unlike many EV manufacturers that rely on contract manufacturing, Cenntro's structural differentiator is its dual-continent assembly model. The firm assembles vehicles in New Jersey for North American customers and in Düsseldorf for European fleet operators, aiming to qualify for local incentive programs in both jurisdictions. This setup reduces finished-vehicle shipping costs and positions Cenntro to bid on government fleet contracts that increasingly require domestic assembly content — a practical advantage for a company that has never publicly pursued fundraising as a primary activity.