China`s Bitauto raises $1 billion from internet giants Tencent, Baidu

SHANGHAI Auto portal Bitauto Holdings Ltd (BITA.N) has recently raised $1 billion from Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK), Baidu Inc (BIDU.O) and JD.com Inc (JD.O) as it seeks to be China’s largest online car financing platform, its chief told Reuters on Thursday.

William Li, who is also chairman of electric vehicle startup Nio, did not elaborate on the fundraising.

It is the latest in a series of investments Bitauto has raised from three of China’s biggest technology companies.

Chinese traditionally avoid taking out loans to buy cars, although consultancy Deloitte expects that to change with 50 percent of cars to be bought on credit in China by 2020 as automakers aggressively push financing to increase sales.

In the United States, more than 80 percent of cars are bought on credit.

(Reporting by Jake Spring and Norihiko Shirouzu- Editing by Christopher Cushing)