Chinese Auto Tycoon Needs Money

After hearing that a new auto plant has its sights set on Bay Minette, you wanted to know more. Governor Bob Riley is expected to make it official on Thursday afternoon and release more information about the plan. In the meantime, we have information about the company called Hybrid Kinetic Automotive (Motors) that you might find interesting. Hybrid Kinetic is the brain-child of Benjamin Yeung. He also goes by the name Yang Rong. In 2001, Forbes magazine named him the 3rd richest man in China. He was chairman of a successful car company named Brilliance and made millions. According to published reports in 2002, he was charged with economic crimes after a fight over a new location for a factory. Yeung fled China and ended up in California. His next idea was to team up with another Chinese auto tycoon and build hybrid-electric cars in the American south. The Chamber of Commerce in Tunica, Mississippi confirms that Yeung and his partner planned to set up the plant there. However, the men had a falling out and went their separate ways. Yeung decided to move his business next door to Alabama. Tunica officials are still hopeful that Yeung's former partner Charles Wang will build his facility in Mississippi and the two projects would end up competing in the hybrid market. News 5 has confirmed that Yeung wants to build his plant on 3-thousand acres in the northeast Bay Minette area. Hybrid Kinetic is described as an ambitious project, requiring thousands of workers! The only thing standing in the way is money. Finding funding for the project is the next hurdle to jump. We're told that Yeung is living in exile from his native China and reportedly can't get the money he left behind.