China’s LeEco just partnered with James Bond’s automaker to take on Tesla

The automaker that drives the world’s most famous fictional spy is going electric. Aston Martin announced today that it has formed a joint venture with Chinese internet company LeEco (formerly known as Letv) to produce electric smart vehicles. And first on the docket will be a consumer version of this, Aston Martin’s RapidE electric concept car:

News of the LeEco-Aston Martin partnership shouldn’t come as a total shock, as the companies linked up last year. But the joint venture announced today takes things several steps further. The companies will collaborate on R&D, production, manufacturing and sales through their own brands and for Faraday Future, the American electric car startup backed by LeEco founder Jia Yueting. Aston Martin will provide the vehicle tech and LeEco will bring the powertrain and smart tech.

They plan to bring the RapidE to market in 2018, and then potentially move on to other consumer-production smart electric vehicles.

The RapidE is Aston Martin’s electric version of the Rapide S, a luxury sports saloon with an MSRP of over US$200,000. So it’s safe to say that at least in the immediate future, LeEco and Aston Martin will be aiming for the high end of the electric vehicle market. That means taking on Tesla (though Tesla, of course, is moving in the opposite direction and plans to launch a much more affordable vehicle in 2017).

It’s clear that Aston Martin has at least one eye on the Chinese market here. Prior to this partnership with LeEco, the British automaker also made an agreement with Chinese investment group ChinaEquity to fund some of the RapidE development process.

James Bond with an Aston Martin DB5 in Skyfall.

With knowledgeable local partners, the RapidE stands a decent chance of beating Tesla to China’s high-end electric vehicle buyers. Tesla’s brand is almost certainly stronger in the electric car market, and Elon Musk is a widely admired figure in Chinese tech circles. But Aston Martin and LeEco, are just getting started. Plus, of course, they have a trump card in their back pocket: 007. The world’s greatest secret agent hasn’t always driven Aston Martins, but the brand has been the Bond car of choice for all of the recent films, and the Aston Martin DB5 is considered the iconic Bond vehicle.

The RapidE, when it hits the market, probably won’t come with Q-inspired upgrades like ejector seats or rocket launchers. But some smart cross-branding with the 007 folks could help give the LeEco-Aston Martin joint venture a real leg up on China’s high-end EV market.