Asia Tech Wire (Oct 16) -- Chinese electric car maker Hozon New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd, commonly known as Neta Auto, is facing allegations of defaulting on employee payroll.

A netizen authenticated as a Neta Auto employee claimed on Chinese social media platform Maimai that Neta Auto's wages were not paid properly last month and that the company owes a lot of money to its suppliers.

The person also advised people to be cautious about buying cars from Neta Auto.

In response, Neta Auto said on Wednesday that frontline and factory employees are currently paid on time.

"Recently, the company's middle and senior management were undergoing a payroll restructuring, resulting in only a few personnel being paid slightly slower," Neta Auto said.

In June this year, Neta Auto filed a prospectus with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. So far, there has been no clear progress on its Hong Kong IPO.

Neta Auto reported deliveries of 10,100 units in September, down 23.41% year-on-year and 8.06% month-on-month.

The Chinese EV maker recorded cumulative sales of 86,000 units in the January-September period this year, 43% short of its full-year target of 200,000 units.