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On December 6, Xpeng Motors announced that Volkswagen's investment in Xpeng has completed the issuance of new shares totaling 9,407 under authorization92.55 million shares, with a total subscription of about 7$05.6 billion.
Xpeng plans to use the net amount for general corporate purposes, including meeting the company's working capital needs. In addition, according to the technical framework agreement signed between Xpeng and Volkswagen on strategic technical cooperation, Xpeng and Volkswagen have made significant progress in jointly developing two B-segment pure electric models. The feasibility study for the project has yielded positive results and has been completed. In addition, the two parties are actively evaluating further strategic cooperation in smart electric vehicle technology.
Win-win cooperation, or willIt has become a model for the transformation of other joint venture car companies
As the knockout race intensifies, many of China's emerging automakers who have not yet achieved profitability have sought external investment or cooperation to build up their cash reserves to cope with the fierce competition in the coming years.
This deal is quite cost-effective for Xpeng, and it can solve the problems of funding, brand confidence, etc. in this cooperation. On the other hand, through various investments in China, it is not difficult to see Volkswagen's determination to accelerate its transformation.
The BMW Group announced on December 4 that BMW has sold more than 300,000 new energy vehicles in China. With this, BMW is the first traditional luxury car brand to achieve this feat in China. This milestone not only demonstrates the BMW Group's strength in electrification transformation, but also sets an example for other traditional luxury brands to break the market in China's new energy vehicle market.
It is understood that the new energy models currently sold by BMW in the Chinese market include pure electric ix3, ix1, i3, i4, i7 and so on. In the first 10 months of this year, BMW's all-electric models sold about 7.7 percent in the Chinese market860,000 units, up 211% year-on-year.
The "elephant" turned nimbly on the run
Standing at the crossroads of electrification transformation, the Chinese market, where the sales of new energy vehicles continue to rise, is becoming the focus of car companies in various countries. As a century-old luxury car company, the reason why the BMW brand has been able to achieve a rapid turnaround is the key to its localization strategy of integrating knowledge and action. At the same time, behind its rapid transition to electrification, the BMW Group's strong and flexible system strength is reflected.
On December 8, Horizon and Cariad, a software company owned by Volkswagen Group, officially announced the establishment of a joint venture called Carizon, headquartered in Beijing, which plans to hire more than 300 employees by the end of 2023.
Horizon said the new joint venture will integrate Horizon's hardware and software capabilities with Cariad's expertise in intelligent body and software system integration to develop full-stack advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving solutions.
The operating entity of Core Cheng (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. was established on November 20, 2023 with a registered capital of 675.7 billion yuan, with 60% of the shares held by CARIAD and 40% held by Horizon. Peter Bosch, Chairman of the Board, is the new CEO of Cariad, Alexis Trolin, the legal representative and general manager, is the head of the Cariad E3 platform (end-to-end electrical and electronic architecture), and Yu Kai, vice chairman, is the founder and CEO of Horizon.
Increasing localized R&D has become a new trend for multinational car companies
In October 2022, Cariad, the software company of the Volkswagen Group, announced that it would establish a joint venture with Horizon and take a controlling stake. The Volkswagen Group plans to invest around 2.4 billion euros in this partnership, which is entirely geared towards the needs of the Chinese market. The partnership will accelerate the pace of innovation in the field of autonomous driving by the Volkswagen Group and CARIAD, and further focus on the needs of Chinese consumers.
Multinational automakers have started a new round of localized R&D in the Chinese market. Such a new trend will inevitably drive the rapid evolution of electrification technology, accelerate the process of vehicle electrification, and bring more choices to consumers. It will take time to prove whether multinational companies can fight a beautiful counterattack and regain market share by increasing local R&D.
On December 4, NIO Automotive Technology (Anhui)** appeared in the credit information management system of vehicle manufacturers of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. This means that NIO has obtained independent production qualifications, and the NIO models with the tail mark of "JAC" will bid farewell to the historical stage. Li Bin revealed that if NIO's cars were to be manufactured entirely in-house, the manufacturing cost would drop by 10%.
On the afternoon of December 7, in response to rumors that the proportion of layoffs has been further expanded, NIO said that this is untrue news and there are no plans for further layoffs. Previously, NIO announced a 10% layoff plan, and a few days ago, a person familiar with the matter revealed that some departments of NIO have been required to prepare a preliminary layoff list, and may expand the original layoff ratio to 20% to 30% of the department.
NIO has worked hard to save itself, and reducing costs and increasing efficiency has become a top priority.
After experiencing a decline in deliveries in the first half of the year and a low gross profit margin in the second quarter, NIO's performance has once again pulled back from the precipice. Following the layoffs in early November, NIO was once shrouded in negative news of "huge losses" and "on the verge of bankruptcy". In order to restore market confidence, NIO has been releasing good news to the outside world for nearly a month.
With NIO's recent acquisition of the car-making qualification, the acquisition of the JAC plant will get rid of the OEM production model, and cost improvement can be expected. In the long run, expanding sales and reducing depreciation and production costs are the ways to continue to reduce costs.