Recently, there has been heavy news in China's automobile circle: at the beginning of 2024, Gaohe Automobile broke the news of suspension of production. Specifically, Gaohe will suspend work and production for up to six months, until February 18, when employees' wages will be paid as usual, but after March 15, left-behind employees will only receive basic wages. Yesterday afternoon, a friend personally visited the nearby Gaohe store and found that the originally busy exhibition hall was deserted. In the face of this situation, it can't help but make people think: Will Gaohe follow in the footsteps of Weima?
Nowadays, there are more and more electric vehicle companies that are going out of business or on the verge of bankruptcy. In June last year, Huawei's Yu Chengdong predicted that by 2030, there would be no more than five major players in China's auto market. Will this prophecy come true ahead of schedule in the next year or two? As consumers, how can we make an informed decision when choosing a car?
First of all, we need to be wary of overestimating the fundamental changes in business models brought about by the new energy industrial revolution and the outbreak of battery technology. As a practitioner in the field of electronic engineering, I am well aware of the huge differences in underlying logic and engineering theory between the consumer electronics industry and the automotive manufacturing industry. For example, the control elements of modern chip manufacturing and microelectronics production – precision, efficiency, data, and networking – have penetrated into every aspect of electronic device production. In contrast, it relies on the theory of complex adaptive systems (CAS), which involves a wide range of factors, from the welding process to power transmission and dynamic balancing. At present, most automobile manufacturers are still in the early stages of production specifications, technical standards, design ideas and data-based thinking. There is tremendous room for improvement in these areas.
I've noticed that many car companies focus on brand tonality, product strategy, and marketing, while ignoring the importance of core manufacturing capabilities. In fact, although these marketing strategies and brand tonality are important, they are not the decisive factors in the competitive landscape of new energy vehicles. The real focus of competition should be basic industrial capacity, production capacity, R&D, and integration with upstream and downstream merchants and ecological partners. The success of BYD and Tesla lies not only in their high-end design, but also in their overall leadership in advanced machinery, chemicals, R&D and production efficiency.
We should also recognize that automobiles, as a commodity, are not only the world's largest single commodity category, but also a composite embodiment of human wisdom and value. A car is more than just a machine, it represents a way of life, an identity, and values. Therefore, companies and talents that can truly make excellent electric vehicles must have a love of life, a careful observation of the surrounding environment, and a deep understanding of human nature.
Automakers should not only focus on chasing market hotspots, but should also focus on the moderate expansion of their core business and business boundaries. For example, for emerging car companies with tight cash flow, is now the right time to develop their own AI chips or develop aircraft and vehicles? In addition, in response to the question that Apple does not build cars, we should understand more deeply the complexity of strategic choices. History has proven that companies without strategic focus will eventually fail due to disorderly expansion.
In short, the shutdown of Gaohe Automobile has given us a warning in many ways. From an industry perspective, this is an early warning of the coming market restructuring. From the consumer's point of view, this is a reminder of the need to be more cautious when choosing a car brand. For car companies, it is a deep reflection on their core competitiveness and strategic choices. In this era full of challenges and opportunities, only those enterprises that truly understand the market, technology and human nature can stand out in the fierce market competition **10,000 fans incentive plan