Text |Qin Fanghui Design |Small universeThe year is a watershed in the development of the new energy vehicle industry, "seeing him rise Zhu Lou, seeing him feast guests, seeing his building collapse", this sentence can be said to be the truest portrayal of many new car-making forces in the past year.
We have repeatedly emphasized that in order to survive and develop in the midst of great changes, new car-making forces not only need innovative products and technologies, but also stable capital and brand, reasonable strategy and management are indispensable.
In addition to a number of new forces at the end of the crossbow, another iconic phenomenon of the auto market in 2023 is that the "knockout competition" of joint venture car companies is still continuing, and these traditional car companies that have been forced into a corner will not escape the pressure of the "first war" after all. Under the drastic changes in the pattern, China's auto market has become a battlefield of life and death from a hotbed.
Reading Motors
Founded in 2008, Reading Motors was the first to focus on low-speed electric vehicles, known as "Old Man Le". Data shows that in 2018, the sales of Reading cars were as high as 2870,000 units, won the sales champion of low-speed electric vehicles for three consecutive years, with a market share of more than 30% and a revenue of more than 12 billion yuan.
In 2018, the state issued a notice to strengthen the management of low-speed electric vehicles, began to restrict low-speed electric four-wheels on the road, and cleaned up and rectified related manufacturers, which is tantamount to a disaster for low-speed electric vehicle manufacturers such as Reading Motors. Later, although the company switched from "old man music" to electric vehicles and acquired Sichuan Mustang Automobile, it still underestimated the cost of building cars, resulting in a huge financial deficit.
On November 21, 2022, Reading Automobile publicly announced the completion of a round of financing of 3.2 billion yuan, and the financing plan will be in place from the end of November 2022. However, at the beginning of May 2023, Reading Automobile filed for bankruptcy review, and the court was the People's Court of Changle County, Weifang City, Shandong Province.
WM Motor
On December 27, WM Motor Technology Group applied for bankruptcy reorganization and added new announcement information, and the case was heard in Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People's Court.
Weimar, which filed for bankruptcy reorganization, can be said to be a typical representative of being forced out of the market under the reshuffle of new car-making forces in 2023.
WM used to be the head of the new car company, and in 2019, it handed over 1The sales data of 70,000 units was one of the famous "Four Little Dragons of New Forces" at that time. However, in the next stage when the domestic new energy market really began to explode, Weimar gradually fell behind due to the rupture of the capital chain and the inability of product iteration to keep up with the trend.
Previously, WM also carried out many rounds of self-help, reducing costs by cutting salaries and laying off employees, introducing new investors, etc., but the results were not ideal. The failure to go public in Hong Kong, the suspension of factories, the closure of stores, the freezing of equity, and the restriction of consumption of founders, WM Motor's situation has long been stormy.
In October 2023, WM Motor Technology Group*** filed for bankruptcy review, and there was an uproar in the industry. After the news of the bankruptcy reorganization application came out, Weimar quickly issued a notification letter saying that it would not lie down and would actively save itself. The outcome of WM Motor's bankruptcy reorganization is still unknown, but looking back at its past history, it is not difficult to conclude that the general trend has passed.
Skyrim Cars
At the beginning of April 2023, Tianji Auto also issued an internal notice, announcing that due to the company's tight funds and production and sales plans, some positions will be suspended from April 1, 2023. On July 10, 2023, the Cixi Municipal People's Court listed Tianji Automobile Technology Group*** as a judgment defaulter.
The latest equity freeze occurred on December 6, the equity was executed by Zhejiang Electric Coffee Automobile Technology ***, that is, Tianji Automobile), the equity was executed by the enterprise Shaoxing Xinka Investment Management Partnership (Limited Partnership), and the amount of frozen equity was 38.9 billion yuan, and the freezing period is from December 4, 2023 to December 3, 2026.
In the early days of its establishment, Tianji Automobile also became the focus of capital attention for a time, but the good times did not last long. The wrong judgment of the market and the lag in intelligence made Tianji Automobile miss the best opportunity for development. Due to its lack of hematopoietic ability, it continued to fall behind in the automobile race, and finally could not escape the fate of being eliminated.
Aiways
As early as May this year, Aiways was owed wages, and some employees at its headquarters were even required to work from home.
At present, Aiways Shanghai has filed for bankruptcy review. On December 4, Aiways was also listed as a dishonest person subject to execution by the Shangrao County People's Court for refusing to perform the settlement agreement without justifiable reasons, and was restricted from high consumption.
As the first new energy vehicle brand to export the whole vehicle to Europe and try to IPO in the United States, Aiways' car-making process can be described as a high start and a low walk, and now it has been eliminated before it really faces the pressure of the first war.
Hengchi Automobile
Hengchi Automobile was once huge, but in the end it could not escape the fate of life and death. In 2022 and 2021, Evergrande Auto lost 2766.4 billion and 5634.4 billion yuan, with a cumulative loss of 84 billion yuan, but Hengchi only actually delivered more than 1,000 cars.
However, what is surprising is that even if Xu Jiayin is arrested, Evergrande Group has reached a very difficult moment, and Hengchi Automobile still has not "lying flat". On October 28, the Hengchi 5, which has been on sale, actually pushed the fourth OTA upgrade, mainly for the improvement of the winter car experience.
Although Hengchi Automobile claims to still be fully committed to the development of Hengchi 6 and Hengchi 7, without the strong supporter of Evergrande Group, the possibility of turning the tables through "money ability" has become quite slim.
Byton Motors
In June 2023, each of the two affiliated companies of Byton Motors added a new bankruptcy reorganization information. Previously, in 2021, Byton Motors' affiliated companies had the experience of being filed for bankruptcy reorganization. Today's scarred Byton has been listed as an executor and a dishonest executor many times.
Byton Motors can be said to be born with a golden spoon, the two founders Bi Fukang and Dai Lei have many years of experience in the automotive industry, and Byton Motors has been frequently favored by investors since its birth.
However, discord among senior executives, confusion in internal management, and inefficient communication in the course of business development in China and the United States continue to slow down the process of building Byton. And the extravagant spending on expenses has further eroded the company's "wallet". When the financing progress stalled, Byton Motors burned out of money, but the car failed to achieve mass production, and finally went to the predicament of bankruptcy step by step.
Gaohe Automobile
On January 3, 2024, in response to the recent hot discussion on the Internet about the "suspension of work of Gaohe Automobile", Gaohe Automobile issued a statement saying, "Our company's operation is normal, and various tasks such as R&D, production, marketing, and delivery are progressing normally. "Previously, it was reported that all work of Gaohe Automobile was suspended, including the suspension of shipments and the development of new projects.
It is understood that Gaohe Automobile was founded in 2017, at the beginning of its establishment, focusing on the high-end luxury market of 60-800,000 yuan, but the excessive pursuit of high-end alternatives made it ignore the public's demand for vehicle universality, with the decline of product gimmick heat, Gaohe's situation is becoming more and more difficult. According to the latest sales data, the total sales volume of the three models in November 2023 will only be 696 units.
Baoneng Automobile
In September 2023, Baoneng Automobile, which had been suspended for a long time, re-entered the public eye with a recruitment announcement, recruiting positions including strategic planning manager, big data development engineer, autonomous driving product planning director, production management specialist, painting operator and other positions required for the whole process of vehicle manufacturing. At the same time, Baoneng Automobile also responded: The company has always had a recruitment demand, and sometimes the business is temporarily contracted and the salesman will be cleaned up.
However, trapped by financial and other problems, Baoneng Automobile has made slow progress in the research and development of new products and the construction of production bases, and the negative impact of arrears of wages and the protection of the rights of businessmen has caused the sales of Qoros to be sluggish, and the new brands Bao and Youbaoli have not been mass-produced and listed. In this context, Baoneng Automobile's "recruitment" work fell into Rashomon.
Once trust collapses, it will be difficult to re-establish trust, not to mention that Baoneng has not solved the previous problem of unpaid wages. Let's ask, will anyone believe a company that can't even pay a normal salary?
GAC Mitsubishi
On October 24, GAC Group announced that the board of directors deliberated and approved the "Announcement on the Restructuring of GAC Mitsubishi", and planned to implement equity adjustment and other restructuring matters for GAC Mitsubishi and GAC Mitsubishi Motors Sales Company.
After the completion of the reorganization, GAC Mitsubishi will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of GAC Group, GAC Aion will use the GAC Mitsubishi plant to increase production and expand capacity, and GAC Mitsubishi Motors Sales Company will be jointly owned by GAC Group, Mitsubishi Motors and Mitsubishi Corporation. After this reorganization, the local production of Mitsubishi brand vehicles in China will be discontinued, which also indicates that Mitsubishi Motors will officially withdraw from China.
Prior to this, GAC Mitsubishi had been rumored to be delisted for a long time. Official data shows that from 2020 to 2022, GAC Mitsubishi's sales volume will be 750,000 units, 660,000 units, 3360,000 units, down from the previous year. 99% and 4913%。Entering 2023, the domestic electrification product offensive is strong, and GAC Mitsubishi is facing a more embarrassing situation. According to the data, in June 2023, GAC Mitsubishi sold only 326 vehicles, with a cumulative sales volume of 1 in the first half of the year200,000 units. At the same time, GAC Mitsubishi is also mired in the vortex of suspension of production and layoffs.
In the Chinese market, which has been fully "rolled", GAC Mitsubishi, which has left the scene, is not the first, and it will certainly not be the last.
Conclusion
Survival of the fittest is the basic law of market development, and the dismal departure of many car companies in 2023 has also sounded the alarm for more auto companies. Sailing against the current, only by coming up with market-competitive and cost-effective products as soon as possible can we gain the recognition of the domestic consumer market, otherwise we will face the risk of being eliminated by the market.
In the face of the coming 2024, the storm will obviously be more violent. There is no doubt that the first war will continue, and the competition in the market will become more intense, and the car companies that have begun to survive can withstand several rounds of competition?