In 2024, the competition in the automobile circle will be further intensified, a few happy and a few sad, just after the Spring Festival on the first day of construction (February 18), Gaohe Automobile came to the news of suspension of production.
On the Internet, the suspension of production and the verge of bankruptcy of Gaohe Automobile quickly aroused hot comments in the industry, which strongly supported the netizens of Gaohe to regroup, and more were sharp and ruthless comments. Jia Yueting, the founder of Faraday Future (FF), left a message under the circle of friends of a capital market person to "bombard" Gaohe - "it is a shame for the industry".
What grievances do Jia Yueting and Ding Lei have?
It is reported that Gaohe Automobile held an internal meeting on February 18 and announced that it would suspend production for 6 months from now on. Employees before February 18 will be paid as usual; Employees who remained in Gaohe Automobile before March 15 will only be paid basic salary; After March 15, employees will only be paid their Shanghai basic salary.
Previously, the sales staff of Gaohe Automobile had told a reporter from **Times E Company, "The company is just adjusting and resting for a period of time." For the service of Gaohe car owners, the employee said that at present, the after-sales service of Gaohe car owners is being carried out normally, but some adjustments are made to the front end, the factory and the headquarters.
Recently, a capital market person shared an article in the circle of friends and commented: "In the history of global automobile development, there have been many cases of plagiarism, and even criminal theft and plagiarism. Facts have proved that this road is self-inflicted humiliation and impassable road, in the era of the rise of Internet smart cars, there are still such cases, which is not only a violation of industry rules. I hope that people in the whole industry will take this as a warning, and everyone will compete together to promote the progress of the industry! ”
Under this circle of friends, Jia Yueting, founder of Faraday Future (FF), participated in the interactive commentary, saying: "It's a shame for the industry. ”
Judging from the real shopping mall, such a straightforward "bombardment" of peers is really rare, what is the situation that makes Jia Yueting so indignant?
A person close to Jia Yueting told a reporter from **Times E Company that it is rare to see Jia Yueting make such offensive comments on something or obviously show personal feelings. Previously, it was rumored that when Ding Lei, the founder of Gaohe, left LeTV Automobile, he took away a group of core backbones and related information, and it seems that this matter really broke Jia Yueting's heart, which made Jia Yueting make such a rare comment.
In the public encyclopedia, Ding Lei once served as the general manager of Shanghai General Motors, the vice president of SAIC and other positions, but his experience from July 2015 to June 2017 was a blank period; On December 12, 2017, Human Horizons Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Human Horizons) was officially established and operated, with Ding Lei as chairman and CEO; On October 22, 2018, Human Horizons' "Three Intelligences" strategy was officially unveiled, and Ding Lei officially announced Human Horizons' corporate development strategy of "Smart Cars, Smart Transportation, and Smart Cities". On July 31, 2019, Human Horizons officially launched Hiphi, a new luxury intelligent pure electric brand, and launched the HiPhi 1, a mass-produced finalized car, in Shanghai.
It has been reported that Ding Lei joined LeTV Auto in July 2015 and served as the co-founder of LeTV Super Auto, and the global vice chairman and CEO of China and the Asia-Pacific region. After leaving LeEco, Ding Lei poached a group of people from his old club and founded Human Horizons in August 2017. There are ** and Internet rumors, after LeTV cars parted ways, Ding Lei got a full set of design data for the original FF 91, so when the first car Hiphi X launched by Gaohe was very close to Jia Yueting's FF 91.
The rollover window period is up to three months
The crisis did not break out suddenly, but began to ferment gradually in January this year, when it was reported that "all work was suspended" by Gaohe Automobile.
A blogger posted a screenshot of the forum, **The content shows that "all work of Gaohe is suspended, including stopping shipments, stopping the development of new projects, and preparing for prosecution". In addition, there are also Internet news that on the first night of the New Year's Day holiday, Gaohe Automobile issued an announcement on Feishu that it would cancel employees' meal allowances, transportation subsidies, company shuttles and other benefits.
In recent years, HiPhi Motors has successively released a number of products such as HiPhi X, HiPhi Z, and HiPhi Y, and delivered them to users in batches. As a company focusing on luxury electric vehicles, Gaohe's products are expensive.
According to the information of the Autohome platform, the lowest model currently on sale is the Hiphi Y, which is a medium and large SUV with a price of 33The price starts at 90,000 yuan, and the price of Hiphi Z starts at 510,000 yuan. Among them, the most expensive HiPhi X starts at 570,000 yuan, and the flagship four-seater model is priced at 800,000 yuan.
The high-end positioning of the product has also discouraged many consumers, and the sales volume of Gaohe Automobile has not been high.
According to public information, in 2021 and 2022, the sales volume of Gaohe Automobile will not exceed 5,000 units, 4,237 and 4,349 units, respectively. In July 2023, HiPhi Motors launched the "cheapest" model, the Hiphi Y. According to official data, from August to October 2023, HiPhi Y delivered 1,021, 1,556, and 1,606 units respectively. According to data from multiple platforms, in 2023, the sales volume of Gaohe Automobile will be about 8,000 units, nearly doubling from the previous year.
Although the sales volume has improved, the annual sales volume of Gaohe Automobile is less than the monthly sales of many new energy brands, and the normal operation of the company is difficult to maintain.
On February 22, Ding Lei said when he was at the Shanghai headquarters of Gaohe that the window period for the company's turnaround was at most three months, and we would do everything we could to save the company in three months. On February 23, Yang Yueqing, project director of Gaohe Automobile, appeared in the "official live broadcast room of Gaohe Automobile" to respond to the concerns of the outside world.
During the live broadcast, Yang Yueqing choked up and said, I don't sell cars today, and I don't have a car to sell, I just want to tell what I encountered. Yang Yueqing angrily reprimanded some accounts for "eating human blood steamed buns", "rubbing black traffic", "coming to talk without driving a high-tech car", "will you be happy doing this", I hope everyone will not be cynical.
In addition, Yang Yueqing said that the senior management of Gaohe has not run away, and is still working hard for the company and all users, and there are still many colleagues who are maintaining the company's operation and after-sales service. At the same time, Yang Yueqing counted the technical strength of Gaohe models, and said that it is not easy for China to get to today, and the world may not need a Gaohe, but China needs a Gaohe.
The total market capitalization of FF is only $11 million
Compared with Gaohe Automobile, Jia Yueting and FF are also having a hard time.
Entering 2024, after receiving the NASDAQ delisting notice at the end of last year, FF was hit by negative news again. It is reported that Faraday Future's headquarters in Los Angeles was sued by the "landlord" for arrears of hundreds of thousands of yuan in rent.
According to **, the landlord, Wrexford Industries, accused FF of defaulting on rent and related maintenance fees and taxes for January and February, for a total of 910,000 US dollars (about 660,000 yuan) in rent, and the landlord demanded the repossession of the building in a lawsuit. It is reported that this building used to belong to FF, which was bought for $13.2 million in 2014, but because of the lack of funds, it was sold and leased back from the other party.
Jia Yueting's road to building a car is very bumpy, although it has experienced many ticket jumps, and the PPT car that has been ridiculed by the outside world for many years will finally make substantial progress in 2023. On August 14 of that year, FF announced that Jia Yueting drove the FF 91 to deliver the new car to customers, and as one of the largest luxury car dealerships in Southern California, "Private Collection Motors" was the first new car delivered to users of FF.
On November 14, 2023, FF announced its third-quarter financial results, generating revenue for the first time, with a cost of sales of $16.1 million and an operating loss of $66.4 million, compared to a loss of $80 million in the same period last year.
FF said the narrowing of operating loss was mainly due to lower R&D spending, followed by an improvement in administrative expenses. At that time, FF had already delivered 7 FF 91s to new users. According to the plan, FF aims to achieve the production of about 1,000 vehicles next year, provided that the required capital, the capacity and stability of the ** chain and the necessary permits are obtained.
Since then, Jia Yueting has turned his attention to the Middle East, FF held the "FF Middle East Strategy" conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and Matthias Aydt, CEO of FF Global, announced the strategy and plan for FF brands and products to enter the Middle East market, and announced the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement with Master Investment Group and Siraj Holding LLC, which has the background of the UAE royal family. It is reported that FF will tailor a limited edition model FF 91 2 for the Middle East market0 futurist aifalcon, delivery planned for 2024.
Jia Yueting said through real-name verification Weibo that within 72 hours of FF Middle East Strategy Launch, the company had received more than 300 FF 91 limited edition deposit-free reservations. Next, FF will successively launch the "FF All Hyper Global Track Conqueror Plan" to conquer the Abu Dhabi Yas Marina Circuit, the Middle East spire crowd "Developer Co-creation Plan" and the UAE market SOD1 delivery and other Middle East strategy implementation plans.
FF's official WeChat*** announced that the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (hereinafter referred to as ADIO) and FF announced that ADIO will cooperate with FF to seek to establish a regional headquarters, manufacturing plant and advanced R&D center in Abu Dhabi, focusing on next-generation trams and AI technology, and expanding opportunities in the UAE capital market.
On February 16, 2024, FF announced on its official social platform that FF 91 will become the VIP car for the wedding of royal family members in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. On the day the news was released, FF's stock price soared by nearly 120% at the highest level, and finally reached **7047% increase**. However, on the whole, investors are still optimistic about FF, and the risk of delisting is always high. As of February 23, FF rose 75%, but the stock price is only 0086 US dollars, the company's total market capitalization is 11.01 million US dollars.