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The involution of the automotive industry has seriously affected the OEMs and manufacturers, and the market demand has undergone earth-shaking changes. In the face of the increasingly involuted market environment, car companies have launched a cost reduction and efficiency improvement strategy to reduce operating costs as they enter 2024, and have to take layoff measures to cope with market changes. Let's take a look at which car companies have made the decision to lay off employees recently?
Xiaomi suddenly laid off employees
Recently, Xiaomi employees broke the news that Xiaomi will carry out large-scale layoffs on February 29, and the compensation standard is N+1. The layoffs are only notices and are not negotiable. The employee also revealed that the company will pay a year-end bonus on March 5 and lay off employees ahead of schedule.
The employee complained that when he talked about the salary, he said that it was 14 salary, but after joining the company, the company forcibly pressed the monthly salary into the year-end. Layoffs in advance and a wave of year-end bonuses for employees have no sense of social responsibility.
What's even more chilling is that the layoffs are non-negotiable, and employees are forced to accept them. So what exactly caused Xiaomi to take measures to lay off employees?
Some analysts believe that this may be related to the strategic layout of Xiaomi cars. Xiaomi started as a mobile phone, and cross-border car manufacturing needs to increase huge R&D and technical costs. Xiaomi's first mass-produced car, the SU7, has not yet been launched, and it is not yet known how much of a response it will cause in the market. In order to ensure market competitiveness and profitability, Xiaomi had to reduce costs and optimize its internal structure by laying off employees.
From the employee's point of view, this layoff is undoubtedly a disaster for them. Not only do they have to face the risk of losing their jobs, but they also have to endure unfair treatment by businesses. In addition, the sudden layoff incident has a self-evident impact on the reputation of Xiaomi Automobile, and after the Xiaomi Su7 is launched, who will pay for the car company that has no sense of responsibility in the staff?
Gaohe laid off employees and closed stores
The high-end new force Gaohe is rumored to be laying off employees. Gaohe employees said that "the interns were basically laid off, and a small number of regular employees were also laid off, but the specific number is difficult to say." Regarding the layoffs, Gaohe once responded that the company's business structure adjustment and personnel turnover are routine management work, and the so-called large-scale layoffs do not exist.
Although Gaohe quickly refuted the rumors, it still couldn't cover up many of Gaohe's problems. In 2022, Gaohe delivered 4,520 vehicles, an increase of only 283 units compared to 2021. At the beginning of 2024, all car companies announced their 2023 report cards, but Gaohe chose to remain silent.
Monthly sales disappeared from public view, in stark contrast to the high-profile hype that positioned the brand in the high-end luxury segment at the beginning of its establishment. In addition, rumors such as the closure of relevant stores, the cancellation of employee benefits, and the lack of money to the best businessmen continued, once again pushing Gaohe to the forefront.
Announcement of the withdrawal of the store of the high synthesis capital.
At present, HiPhi has launched three models: HiPhi X, HiPhi Y and HiPhi Z, with prices in the range of 340,000-800,000 yuan, which is comparable to the price of first-line luxury BBA cars. But from the perspective of core competitiveness, Gaohe is almost only left with stockpiles.
For example, in terms of materials, Gaohe has adopted a lot of high-end technologies. Like the world's first intelligent electric SUV with active rear-wheel steering, 89-degree frameless door design, Rolls-Royce same door door, British imported audio and so on. These materials seem to be high-end and luxurious, but how much technical content there is in reality, a discerning person can know at a glance. Later, Gaohe also ruined its reputation because of the audio overturning incident.
In the core three-electric system, the battery comes from CATL, and the motor is purchased from Bosch, so it is not an exaggeration to say that the company is an integrator of hardware. When others are rolling up technology products, Gaohe spends his mind on publicity and integration.
So it's not difficult to understand why Gaohe didn't sell well. So far, Gaohe has to respond to market changes through layoffs and cost control, without the blessing of its own technology, can this approach fundamentally solve the problem? The answer is already clear.
Polestar layoffs worldwide
A few days ago, Volvo announced that it will stop providing funds to its subsidiary Polestar Motors and consider transferring its stake in Polestar to other shareholders. Volvo currently holds about 48% of the shares.
At the same time, news of Polestar's planned layoffs spread. According to reports, Polestar plans to lay off about 450 people worldwide, or about 15% of the total workforce.
According to analysis, Polestar's layoffs may be related to poor sales. Polestar's annual sales target for 2023 is 80,000 units, but the annual target has been lowered to 6-70,000 units because the Polestar 3 cannot be delivered in production. But after 2023, Polestar's sales are only 5460,000 units, still below the target of 60,000 units.
Sales fell short of expectations, and Polestar's financial situation was not optimistic. Relevant financial report data shows that Polestar lost 7$3.5 billion. It can only rely on the blood transfusion of Volvo and Geely.
In response to the layoffs, Polestar said that the layoffs are designed to accelerate the improvement of profit margins and reduce the company's total capital requirements to achieve the goal of breaking even with cash flow.
It has to be said that the response could not hide the embarrassment of Polestar's poor operation. Volvo's **, it can be seen that it is gradually losing faith in Polestar. Now that Geely has multiple sub-brands such as Lynk & Co and Zeekr, how long can Geely continue to transfuse Polestar, which is not selling well?
Feifan withdrew the intelligent driving team
At the end of January, SAIC Feifan was exposed to the layoffs of nearly 200 people in the intelligent driving department. At the same time, Feifan also provides 3 plans to choose from. First, select n+1;second, go to SAIC R&D Institute; Third, go to SAIC Zero Beam.
This can't help but make people feel sad about the New Year. According to reports, Pia Hu, the chief product officer of the Feifan team, also recently left. It can be said that Feifan's entire intelligent driving team has been cold.
The situation is not optimistic. According to public data, the sales volume of Feifan in 2023 will be about 2-210,000 units. The annual sales volume of Zhiji Automobile, which is also a brand of SAIC New Energy, has reached 380,000 units.
It's not fatal yet. The most important thing is that the price of Feifan R7 is reduced by 90,000 yuan to a starting price of 18990,000 to sell, sales only reached 3,099 units, the same brother Zhiji LS6 monthly sales have exceeded 10,000 units, the starting price is 2 more expensive80,000 yuan.
For a long time, Feifan has been emphasizing the ability of full-stack self-development, and has also invested 7 billion yuan to build a brand, obviously pouring more resources into SAIC. However, the two brands of Feifan and Zhiji are both produced by SAIC, and the sales of the expensive Zhiji are better, I am afraid that even SAIC itself is surprised.
Here I have to mention that Feifan's efforts in marketing are still not in place. Blindly emphasizing the "best cockpit" is only a concept at the consumer level, and it cannot be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The most breaking circle is the Feifan FR6 battery life at the Chengdu Auto Show in 2022.
SAIC once said that it would take key technologies such as autonomous driving into its own hands, but now that the Feifan intelligent driving team has been withdrawn, what soul does SAIC have to say? There is a long way to go, how far can Feifan's high-end road go?
Among the new forces, Weimar has not survived 2023, and Hanma Technology plans to go bankrupt and reorganize. The elimination competition in the new energy vehicle circle has intensified, the future of Xiaomi Auto is unknown, the business crisis is high, the marginalized Polestar, and the high-end Feifan have all saved themselves by laying off employees and reducing costs. It can be expected that the situation of car companies is becoming more and more difficult, and whether they can get out of this quagmire depends on their own creation.
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