Zotye is deeply in debt crisis, thousands of employees go out to do odd jobs; Lifan shares a "Announcement on Creditors Applying to the Court for Bankruptcy and Reorganization", which caused an uproar in the industry... Recently, some car companies have exposed negative news from time to time. The survival of the fittest is accelerating. Previously, the May production and sales data released by the China Automobile Manufacturers Association (hereinafter referred to as "China Automobile Association") also reflected this phenomenon. While the sales of FAW-Volkswagen, GAC Toyota, Geely Automobile and other auto companies have increased by more than 20% year-on-year, other companies have fallen into the darkest moment of decline by more than 90%, with huge losses, suspension of production, arrears of wages, debt... These car companies are already troubled and burnt.

Zotye Automobile, who is good at telling stories, has reached the critical moment of destiny. On the evening of June 22, the belated annual report of Zotye Automobile showed that the huge loss in 2019 was nearly 11.2 billion yuan, which is equivalent to a daily loss of more than 30 million yuan, which is three times the company's market value in a year. On June 23, Zotye Automobile was suspended. On June 24, Zotye Automobile resumed its trading, but it has not been seen for a day. It has become "*ST Zotye" and entered the "Delisting Risk Warning" list.

People who have met strangers with Zotye Motors and who have the same illness include BAIC Yinxiang, Dongfeng Yulon, Lifan Motors, Bisu Motors, Cheetah Motors, and Huatai Motors. Faced with the scenery of yesterday, the current situation can not help but be embarrassing.

The truth about survival reflected by sales data

"The sales data of car companies is the vane of corporate profitability." As Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Association, said, the sharp decline in sales is also the "last straw" that crushes these bottom companies.

According to data from the China Automobile Association, Zotye’s sales in May this year were zero, with 3,573 sales from January to May, a 100% year-on-year decline and a cumulative decline of 95.99%. Compared with the head enterprises, it is a world of difference. When it comes to Zotye Motors, many people will jokingly call it "Postech". In the 17 years since its establishment, it has not been able to tear off the label of "cottage". In the past few years, it has also experienced high-light moments. For example, the Zotye T600, which imitates the Volkswagen Touareg, sold 110,500 vehicles in 2015. It has successively launched new energy models such as the Zotye Cloud 100 and T11, and the subsidy amount is nearly 60% of the selling price. In 2015, Zotye's new energy vehicle sales revenue reached 2.19 billion yuan, of which subsidies accounted for 1.14 billion yuan. Afterwards, with the gradual decline of new energy subsidies, Zotye Automobile, once known as the "national sacred car", gradually stretched its funds, sales continued to decline, and a series of troubles followed.

"Encourage employees to resign and provide certain subsidies." In late May, Zotye Hunan Base issued the "Notice on the Postponement of Holidays for Company Employees", stating that due to the downward pressure on the automotive industry and the severe impact of the epidemic, all current employees have been extended to June 2021. On the 30th. In fact, at the end of 2019, the number of Zotye employees has been reduced from 15,000 in the previous year to 8,000, a reduction of nearly half. Since the beginning of this year, many senior executives of Zotye Automobile have resigned. The Tianyan check showed that Zotye Automobile, as the defendant, had 19 lawsuits and public announcements. The main reasons were disputes over sales contracts and disputes over advertising contracts. At present, the stock price of Zotye Automobile has also fallen from 18.17 yuan at its peak to less than 2 yuan. In more than three years, it has plummeted by more than 90%, and its market value has evaporated 33.2 billion yuan.

"Last year, I applied to Lifan Motors to withdraw from the Internet. The 150,000 yuan deposit and the 4,000 yuan balance of the car payment have not been obtained." Compared with Zotye Motors, the same poor Lifan Motors dealers can hardly get the money they should get. Then, its sales are even more unbearable. According to data, Lifan Motors sold only 6 vehicles in May and 257 vehicles from January to May. Moreover, dealers have repeatedly come to collect debts due to arrears. It is said that there are still dealers who are owed by Lifan Motors for unpaid sales rebates, after-sales claims and unused car payments. Nearly 30 dealer representatives are negotiating with Lifan Motors.

Sales data show that the cumulative sales of Lifan Motors in 2019 were 22,536 units, a year-on-year decrease of 75.52%. The cumulative sales of new energy vehicles was 3091, a year-on-year decrease of 69.49%. On January 21 this year, Lifan shares announced a performance pre-loss announcement showing that the net profit for 2019 is expected to be a loss of 4.98 billion yuan. On June 19, in the face of previous rumors that Geely Holdings would acquire Lifan Motors, it was denied by Geely Holdings.

Intriguingly, in October last year, an internal notice from Ping An Bank was exposed, indicating that “four car companies including Cheetah, Zotye, Huatai, and Lifan are about to enter bankruptcy procedures and conduct supply chain risk investigations.” Drive the true development status of these car companies. In fact, in July 2019, Huatai Automobile's four major plants in Rongcheng, Shandong, Ordos, Inner Mongolia, Binhai, Tianjin, and Jiangyin, Jiangsu have completely stopped production, and several other companies are also worried about survival.

Why be marginalized?

In fact, whether it is Zotye Automobile, which is jokingly called "Postech", or the car companies such as Beiqi Yinxiang, Dongfeng Yulon, Lifan Automobile, Zotye Automobile, Bisu Automobile, Leopard Automobile, Huatai Automobile, etc., the current situation All make the industry reflect.

"The new China’s automobile industry has been developing for decades. If it is still “copycat” and imitating like Zotye, it will neither master core technology nor devote itself to independent innovation, whether it is from the perspective of today’s automotive industry reform or from the perspective of consumption. In terms of consumer concepts, there is no market anymore.” Du Fangci, consultant of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said in an interview with a reporter from China Automobile News that in an automobile country like ours, we must not rely on “copycats” and imitations to become a powerful automobile nation. The road, technological innovation and product replacement must keep up with the rhythm of the market, as well as business philosophy, market strategy, and whether there is an international vision and sustainable development strategy. These are the keys to the success or failure of auto companies.

Just as it should be said, to a large extent, these outdated car companies lack the spirit of innovation. Not to mention that Zotye has always insisted on imitating some high-end models, and some car companies have been making models for many years, even in the face of market calls. Dongfeng Yulon has never improved technology and service. Dongfeng Yulon is one of them.

According to the data from the China Automobile Association, Dongfeng Yulon continued its zero sales record in the first five months of this year. The Nazhijie brand cars produced have average power performance but surprisingly high fuel consumption. For the Nazhijie large 7SUV model, the 2016 model Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has a comprehensive fuel consumption of 8.9L per 100 kilometers, but the actual fuel consumption of the vehicle has exceeded 15L per 100 kilometers. With more accelerator pedals, it can easily break 18L per 100 kilometers. What is particularly puzzling is that Luxgen's fuel tank capacity is only 75L. High fuel consumption and frequent refueling, so it has the reputation of "oil tiger".

According to insiders, all models of Luxgen use the fourth-generation Renault ESPACE platform that Yulon obtained from Nissan in 2003, which is obviously behind. The 2.2L turbocharged engine equipped with the large 7SUV has a maximum power of only 148kW and a peak torque of only 295Nm, which is far behind the 171kW and 360Nm of the Changan 2.0T engine. The lack of technology has led to the fact that from September 2017 to December 2019, there was no new model launched in the past two years. This is obviously very easy to be thrown out of the market in the rapidly changing domestic auto market.

"Any brand that wants to take root in the market must keep pace with the times, otherwise it will mean being eliminated." Cao He, president of Quanlian Auto Dealer Investment Management (Beijing) Co., Ltd. pointed out that the auto market is in decline, and The impact of the epidemic last year. Under such circumstances, it is necessary to pay more attention to innovation, quality and service. Now consumers buy cars to shop around. The best ones are selected. If car companies do not want to make progress, there is no way out.

Is there still a way out?

"I am dying, is it to be saved or not to be saved?" For these "seriously ill" car companies, the future direction of the car companies also affects the eyes of the industry.

Among auto companies that maintained zero sales records in the first five months of this year, the situation of Cheetah Motors is also impressive. In 2017, it sold 125,000 vehicles, an increase of 40% year-on-year, and achieved sales revenue of 11.32 billion yuan. However, the domestic auto market is changing, making Cheetah too late to respond. Since 2018, its sales have fallen sharply, with cumulative sales of 86,402 vehicles, a year-on-year decline of 32%. In 2019, the sales of Cheetah Motors fell by 61.6% year-on-year, and many of its main models have declined to varying degrees. Especially in 2019, because of the arrival of the National VI emission standards, the Cheetah, which has no national VI engine research and development capabilities and is unprepared, is even worse. In desperation, Cheetah's executives and employees cut their salaries by about 50% for two consecutive times. In the data of the China Automobile Association, not only the sales volume was zero in the first five months of this year, but the output was also zero.

However, the cheetah has a good opportunity. On April 27th, Geely Holding Group, Hunan Provincial People’s Government and Changsha Municipal People’s Government formally signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Changsha to host the Changsha plant of Hunan Leopard Automobile Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Hunan Provincial State-owned Enterprise Changfeng Group Co., Ltd. Production and sales of complete energy vehicles. Geely said that Geely will give full play to its advantages in products, technology, management, and market, introduce new energy vehicle products and technologies, promote resource integration, enhance the overall competitiveness of Cheetah Motors, and give play to the effect of 1+1>2.

"Under various unfavorable conditions such as market crises, epidemics, etc., disadvantaged companies will inevitably be under pressure and be phased out. In this case, the merger and reorganization of these companies by superior companies should be a favorable choice." Cui Dongshu believes that Geely Trusteeship Cheetah, theoretically, can save vulnerable companies on the verge of exit and expand production bases for themselves, but at the same time, it will take a lot of effort and time to invest in "blood transfusion", improve its technical level, and promote the development and application of new products. .

"In today's auto market situation, the stronger the car companies are stronger, the weaker the weaker, the polarization will be more obvious." In Cao He's view, the elimination of these weak car companies is not necessarily a bad thing, for the entire domestic car In terms of industry, the removal of some incurable “spots” may make the entire industry easier to develop healthily, and it will be more conducive to the concentration of resources to leading companies.” Market competition is inherently the survival of the fittest, and elimination of backwardness will benefit the leading companies. Development." He said.

At this moment, for car companies such as BAIC Yinxiang, Dongfeng Yulon, Lifan Motors, Zotye Motors, Bisu Motors, Huatai Motors, etc., I don't know whether they are waiting for luck or waiting for a destiny decision.

"The reform of the automobile industry has been said for several years, the competition in the international automobile market is also intensifying, trade uncertainties are still increasing, and coupled with the epidemic factor, car companies should have been awakened long ago." Du Fang said with enthusiasm. Regarding the status quo, car companies need to seriously reflect, and more need to act wisely.