In the first half of the year, there was a large gathering of "frustrated people" in the cycling circle. Who could have predicted their fate?

The first half of 2021 has ended in a hurry, and the auto market’s “half-year test” report card has also been released.

According to data recently released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, sales of new energy vehicles reached 256,000 units in June, a year-on-year increase of 1.4 times, setting a new historical record and reaching a new high. From January to June, the cumulative sales of new energy vehicles reached 1.206 million units, a year-on-year increase of 2 times. It took only half a year to equal the total sales of new energy vehicles last year.

Judging from the retail data collected by the National Passenger Car Market Information Joint Conference, there were 4 car companies with retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles exceeding 10,000 units in June, among which BYD sold 40,317 units. vehicles claimed the title of sales champion, followed by SAIC-GM-Wuling with 31,285 units, Tesla China with 28,138 units and GAC Aian with 10,403 units.

Among the new forces, NIO, Ideal, and Xpeng still rank firmly in the top three. Among them, NIO ranks first in sales, delivering 8,083 new cars in June**, and its cumulative sales in the first half of the year reached 41,956. Ideal’s monthly sales of the new Ideal ONE alone reached 7,713 units, and its cumulative sales in the first half of the year reached 31,886 units. With core models such as the P7, Xpeng's delivery volume in June reached 6,565 vehicles, and its cumulative sales in the first half of the year reached 30,738 vehicles.

However, the sun is in the east and the rain is in the west. Some families are happy and some are sad. Just as leading companies are pleased to mention their excellent sales performance in the first half of the year, some companies are also secretly sad in the face of dismal sales figures or imminent fate. Successful companies always have different reasons, while failed companies always have the same reasons. In this issue, we will take stock of the "losers" in the new energy track in the first half of the year.

Byton:

The “former star” that collapsed

The technology master who successfully helped BMW launch its first plug-in hybrid supercar, the i8 Breitfeld and Dai Lei, the marketing genius who made Infiniti popular in China in the name of "dare to love", are an enviable founder team. But Byton, a car-making startup that once had high hopes, may collapse under the historical coordinates of 2021 after becoming so popular.

Tianyancha App shows that on July 12, Nanjing Zhixing New Energy Vehicle Technology Development Co., Ltd., an affiliate of Byton Motors, added bankruptcy and reorganization information. The case number is (2021) Su 0113 Poshen No. 26 , the handling court is Nanjing Qixia District People's Court, and the applicant is Shanghai Huaxun Network Systems Co., Ltd. Byton responded that a creditor has filed a lawsuit with the court and filed a bankruptcy application for Byton. The court has not officially accepted the bankruptcy application, and Byton is actively responding and seeking reconciliation.

Just when Byton was on the verge of collapse, Foxconn, an electronics manufacturing company famous for OEMing Apple mobile phones, extended an "olive branch" in January this year and injected US$200 million into Byton. However, some media quoted insiders as saying that due to the intervention of the major shareholder FAW Group, Foxconn has withdrawn its shareholder representatives, and the cooperation between the two parties may come to an end.

The current Baiteng is dying and plagued by misfortune. Data from Qichacha shows that Nanjing Zhixing was executed for a total amount of 24.9234 million yuan, with 24 pieces of information on persons subject to execution, 15 pieces of information on high consumption restrictions, and 13 pieces of information on breach of trust.

BAIC Blue Valley:

The "giant baby on earth" under the umbrella

From the former domestic pure electric vehicle sales champion to today's plummeting sales and stock price Diving and huge losses, the fate of BAIC Blue Valley (BAIC New Energy) was full of absurd drama.

On July 12, BAIC Blue Valley released a production and sales report. Data show that BAIC Blue Valley sold 1,585 vehicles in June, a year-on-year decrease of 47.31%; the cumulative sales from January to June were 6,959 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 52.66%. In the first quarter of this year, BAIC Blue Valley had a net loss of 854 million yuan. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the cumulative sales of new energy vehicles nationwide in the first half of this year were 1.206 million units, a year-on-year increase of 201.5%. On the one hand, it is advancing bravely and high-spirited against the general trend, but on the other hand, BAIC Blue Valley is bucking the trend and falling off a cliff.

The company attributed the plummeting sales volume to the "reduction of new energy subsidies." In fact, the government's subsidies for new energy vehicles have been gradually reduced a few years ago, in the hope of returning the leading force in industry development to the market and cultivating the company's own market competitiveness. However, in the face of rising stars that continue to enter, BAIC New Energy, which has the first-mover advantage, has not worked hard to improve its internal skills. Both in terms of product technology and product quality, it has been widely criticized by consumers. With the gradual saturation of orders from corporate customers, the reduction of subsidies has directly reduced the competitiveness of its products for personal consumption, and it has always been difficult to get rid of the low-end product image.

BAIC Blue Valley, which is trying to turn around the situation, is focusing on the high-end electric vehicle market and launching the Jihu brand.

On the eve of this year's Shanghai Auto Show, Jihu released the Alpha S model, which was equipped with Huawei's autonomous driving technology for the first time. Huawei's endorsement made it one of the most eye-catching models. However, the sales of this new car are still dismal. Its sales volume in April was only 6 units, and the cumulative sales volume from January to April was only 15 units. The monthly sales volume of other Extreme Fox models on sale was only double digits, which is really embarrassing. .

WM Motor:

A "quasi-top student" with lagging sales

The former "Wei Wei Xiao" is now the "Wei Xiaoli". In 2019, it was firmly in the first echelon of new car-making forces. In 2020, WM Motor was named one of the "Four Little Dragons of New Car-Making" by Deutsche Bank, but it was nowhere to be seen in the top five sales of new car-making forces in 2021. Judging from the results of this year's sales "half-year test", the former "quasi-top student" Weimar has been further widened by "Wei Xiaoli". According to the sales data released by various companies, in the first half of 2021, the cumulative sales of NIO, Xpeng Motors, and Li Auto were 41,956, 30,738, and 30,154 respectively. In comparison, WM Motor only had 1,5665 Thousands of vehicles.

At this point, the bet between the two founders of Weimar and Meituan also ended with the failure of Weimar Shen Hui. At the beginning of 2020, Wang Xing, founder and CEO of Meituan, believed that in the future, new car-making forces will form a "Wei Xiaoli" three-thirds of the world, competing for the "second half" of the development of the automobile industry. Judging from this year, Weimar not only fell out of the top three spots, but was also directly squeezed out of the top five by Liepao and Nezha who struck behind.

Weimar’s lag behind is no accident. Until September last year, WM Motor still held the initiative in its destiny and completed the largest single round of financing of RMB 10 billion in the history of a new car-making force. However, it encountered a crisis at an important node when it planned to be listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board. In October last year, WM Motor experienced four spontaneous combustion incidents within one month, which revealed that there were too many battery suppliers and WM Motor's own management and quality control problems. Then, WM Motor's attitude of "passing the blame" for the battery problem and not being "forced" to recall until the end also laid hidden dangers for its subsequent lag.

To date, WM Motor has not yet completed its listing. At the same time, Weilai, Xpeng and Ideal, which were listed at the same time as Weimar Plan, relied on the smooth ringing of the Nasdaq bell and successively set new market value highs to win the key battle of the company's "rebirth", injecting subsequent expansion into increased capital vitality.

Wuling:

The “National Sacred Car” in Crisis

Recently, SAIC-GM-Wuling (hereinafter referred to as: Wuling) released its sales performance in the first half of 2021 . Data show that from January to June this year, SAIC-GM-Wuling achieved retail sales of 884,200 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 39.5%. Among them, Hongguang MINIEV has ranked first in sales in China's new energy market for 10 consecutive months. But under the prosperity, there are dangers.

Since its launch in July 2020, Hongguang MINIEV has sold 310,418 units in a year. Public data shows that as of April 2021, Wuling New Energy's accumulated points have reached 520,000 points, which is worth 1.5 billion based on the current value of 3,000 yuan per point. Therefore, after the model was launched, it not only single-handedly solved the points problem of the entire SAIC Group, but also achieved huge profits by "selling points."

But after the electric transformation of the automobile industry enters a "white-hot" stage, how long can the "points economy" surrounding Hongguang MINI EV last?

Faced with increasingly stringent emissions regulations, automakers around the world are accelerating the process of electrification. In the future, with the implementation of Euro 7 and China 7 emission standards, the sales of new energy vehicles are bound to compete with those of fuel vehicles, and carbon points may no longer be a scarce commodity. At the same time, Hongguang MINIEV will also face a number of direct competitors that are eagerly eyeing it - low-speed electric vehicles (Compliance Old Man Le). It is worth noting that once "Laotou Le" enters the market, not only the sales of Hongguang MINIEV will be damaged, but the price in the points market is also likely to be diluted.

According to Wuling insiders, the production cost of Hongguang MINI EV is basically the same as the selling price, and the gross profit margin is extremely low. If freight is included, the cost of some complete vehicles is even higher than the selling price. Therefore, by then, Hongguang MINIEV is likely to be pulled off the altar, and Wuling's "world" will collapse.

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