The Window Period Is About To Close: How Can The Second Echelon Of New Forces Of Car Making Survive?

"I participated in two Shanghai auto shows. In 2019, there were new car companies around me, and this time around, there were new and new car makers." On the first day of the 2021 Shanghai auto show, hall 7.1 of the National Convention and Exhibition Center, known as the "four leaf grass", said he Xiaopeng, CEO of Xiaopeng automobile.

As it is said, in the same Pavilion, Weilai and Xiaopeng are in a corner. Huawei, BAIC Jihu and Geely jikrypton pay close attention to each other. Evergrande, which displays nine new cars in one breath, stands opposite to BMW's stand

But the waves wash the sand, the ups and downs alternate“ Seeing new people smile, not old people crying "is not the reality of the auto show? Bojun, Aichi, Tianji, singularity, future, karma and other new automobile making forces were absent from the Shanghai auto show two years ago.

"It takes a lot of investment to participate in the auto show, and the efficiency is not high enough. For a start-up company like Aichi, the most important thing is to improve efficiency and solve problems." On April 25, Fu Qiang, the founder and chairman of Aichi Automobile Co., Ltd., who had not appeared for a long time, did not join in the excitement of the Shanghai auto show, but received an interview with the 21st century economic reporter in Beijing.

It is worth noting that Aichi has been absent from the 2020 Beijing auto show, Guangzhou auto show and 2021 Shanghai auto show. In the days of Aichi's "disappearance", the carnival of automobile industry remains unchanged.

In 2021, almost all the people are making cars. Mobile phones, home appliances, real estate and Internet giants are aiming at the car manufacturing industry. Huawei, which claims to "not build cars and help car companies build good cars", has sold cars in its flagship stores. In two days, Cyrus Huawei intelligently selected sF5, its orders exceeded 3000; Xiaomi gambled on his reputation, and spent 10 billion dollars in 10 years to start the car building war; On the evening of the 26th, 360 strategic leading investment Nezha automobile d-round financing announced its formal march into car manufacturing; Even the news that Didi, one of Aichi's shareholders, has been making cars

At this moment, Fu Qiang is very clear about the situation that Aichi is facing. "First of all, compared with the head enterprises that claim to have tens of billion yuan in cash reserves, Aichi is not in an order of magnitude, and the financing channels of Aichi's public offering market have not been opened; Secondly, in terms of sales volume, Aichi has not really made its strength in the domestic market and still needs time. This is our short board. "

Car making is an investment of heavy capital. The new force of car making needs continuous development and more funds to maintain the research and development, launch and market scale expansion of follow-up models. With the closing of the time window, the pressure of capital, the siege and interception of traditional automobile enterprises, and the high-level fighting of new and new automobile manufacturing enterprises, how will the new automobile manufacturing forces in the second echelon survive?

Although Aichi did not participate in the Shanghai auto show, its running speed did not slow down- Visual China

Twists and turns

In the past five years, after a series of tests, such as OEM query, qualification test, delivery problems, financing obstacles, spontaneous combustion, enterprise layoffs, and consumer rights protection, China's new automobile manufacturing forces have moved to the "crossroads". If we compare the development of the new car making forces in the past five years to the first round of charge, when the development of the new forces of car making, represented by Weilai and Xiaopeng, has encountered bottlenecks, especially after all the "pits" have gone through, the "new forces" who are in the second echelon have started a new round of "charge".

What's different is that the "new forces of car making" created by traditional auto makers, such as Aichi and Hezuo, have the advantages of traditional automobile and man-made vehicles, and they are in awe of the car making itself, and have been deeply rooted in the layout for a long time. Founded in 2017, most of its senior management teams have the professional background of traditional car companies. Fu Qiang previously worked in Audi, Skoda, Mercedes Benz and Volvo.

After nearly three years of dormant entrepreneurship in 2019, Aichi ushered in the "highlight" moment. On the one hand, Aichi Automobile Co., Ltd. increased capital by 1.747 billion yuan to Jiangling Holding Co., Ltd., which solved the problem of production qualification. At the same time, it obtained the strong support of Jiangxi provincial government, which provided a new outlet model for the new forces of car manufacturing; On the other hand, Aichi's first mass production vehicle, Aichi U5, opened its pre-sale at Chengdu auto show and released its U5

Ing +, U5 pro and U5 PRO + models were launched in Hainan in December 2019, and the price was 197900-292100 yuan after subsidy.

At that time, Aichi's goal was to establish its market position through certain sales volume in the next two or three years and have the right to speak. The long-term goal was to make Aichi an intelligent travel service company with deep user participation.

However, the reality of bone feeling did not give the opportunity to realize the heroic words. The sudden epidemic situation made Aichi's beautiful vision suddenly disillusioned, and the loss to Aichi can be said to be geometric: the previous customer accumulation and channel layout were completely destroyed; At least half of the offline stores opened for listing were closed; The ambitious Geneva Motor Show was cancelled and put into vain

In addition, Aichi's sales performance and hematopoietic capacity are also unsatisfactory. In September 2020, 2021 Aichi U5 will come into the market, with the price of 166900-249900 yuan after subsidy, which will drop by 30000 yuan compared with the previous year; In October last year, Aichi automobile asked the company to "carry the goods with its executives" and "all staff marketing". In 2020, Aichi U5, which lacks distinctive labels, sold only 2800 vehicles in the whole year.

"When the tide fades, we can see who is swimming naked. When we come up, we will know who is swimming naked." Looking back on the history of car building in 2020, Fu Qiang has a lot of emotion.

In addition to the physical torture of flying back and forth between China and Europe during the epidemic, the lack of money and disagreement within the team cast a shadow on the development of Aichi“ It's like a bullet chasing you. Today, more than any other time point, I pay tribute to Chairman Li Shufu of Geely, including the chairman of some state-owned enterprises I used to work for. They are really not easy. "

be reborn

For Fu Qiang and Aichi, the halo blessing of traditional Autobots is both armor and weakness.

The weak brand exposure rate and lack of Internet thinking make Aichi stumbling in the process of transformation to user-oriented enterprises“ None of us from the traditional automobile industry will sell cars. We always say that I have been fighting in the front line of marketing for a long time. However, in fact, I am fighting in the headquarters behind the marketing, which is not the first line. Therefore, it is not clear what consumers look like and how to communicate. On the contrary, Wei Lai, Xiao Peng and ideal know that there is a group of firm iron powder that can help, and there is indeed a first mover advantage. "

Fu Qiang said frankly, compared with Weilai, ideal and Xiaopeng, Aichi's gap is reflected in two aspects: one is brand communication and sales, the other is money“ The two founders of Weilai and ideality have worked on automobile vertical websites. They know how to use the Internet as a medium to communicate with C-end consumers. Their background and industry experience have advantages. This is what we lack and need to learn. There is no doubt that we should target consumers and communicate with them efficiently. Now, direct marketing is king's road. We should face customers and take risks. "

Communication with users involves many elements. In addition to correctly understanding consumers and having sufficient resources, it is a top priority to have good corporate credibility, which is a huge challenge for start-ups. On the first day of the opening of the auto show, the female car owners who got on the top of the car show let Tesla become the "top class" of the auto show on that day, and the statement of "refusing to compromise" made Tesla stand on the crest of the storm, and its credibility was greatly reduced.

Of course, Aichi also has its own advantages. When Weilai and other new forces began to layout overseas markets, Aichi U5 has been exported to the European Union. It is understood that Aichi is the first and the only one in China to export intelligent electric vehicles to EU countries in large quantities.

By the end of the first quarter of 2021, Aichi's export volume has reached 1056 vehicles (customs clearance), exceeding the total export volume of 2020. Based on this growth momentum, Aichi announced its target of exporting 10000 vehicles in 2021.

Not only that, since this year, Aichi has made frequent layout in the field of travel and power exchange. In January, Fengchi travel, a travel company owned by Aichi, obtained the online qualification for online car Hailing operation, and cooperated with yihi, Jinjiang automobile and Xiaoju technology. At the same time, Aichi has entered Didi's online car Hailing catalogue and will make efforts in the b-end market.

Last week, Aichi reached a strategic agreement with BAIC Blue Valley smart energy. The two sides will cooperate in power exchange technology and vehicle development, production and sales of power station. Starting from the joint development of Aichi U5 power exchange model, it is planned to launch more than 20000 vehicle models in 17 cities within three years, and build no less than 200 power stations simultaneously.

financing

In 2020, whether it is Bo Jun, sailin, or beiteng, singularity and other companies, the biggest problem restricting them is the shortage of funds. At the same time, through the judgment of the market, the enthusiasm of capital for new car making has been tightly concentrated in a few leading enterprises. For such a capital intensive industry as car making, the new forces of second and third line car making are not as convincing as they were then. There is no doubt that for all the new forces of car making, the most urgent task is to survive. Financing and then listing have almost become a common choice.

On January 26, qixinbao showed that the equity of Aichi Automobile Co., Ltd. was changed, and Shangrao didi Technology Co., Ltd. and Shanxi Hesheng new kinetic equity investment partnership (hereinafter referred to as "Shanxi Hesheng") took shares in Aichi. Among them, the former contributed 3081500 yuan and held 0.37% shares; The latter contributed 24.036 million yuan and held 2.9% shares. More than 27 million yuan of capital was injected into Aichi automobile, and its registered capital increased to 828 million yuan. The 0.37% stake in Shangrao didi brought didi to the surface.

At this Shanghai auto show, Didi auto driving Department released a new hardware platform, Didi Gemini, which was carried on Volvo XC90. Before this, Didi car building news spread frequently, the industry said didi or cooperated with Aichi to build cars“ So far, Didi is only the financial investor of Aichi's industry type. " Fu Qiang indirectly denied the news and said that the cooperation between Aichi and didi business level will still be carried out.

It is worth noting that before didi took a stake in Aichi, it was reported that Aichi was seeking to raise new capital, with a valuation of more than $2 billion. At the communication meeting, Fu Qiang did not deny the current situation of financing difficulties. He said, "the logic of this round of investment has not been completely clear. The foreign investors we have contacted, especially the group of investors around Tesla, will have a little more understanding of the industry. However, I think the imagination of the ultimate state is not enough." It refers to the "ultimate state", that is, the concept of the car completely disappeared, becoming an interactive interface or future mobile living space.

In addition, last night (April 26), Nezha automobile announced the launch of round D financing, with a financing amount of about 3 billion yuan. 360, a leading Internet security company, is expected to become the second largest shareholder of Nezha automobile after completing all the investment, and 360 will officially enter into car manufacturing. It is worth mentioning that Nezha automobile announced last year that it will be listed on the science and technology innovation board in 2021.

At the same time, the IPO process of Weima automobile is steadily advancing. Zero run auto also plans to submit IPO documents in the second half of 2021, and realize listing on the science and technology innovation board by the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022.

Recently, there is a rumor that some auto companies trying to be listed on the science and technology innovation board are blocked. When talking about whether the changes in the market environment will affect the original listing plan of zerorun, Jing Hua, senior vice president of zero running technology, told reporters of the 21st century economic report on April 19, "I think the general direction is unchanged on the whole, and the state definitely encourages technology-based enterprises to connect with the capital market. Recently, the policy of listing on the science and technology innovation board has emphasized two points. One is the attribute of hard science and technology, which is good for zero running; Second, the market competitiveness, zero running is also constantly upward. These two zero runs are completely in line, so we will connect with the capital market according to the original plan, and Zero run will also conduct a new round of fund-raising before listing. "

running

"The cumulative production is more than 10000 yuan, the single quarter delivery is more than 10000 yuan, and the monthly delivery is more than 10000 yuan." Wang Xing, CEO of meituan, once commented on the "three barriers" that new car enterprises should take.

For Weilai, idealist and Xiaopeng, the first two barriers of the first echelon of the new forces of car making have successfully crossed. According to the data, the total delivery volume of Weilai automobile exceeded 20000 in the first quarter, with a year-on-year increase of 423%. So far, the cumulative sales volume of Weilai automobile has exceeded 100000; The total delivery volume of Xiaopeng automobile in the first quarter was 13340, which was the highest quarterly delivery performance in its history; In the first quarter, a total of 12579 vehicles were delivered.

The "three swordsmen", a new force of car making, is attacking the third barrier, and intelligent and automatic driving are its important means of competition.

At the Shanghai auto show, many auto companies, including Weilai, Xiaopeng, BAIC Jihu and SAIC r automobile, have launched mass production models of automatic driving. Weilai et7, equipped with lidar and lookout camera, completed its first show; Xiaopeng P5, the world's first mass production lidar intelligent car, is equipped with xpilot

3.5 automatic driving assistance system: the whole vehicle has 13 HD cameras, 5 millimeter wave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars, 2 vehicle gauge level lidars, 32 sensors and 1 group of high-precision positioning units (GNSS + IMU).

Weima, Nezha, zerorun and Aichi, who are in the second echelon, are struggling to survive“ By 2025, it will still be Nezha's goal to survive. " On April 19, Zhang Yong, co-founder and CEO of Nezha automobile, said in an interview with 21st century economic reporter at the 2021 Shanghai auto show.

Zhang Yong believes that electrification and intelligence are the future direction, and the market penetration rate of new energy vehicles will be greatly improved in the next five to ten years. In terms of price, the cost of the battery has been greatly reduced. Within two years, the cost-effective advantages of fuel vehicles and electric vehicles will be gone.

"In 2021, I believe that the zero will sell 60000 vehicles." In an interview with reporters, Wu Baojun, co-founder, director and President of zero running technology, talked about the sales target of 2021 with full confidence, "our current plan is that T03 will strive to achieve the goal of 50000 units, and C11 will be officially delivered in the fourth quarter, with the goal of breaking through 10000 vehicles."

At the same time, Weima also launched the third SUV, Weima W6. Shen Hui, the founder, chairman and CEO of Weima, called it "the first driverless mass production vehicle of 200000 class in China". Shen Hui believes that the algorithm of automatic driving is 100% done by the host company itself. Whether cooperating with Baidu or Huawei, baidu or Huawei will not be allowed to do it; Including strategic planning, it is also done by the main engine factory itself.

This idea coincides with Fu Qiang. In Fu Qiang's view, automatic driving is nothing more than two solutions: first, integrate the existing things. Second, insist on being your own. The advantages and disadvantages of these two routes are obvious. The advantage of using a public thing is that the cost will be reduced after scale, but personalization will be sacrificed.

"Now with integrated solutions, it proves that he is not capable of doing it by himself. I have to say that. If you have the ability to do it yourself, do it yourself. We choose to do it by ourselves. Aichi's L3 solution will be different from others. " Fu Qiang stressed.

Although Aichi did not participate in the Shanghai auto show, its running speed did not slow down. During the same period of Shanghai auto show, the first trial loading of Aichi's second new car, U6, has been launched in Shangrao factory. It is expected that the first batch of trial loading will be offline in mid May and will be officially delivered around October.

"Strictly speaking, Aichi currently has four models in the pipeline, one for sale, one for production and two for research. This is very clear." Fu Qiang stressed that in terms of technology reserve, intelligent driving, intelligent cockpit, next generation powertrain drive and next generation platform architecture are all under development. The familiar MAS 1.0 is upgraded to 2.0, which will be greatly adjusted. The intelligent driving of U6 will reach L3 level, and it is not integrated with supplier resources, but is self-developed and delivered. The intelligent cockpit is also upgraded.

There is no doubt that the traditional automobile enterprises accelerate the electric transformation, many cross-border players are eager to try, and the competition in the future automobile industry will become increasingly fierce. There is not much time left for the second echelon of the new forces of car making.

"In terms of the industry, it is very difficult for the second tier echelon of the new automobile manufacturing forces to get out of the market. The leading enterprises may also eliminate one or two in three to five years. The development space and market share of electric vehicles to the new forces of car making will not be too large, and the more the final survival space will be smaller. " As for the future competitive pattern of the new forces of car making, some insiders stressed in an interview with the reporter of the 21st century economic report（ Editor: Zhang ruosi)