Text/Kris On the last day of the 21st century, DS’s destiny in China ushered in a new chapter.
On the evening of December 31, 2019, Changan Automobile issued an announcement stating that it had signed an "Equity Transfer Agreement" with Shenzhen Qianhai Ruizhi Investment Co., Ltd. to transfer half of the equity held in Changan PSA for a transfer amount of 1.63 billion yuan.
This means that Changan Automobile will no longer hold equity in Changan PSA.
The company that took over the deal was Qianhai Ruizhi Co., Ltd., whose controlling shareholder is Baoneng Automobile Co., Ltd., and whose actual controller is Yao Zhenhua, chairman of Baoneng Investment Group.
In addition, according to previous announcements by PSA and statements from PSA Asia Pacific spokespersons in interviews with the media, another 50% stake in Changan PSA will also be acquired by Baoneng, which means that Baoneng will fully take over the DS brand in China.
production and sales.
After Baoneng takes over, according to previous statements, DS will not withdraw from the Chinese market, but will be manufactured and sold in China. The DS brand will officially draw a clear line with the PSA Group and fully accept Baoneng's leadership.
So far, the Qoros brand that Baoneng previously acquired has still failed to make waves in the market. Although there has been a short-term increase in sales, there has been a rapid decline in 2019, and there have been huge changes in personnel, new cars
Still far away.
By acquiring another brand that is at a trough at this time, can Yao Zhenhua and Baoneng replicate the myth they created in the stock market in the automotive industry?
DS exists in name only. On November 29 last year, Changan PSA Co., Ltd. was publicly listed on the Chongqing United Equity Exchange and planned to transfer 50% of Changan PSA's equity.
Baoneng, who had been rumored to be "taking over" before, eventually became the takeover man.
According to the announcement issued by Changan Automobile, Shenzhen Qianhai Ruizhi Investment Co., Ltd. submitted registration materials to Chongqing United Equity Exchange and paid an initial payment of 831.3 million yuan. After the transaction was completed, Changan Automobile no longer held
Has shares in Changan PSA.
The shareholder of Qianhai Ruizhi is Baoneng Automobile Co., Ltd., with a shareholding ratio of 100%, and the actual controller is Yao Zhenhua.
Although it has not been officially announced, the other 50% of Changan PSA's equity will actually be acquired by Baoneng.
After Changan PSA was listed last year, PSA also announced that it "plans to sell its 50% stake in the CAPSA (Changan PSA) joint venture company."
A spokesman for PSA Asia Pacific revealed in an interview with the media, "PSA has also signed a share transfer agreement with Baoneng. We will also transfer all the shares in Changan PSA to Baoneng, which is 50% of the shares of the joint venture Changan PSA.
".
In short, Changan PSA will be fully taken over by Baoneng Group. Changan PSA’s DS brand that competes in the Chinese market has no connection with the parent company PSA Group.
The development of the DS brand in China has been difficult.
Since the launch of the first domestic model of the DS brand in 2013, DS sales in China have been 2,552, 23,008, 24,451, 16,123, 6,088, 3,355, and 2,000 vehicles (January to November 2019).
The new flagship model DS9, originally planned to be launched in the second half of 2019, ended up being delayed.
Baoneng's full takeover means that DS in the Chinese market has drawn a clear line with the PSA Group. Although DS executives have previously stated that DS will not withdraw from the Chinese market, DS after being taken over by Baoneng has actually existed in name only.
Save DS first, save Qoros. In 2015, the "baowan dispute" between Yao Zhenhua and Wang Shi, the former chairman of Vanke, made the unknown Baoneng department famous. In addition to bringing Yao Zhenhua to the forefront, it also made Wang Shi leave sadly.
Not only that, Baoneng raised a sign to Gree Electric again, causing Dong Mingzhu to angrily yell, "If capital becomes a saboteur made in China, it will be a sinner." Only then was Baoneng able to scare Baoneng away.
Therefore, Yao Zhenhua became synonymous with "barbarian".
Although it is called a "barbarian", Baoneng has already extended its reach to property, finance, real estate, logistics, cultural tourism, finance, e-commerce and other fields. In 2017, Baoneng first used 1 billion yuan to
Baoneng Automobile Co., Ltd. was registered and established, officially entering the automobile industry. Later, it spent 6.5 billion yuan to acquire 51% of Qoros shares, which made it famous.
However, the development of Qoros under Baoneng is still not satisfactory.
In addition to a brief increase in Qoros's sales after taking over, Qoros's sales fell rapidly, ending with an embarrassing 0 units in July this year.
After Baoneng took over, Qoros also made frequent personnel changes.
The BAIC leadership team headed by Li Feng came with a high profile, but left in disgrace only one year later. The Nissan executive team led by Kazuo Yajima, who replaced them, encountered a dealer collective rights protection incident after taking office, which also made Yao Zhenhua
Its reputation in the automotive field has plummeted.
According to relevant sources, Yao Zhenhua does not trust the high-paying BAIC executives. Li Feng's work is restricted everywhere. The reason why he chose the Japanese executive team to work in Qoros is because Yao Zhenhua has long been interested in Japanese lean manufacturing.