On June 30th, according to foreign media insideevs, Baiteng officially announced that it would suspend its business in China from July 1 day. Offices in North America and Germany have started to apply for bankruptcy protection according to local laws, and each office has more than 10 employees. The suspension period is six months.
▲ Screenshot of foreign media reports
During this period, most employees in China will be on vacation, and the company will keep a team of less than 100 people for possible business needs. Baiteng management will work closely with shareholders to draw up a road map for the future development of the company.
In fact, this result has long been a sign. As early as April, it was reported that Baiteng executives had their salaries reduced by 80%, and employees in China were in arrears.
Until June 23, the problem of unpaid wages by Baiteng still existed. According to some media, Baiteng has been in arrears with employees' wages for four months, the offices in Beijing and Shanghai have been rented out, and the Nanjing factory has been closed due to arrears in water, electricity and electricity bills.
In March last year, Dai Lei, CEO of Baiteng, said in an interview that the C-round financing was underway, and the first car was planned to be completed in the middle of the year and put on the market in the fourth quarter, but until now, the first car of Baiteng has not been mass-produced.
In less than three years, the company has fallen into an unprecedented predicament, but from the previous news, Baiteng is indeed building a car in a down-to-earth manner. Its first car, the M-byte engineering vehicle, has been off the assembly line, and it was close to mass production when it was exhibited at CES in 5438+ 10 this year. I believe that if there is capital injection, Baiteng's first car will be launched this year.
1. suspend business for 6 months? Bai Teng has reached the critical stage of life and death.
Due to the influence of coronavirus pneumonia-19, car companies have a hard time this year, and new car companies lacking hematopoietic capacity are in a more difficult situation. At present, many companies, such as Bojun, Lindsay and Baiteng, have reported bad news.
Today, foreign media insideevs reported that Baiteng officially announced that it would suspend its business in China from July 1 day, and the offices in North America and Germany have started bankruptcy protection applications according to local laws, with more than 10 employees in each office, and the shutdown will continue until the end of the year.
During the shutdown, most employees in China will be on vacation, but the company will still keep a team of less than 100 people to meet possible business needs. The management of Baiteng will strengthen the contact with shareholders and formulate the development route of the company.
It is understood that the company will pay employees three months' wages before July 10, and the wages for the remaining months will be paid in installments. For employees who voluntarily resign today and go through resignation procedures before July 3, Baiteng will pay their unpaid wages in full, but the amount is "limited".
▲ Screenshot of foreign media reports
As soon as this statement came out, it basically confirmed the current predicament of Baiteng.
As a matter of fact, as early as April this year, it was reported that the salary of senior executives of Baiteng Automobile was reduced by 80%, and employees in China were in arrears. Subsequently, Baiteng Automobile also responded to this, saying that under the continuous impact of coronavirus pneumonia-19 on the economy and the automobile industry, Baiteng could not be immune, and the company would take a number of phased measures to reduce short-term fixed costs and ease the financial pressure.
The specific plan given by Baiteng is: employees in China District will suspend paying part of their wages according to their ranks; The core management will collectively reduce the salary by 80% to contribute to the financing of Baiteng C round.
However, this plan did not solve the problem of money shortage for Baiteng. On June 23rd, some media reported that Baiteng had been in arrears with employees' wages for four months. Baiteng's Shanghai office was closed in April, and the Beijing office also withdrew its lease on June 17. Baiteng's Nanjing factory was also shut down due to arrears in water and electricity charges.
This time, the official statement of Baiteng confirmed that Baiteng was indeed at a critical moment of life and death.
▲ The media reported that Baitengguan factory owed wages.
2. Did it raise 800 million dollars? The engineering vehicle is off the assembly line.
Founded on 20 17, Baiteng Automobile is a member of the new car wave. Compared with other new car companies, Baiteng is a bit special. Its founders Bi Fukang and Dai Lei are not from China, but foreigners who start businesses in China.
However, both of them have many years of experience in the automobile industry, and have served as executives in traditional multinational automobile groups such as finidi and BMW, and they are very familiar with the China market. During his tenure as general manager of Dongfeng Yingfinidi, Dai Lei successfully helped Yingfinidi to open the China market. Bi Fukang is the father of BMW i8.
▲ Dai Lei
According to public information, Baiteng Automobile received Pre-A investment in February 20 16 and A round investment in August 20 17. The investors included Suning, Shengfeng Holdings, Nanjing State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, etc., with an investment amount of 240 million US dollars (about RMB/KLOC-0.7 billion yuan).
On June 20 18, 1 1, another round of financing was completed, with a total financing amount of 500 million US dollars (about RMB 3.54 billion), of which FAW Group led the investment of 265 million US dollars (about RMB/kloc-0.87 billion).
2065438+In March 2009, Dai Lei revealed in an interview that the C round of financing was in progress. In September, Baiteng announced that the C round of financing was coming to an end, and the estimated financing scale was 500 million US dollars (about 3.54 billion yuan). The industrial investment funds under FAW Group and Nanjing Municipal Government will participate in the investment. At the end of the year, Baiteng announced that Marubeni Corporation of Japan will also participate in the C round of financing.
However, it is reported that the financing of the company has not been fully put in place, which is also the reason why Baiteng is in trouble.
▲ Baiteng engineering prototype
Although he is in trouble now, Baiteng is indeed a doer of building a car, not a "PPT car." At the end of last year, the engineering prototype of the company's first car rolled off the production line. The main buildings of its Nanjing production base and factory area have been completed, and the internal production and testing equipment are all ready. Only the land outside the building is undergoing the final greening and leveling work.
The most attractive thing about this car is the 48-inch full screen. According to Dai Lei, this kind of screen was built in cooperation with BOE, and it took two years to meet the standards of automobile regulations. The steering wheel and driver touch screen have also been developed for more than two years.
▲ Baiteng 48-inch big screen
At the CES in June 5438+ 10 this year, Baiteng also showed this car. According to media reports involved in the test drive, this car is close to a production car.
However, at present, lack of money has become a mountain on the back of Baiteng. At present, the company is still in the C round of financing. Once the capital is injected, the company may be able to survive.
Conclusion: The new car industry has entered the reshuffle period.
The influence of coronavirus pneumonia-19 makes new car manufacturers enter the cold winter first, and many new car manufacturers are in trouble, but there are still some companies such as Weilai, Weimar, Tucki and Ideality that can maintain good sales results.
In the past five years, hundreds of new car companies have been born in China, which is abnormal, and the impact of this epidemic can also adjust this phenomenon to some extent.
There is no doubt that this year will be a crucial period for the survival of domestic new car-making enterprises. Most new car companies will be eliminated this year, and the companies that can survive this year have a great chance of survival.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.