Chedongxi? (Public account: chedongxi?)

Text | Juice

2019 can be said to be the year that determines the life and death of low-speed electric vehicles.

This year, many changes occurred in the field of electric vehicles. In the first half of the year, domestic sales of electric vehicles were still rising steadily, but subsidies for electric vehicles began to decline in the middle of the year. In the next six months, domestic sales The electric vehicle market has experienced six consecutive declines.

At the same time, major changes have also taken place in the field of low-speed electric vehicles. In 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and six other ministries and commissions issued regulatory notices on low-speed electric vehicles to “upgrade a batch, standardize a batch, and eliminate a batch” and required companies to suspend production starting from January 2019, pending the release of national standards. In October 2019, the Ministry of Finance issued a document stating that it would support the upgrade of low-speed electric vehicles and promote the withdrawal of low-level and poor-safety products from the market.

Twice published articles announcing the end of the era of brutal growth of low-speed electric vehicles.

Throughout 2019, the national standard for low-speed electric vehicles has not been released, and many low-speed electric vehicle companies have fallen into a life-and-death crisis. In order to carry out self-rescue, some companies with strength and technology began to explore self-rescue.

These companies have finally explored three ways to become normal, namely: annexing traditional car companies, applying for production qualifications, and cooperating with traditional car companies.

▲ Summary table of low-speed electric vehicle companies becoming regular companies

At the beginning of 2019, Shandong Reading fully acquired Sichuan Yema Motors for 1.45 billion yuan. On December 27, 2019, Shandong Baoya New Energy Vehicle Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Shandong Baoya) invested 1.5 billion yuan to acquire 70.5% of FAW Jilin's equity.

At the beginning and end of the year, two large-scale acquisitions reflected the anxiety of low-speed electric vehicle companies.

Companies such as Land Ark and Yujema applied for automobile production qualifications on their own and successfully obtained the production qualifications. Some low-speed electric vehicle companies, represented by Kandi and Lingtu, have chosen to embrace car companies. These two companies have cooperated with Geely and Great Wall respectively, and have also obtained the production qualifications for new energy vehicles.

Although they have completed their regularization, the development of these companies after their regularization is not very clear. Judging from the market situation, these car companies still have not been able to make waves in the market. It should also be noted that in addition to these low-speed electric vehicle companies that have successfully become regular companies, there are also a large number of low-speed electric vehicle companies that are facing the risk of being eliminated.

1. Low-speed electric vehicles have become a 100-billion-dollar market? The number of them nationwide is expected to exceed 4 million.

Low-speed electric vehicles are a unique electric product produced in China. In the past ten years, , due to the lack of legal regulations and industry standards, low-speed electric vehicles are growing wildly in Shandong, Henan, Hebei and other places.

According to previous public reports, as of the end of 2018, the number of low-speed electric vehicles in Shandong Province was approximately 3 million. It is estimated that the number of low-speed electric vehicles nationwide is more than 4 million, and one low-speed electric vehicle The selling price is usually 20,000-40,000 yuan, which means that low-speed electric vehicles have become a 100-billion-dollar industry.

The low-speed electric vehicle field is not dominated by a few large manufacturers like the traditional automobile field. The low-speed electric vehicle market is dominated by hundreds of small and medium-sized players. Most of these players do not have fixed brand names, and some manufacturers even do not even produce products. No qualifications.

Walking on the street, you can see low-speed electric vehicles with names such as "jeep", "Mercedes-Benz" and "BMW" everywhere. These vehicles are produced by some unknown small companies. , marked with various luxury car logos and started selling them.

However, there are always exceptions to everything. Among the many low-speed electric vehicle players, there are also some companies that have developed their own brands, such as Reading, Yujie, Lichi, Baoya, Jinpeng and other companies. Becoming the best among them, these companies have also opened up a market in the low-speed electric vehicle market by relying on their own brands.

▲Jinpeng low-speed electric vehicle

In the past, because there were no national standards, the vehicles did not even have seat belts, let alone advanced safety configurations such as airbags and ESP. It fails even the simplest crash test.

2. Double suppression of policies and A00-class electric vehicles? It is difficult for low-speed electric vehicles to survive

It can be seen from the market analysis of low-speed electric vehicles that there are a huge number of low-speed electric vehicles , but the number of manufacturers is huge and some of them have no production qualifications, and the safety of the vehicles they produce is also very poor.

In addition, low-speed electric vehicles do not need to be registered, and users do not need to obtain a driver's license. Such vehicles can even drive on motor vehicle lanes. As a result, low-speed electric vehicles have become the hardest hit area by safety accidents.

Continuous traffic accidents have also led local government departments to strengthen the supervision of low-speed electric vehicles. Many places in Shandong and Henan have introduced measures such as low-speed electric vehicle licensing and the implementation of industry autonomy standards. But the effect is not obvious. Sales of low-speed electric vehicles are still rising, with 1.2 million units sold in 2017. At the same time, the accident rate of low-speed electric vehicles remains high.

According to 2018 data from the public security and traffic control department, low-speed electric vehicles have been involved in 830,000 traffic accidents in the past five years.

The effect of policies issued by local governments does not seem to be obvious. In order to further regulate low-speed electric vehicles, on November 8, 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and six other ministries and commissions jointly issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Low-speed Electric Vehicles", clarifying For low-speed electric vehicles, it is strictly prohibited to "upgrade a batch, standardize a batch, and eliminate a batch" of low-speed electric vehicles in various localities, and require enterprises to suspend production starting from January 2019, pending the release of national standards.

▲Screenshot of the "Notice" issued by six ministries and commissions

However, the "Notice" does not indicate when the "Technical Standards for Four-Wheel Low-speed Electric Vehicles" will be released, which means that "standards The timing of "batch" is not yet clear. The "Notice" also emphasizes that qualified low-speed electric vehicle manufacturers should be guided to produce road motor vehicle products that meet relevant standards through transformation and upgrading or integration and reorganization with existing motor vehicle manufacturers.

This document indicates that low-speed electric vehicles can only face three endings: upgrading to regular status, being eliminated, or producing standard low-speed electric vehicles. However, because the production standards have not yet been launched, low-speed car companies actually only have The first two paths are available.

During the Two Sessions in 2019, Fang Yunzhou, a representative of the National People's Congress, proposed "introducing a policy for upgrading low-speed electric vehicles to new energy electric vehicles" and other suggestions, which aroused heated discussion on the Internet.

At the end of October 2019, the Ministry of Finance released a message on its official website titled "The Ministry of Finance's Reply to Recommendation No. 4901 of the Second Session of the Thirteenth National People's Congress", which was positive. Replied to the suggestions of Fang Yunzhou, deputy to the National People’s Congress.

▲Screenshot of the Ministry of Finance's "Reply"

In the "Reply", the Ministry of Finance once again reiterated that it will guide the transformation and upgrading of low-speed electric vehicle consumption, and at the same time promote low-level and poor safety The product is withdrawn from the market.

These two replies from the government have made the situation of the low-speed electric vehicle industry even more embarrassing. It is foreseeable that the situation of low-speed electric vehicles will not get better this year, and the market share of low-speed electric vehicles will be further reduced. Compression, some unqualified, poor brand and poor safety brands will be completely eliminated.

In addition to high pressure from the government, the further decline of the products of traditional car companies has also dealt a heavy blow to low-speed electric vehicles.

In fact, it is not just low-speed electric vehicle manufacturers that are eyeing the third- and fourth-tier cities, towns and rural markets. Traditional car companies have also discovered the potential of this market.

Many car companies have launched A00-class electric vehicles. The technical requirements of this kind of electric vehicles are not high, but due to the complete production process and standards, these models have excellent performance in terms of brand, safety and cost control. Their capabilities comprehensively "crushed" low-speed electric vehicle companies.

GM-Wuling’s Baojun E100 sells for over 40,000 yuan after subsidies, and BAIC New Energy’s A00-class electric vehicle EC series sells for less than 60,000 yuan after subsidies.

▲Baojun E100

The price difference between A00-class electric vehicles and low-speed electric vehicles is not too big, but the safety performance of A00-class electric vehicles is better than that of low-speed electric vehicles. This is also This has caused further pressure on low-speed electric vehicles.

It is precisely because of the double suppression of policies and A00-class electric vehicles that low-speed electric vehicles have reached the critical point of life and death. In order to continue to survive, low-speed electric vehicle companies have begun to find ways to turn themselves into regular companies and save themselves.

3. Acquisition, applying for qualifications, and embracing car companies? Three major strategies to save themselves

Faced with the squeeze from policies and orthodox electric vehicles, some low-speed electric car companies have embarked on a transformation Generally speaking, there are three major paths for "orthodox" car companies to follow.

▲ Summary table of low-speed electric car companies becoming regulars

1. Acquiring traditional car companies to obtain qualifications

This method is relatively simple and crude, but the difficulty is not small. , limited to some companies that have accumulated certain funds in the field of low-speed electric vehicles.

On January 20, 2019, Shandong low-speed electric vehicle manufacturer Reading announced that it had fully acquired Yema Motors for a transaction price of 1.45 billion yuan. Through this acquisition, Reading also obtained Yema Motors. Obtained the qualification to build high-speed vehicles.

▲Reading acquires Mustang Motors

This acquisition also made Reading famous, becoming the first low-speed electric vehicle company in China to acquire a traditional car company.

According to official information from Reading, Reading Automobile’s annual output reached 280,000 units in 2018, accounting for one-third of Shandong’s low-speed electric vehicle production.

It is precisely because of such achievements as the basis that Reading Automobile has the confidence to acquire the Mustang.

But in 2019, Reading was not the only low-speed electric vehicle company that made large acquisitions.

On December 27, FAW Jilin Automobile Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as FAW Jilin) ??announced that it had received an investment of 1.5 billion yuan from Shandong Baoya New Energy Vehicle Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Shandong Baoya), which serves as The investor will take over 70.5% of FAW Jilin’s equity.

▲ FAW officially issued a capital increase and share expansion statement

After the transaction is completed, Shandong Baoya will become the actual controlling shareholder of FAW Jilin, and Shandong Baoya will also be able to obtain fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles Production qualification.

In addition, Jiangsu Jinpeng Automobile Industry Co., Ltd. also announced on April 8, 2019 that it had obtained automobile production access qualification.

It is understood that the reason why Jinpeng was able to obtain automobile production access qualification was because its subsidiary Jiangsu Jimai New Energy Vehicle Industry Co., Ltd. acquired Xinkai Automobile Group Co., Ltd. and Xinkai Automobile The automobile production qualification was also changed to Jiangsu Jimai.

▲Jinpeng low-speed electric vehicle

However, the two parties did not announce the specific amount of the transaction.

This method may be the fastest way for low-speed electric vehicle companies to obtain production qualifications, but it is also the most expensive method and is not suitable for all low-speed vehicle companies.

2. Apply for production qualifications by yourself

In addition to directly purchasing traditional car companies to obtain car-making qualifications, some companies have also chosen to apply for car-making qualifications by themselves, and some companies have obtained car-making qualifications. Qualifications.

Land Ark is a representative of these companies. This company started planning to apply for the vehicle manufacturing qualification of new energy vehicles very early. In 2013, Land Ark’s subsidiary in Jiangsu took the lead in obtaining the qualification. Less difficult new energy bus and special vehicle production qualifications.

▲Land Ark low-speed electric vehicle

In 2015, Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei said at a press conference that a group of non-automotive companies are applying for electric vehicle qualifications. This group of non-automotive companies includes Land Ark.

In May 2017, Land Ark’s car manufacturing project finally received approval from the National Development and Reform Commission (i.e. major qualification) and successfully obtained complete car manufacturing qualifications.

Lichi and Yujima also obtained vehicle manufacturing qualifications through self-application to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology catalogue.

On July 31, 2017, the website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially released the 298th batch of "Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Enterprises and Product Announcements". Shandong Lichi New Energy Vehicle Co., Ltd. officially obtained the qualification for the production of special-purpose vehicles and entered the field of urban multi-purpose vehicles. .

On May 10, 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology website announced the "Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Enterprises and Products (319th Batch)" announcement, in which the Yujie Ma brand new energy passenger vehicle owned by Yujie was successfully shortlisted. , obtained the national production license.

These three companies all took the initiative to apply to the government for car-making qualifications through continuous improvement of technology, and finally obtained the car-making qualifications.

This method requires companies to improve their technical level and make their products meet national standards. This is also very difficult to achieve for many low-speed electric vehicle manufacturers.

3. Cooperate with traditional car companies

Compared with the first two methods of regularization, which are expensive and laborious, most car companies have chosen the third method of regularization - direct Choose to cooperate with car companies. Among them, Kandi and Yujie are typical representatives of this road.

In 2013, Kandi and Shanghai Huapu Guorun, a subsidiary of Geely, jointly established Kandi Electric Vehicle Co., Ltd. After the establishment of the new company, Kandi launched the pure electric minicar K11 based on the Geely Panda the next year. Later, Kandi also acquired the Geely Global Hawk brand and began to produce high-speed pure electric vehicles with the help of Geely's platform and qualifications.

▲Global Hawk K11

Under the protection of Geely, Kandi has achieved certain results in car manufacturing. In 2018, Kandi was responsible for the total sales of the Global Hawk brand Reached 6685 vehicles.

In January 2019, Kandi's 50,000 new energy vehicle production project was registered after the "Automotive Industry Investment Management Regulations" came into effect and officially obtained production qualifications.

Yujie, another low-speed electric vehicle company, has taken advantage of Great Wall. In 2017, Great Wall invested in Yujie. At that time, Yujie was eager to transform into high-speed electric vehicles, while Great Wall was worried about double points. The two sides hit it off immediately.

In order to differentiate itself from the corporate image of low-speed electric vehicles, Yujie changed its name to Lingtu in 2018. In September of the same year, it held a product launch conference and announced 5 high-speed pure electric vehicle products.

▲Lingtu Electric Vehicle K-ONE

In addition to these two, there are many low-speed electric vehicle companies that have also chosen to cooperate with traditional car companies.

On August 17, 2018, Dezhou Fulu Vehicle Industry Co., Ltd. and Beijing Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd. signed a strategic cooperation agreement. Dezhou Fulu Vehicle Industry chose to become the Dezhou branch of BAIC. A few days later , Dezhou Fulu Automobile Industry received approval from the National Development and Reform Commission for the “new energy construction project with an annual output of 50,000 vehicles of the Dezhou Branch of Beijing Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd.”

▲Fulu low-speed electric vehicle

Daojue chose to jointly develop a new model Ruixing ES30 with Changan Automobile. The model is manufactured and sold by Daojue. The vehicle The brand is affiliated to Changan New Energy, and Daojue has achieved the production of high-speed electric vehicles with the help of Changan New Energy.

Continental Automobile chose to sign a cooperation agreement with Jiangsu Kawei Automobile. The two parties will carry out in-depth strategic cooperation in product research and development, sales, production access and resource sharing; while Yika Electric Vehicles and Jiulong The automobile has established a strategic cooperation, and Yika Electric Vehicle has obtained a ticket to enter the high-speed new energy automobile industry with the help of Jiulong Motor.

In addition, Nanjing Jiayuan and Anhui Cheetah have reached a cooperation in vehicle OEM production projects. Anhui Cheetah will OEM electric vehicles for Jiayuan. Weifang Rich has established cooperative relationships with car companies such as Jiangling and Huatai. Among them, Rich and Jiangling jointly developed the entry-level new energy passenger car Jiangling E100.

Although various low-speed electric vehicle companies have adopted different methods to seek to become regular companies, it should be noted that only a handful of these companies have been able to go ashore, and most low-speed electric vehicle companies are still in the The edge of elimination.

Moreover, becoming a regular company is only the first step. How to succeed in the new energy vehicle market is the most important step.

4. Still haven’t become regular? Low-speed car companies still have technical shortcomings

Whether they obtain production qualifications through acquisitions of traditional car companies, obtain production qualifications through active application, or cooperate with traditional car companies Car companies have entered into strategic cooperation, and these low-speed electric vehicles have obtained high-speed vehicle production qualifications and survived the wave of elimination of low-speed vehicles.

Moreover, obtaining high-speed vehicle production qualifications means that the production environment, production technology, and production quality of these companies have been improved, greatly improving the production levels of these companies.

The successful transformation of these companies into regular companies has also set an example for many low-speed vehicle companies.

However, everything must be viewed from two sides. Although these companies have obtained the production qualifications for high-speed vehicles, they do not have technological advantages when entering a new field, and development is relatively difficult.

After Reading acquired Mustang, it also took on Mustang's total debt of 3.834 billion yuan. However, Reading did not have the ability to repay these debts at once, and Mustang Motors has always been in the high-speed new energy vehicle market. There is no sense of presence.

After becoming a full-time official, Reading Automobile launched three high-speed electric vehicles, namely Reading i3, Reading i5 and Reading i9. The Reading i3 has a cruising range of only 100 kilometers on the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology website. The reading i5 has a cruising range of 255 kilometers on the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology website, and the reading i9 has a NEDC range of 400 kilometers. The sales of these three cars have not been officially announced, and they have not appeared on the sales list of the Passenger Car Association. Pass.

If Reading cannot quickly launch more competitive new products, Reading may be overwhelmed by debt.

The situation of Baoya is similar to that of Reading. After Baoya controls FAW Jilin, it also needs to bear FAW Jilin’s debt of 3.358 billion. After taking over FAW Jilin, Baoya needs to quickly tear off the label of low-speed electric vehicles, achieve transformation, and also improve FAW Jilin's operating conditions.

Companies that took the initiative to apply for and obtain car-making qualifications have not achieved very good results. According to public reports, Land Ark’s production base in Gaoming, Foshan has become a wasteland. Lichi, another low-speed electric vehicle company with car-making qualifications, was publicized by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2018 because it had the qualifications but had not built a car for a year. However, it launched several new cars in 2019, but did not Make waves in the market.

Some low-speed electric vehicle manufacturers that choose to cooperate with car companies are not doing well. In the cooperation between Kandi and Geely, Kandi has always been an OEM company, only for Geely is working part-time, but has not established its own brand, nor has it launched an influential electric car.

▲The models shown on Kandi’s official website are all Geely Global Hawk

In fact, low-speed car companies that choose to cooperate with traditional car companies have similar situations. Their essence is either to Traditional car companies OEM, or become subsidiaries of traditional car companies, slowly and completely lose their own brands.

Only Yujie has used the power of Great Wall to launch a new brand, but its car-making technology cannot compare with the car companies currently on the market. According to public reports, in June 2018, at the Qinghai Lake International Electric Vehicle Challenge, the leading A0-class pure electric vehicle K-ONE broke its axle on the spot during the competition, exposing the technical gap.

▲Leading’s A0-class pure electric vehicle K-ONE broke its axle during the competition

But these car companies still have a chance to break through.

The promotion of new energy vehicles will definitely continue to move towards the sinking market. When Chexixi interviewed Zhang Yong, President of Hezhong Motors, Zhang Yong once said that if new energy vehicle companies want to continue to survive, they must strengthen their focus on the sinking market. of excavation.

The advantage of low-speed electric vehicle companies is that they have a better understanding of the sinking market. These car companies have a better understanding of the demand for electric vehicles in third- and fourth-tier cities and middle-aged and elderly people. At present, low-speed electric vehicle companies have sold about 4 million low-speed electric vehicles in third- and fourth-tier cities, and have established a complete sales network in urban and rural areas.

But the only problem is quality. Low-speed electric vehicle companies have been producing low-speed electric vehicles before. The technical requirements for low-speed electric vehicles are not high, while the technical requirements for the production of high-speed electric vehicles are relatively high. . Low-speed electric vehicle companies need to spend a lot of money for technology research and development, but insufficient funds are also a problem for many low-speed electric vehicle companies.

When competing with traditional car companies, low-speed electric car companies must make good use of their advantages in the sinking market and gradually improve the quality of their vehicles. If these companies cannot make further breakthroughs in technology and security, then the final advantage will no longer exist.

Conclusion: Low-speed electric vehicle companies will still face difficulties after becoming regular companies

Previously, because the state’s supervision of the low-speed electric vehicle market was not strict, the low-speed electric vehicle market grew wildly. However, there are no very strict requirements for the production of low-speed electric vehicles, which results in the uneven quality of low-speed electric vehicles. Moreover, most of these vehicles do not need to be registered, and users do not need a driving license, leading to frequent accidents.

At this stage, in order to better manage low-speed electric vehicles, the government has strengthened the management of low-speed electric vehicles. The development of low-speed electric vehicles has entered a dilemma. Various low-speed electric vehicle companies have begun to rescue themselves. Baoya and Reading has chosen to purchase shares of traditional car companies to obtain the production qualifications for electric vehicles and plans to produce electric vehicles.

After acquiring the production qualifications of traditional car companies, low-speed electric vehicle companies have the qualifications to produce high-speed electric vehicles. However, it is still unknown whether they can produce qualified electric vehicles once they have the qualifications.

Although all low-speed electric vehicle companies are seeking to become regular companies, low-speed electric vehicle companies still face many problems.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.