Yin Mingshan would not have thought that when he was over eighty years old, he would once again encounter the most difficult moment in his life.

On the evening of October 13, *ST Lifan issued an announcement stating that the company received a letter from its controlling shareholder Lifan Holdings and the company’s actual controllers Yin Mingshan, Chen Qiaofeng, Yin Xidi, and Yin Suowei on October 13. Notified that it received the "Investigation Notice" issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission on October 12 and 13 respectively. Because Lifan Holdings, Yin Mingshan, Chen Qiaofeng, Yin Xidi, and Yin Suowei were suspected of violating laws and regulations in information disclosure, the China Securities Regulatory Commission decided Investigate it.

The announcement shows that Lifan Holdings is the controlling shareholder of *ST Lifan, holding 47.08 shares of the company. Yin Mingshan, Chen Qiaofeng, Yin Xidi, and Yin Suowei all serve as directors in the company. The above four people directly hold 0.49 shares of the company in total; the above four people indirectly hold the company's shares by holding shares of Lifan Holdings***. 47.08.

As soon as this news came out, the industry generally believed that Lifan really had no way out this time.

We have no intention of echoing this statement, but from the current point of view, Lifan has indeed reached its end, and Yin Mingshan has also met his heroic end.

There is no doubt that Yin Mingshan was a hero.

He was once a household name in Chongqing. The two decks of cards in his hands: motorcycles and football, were once the pride of Chongqing. Lifan Motorcycles has surpassed the two established giants, Jialing and Jianshe, to become the leader in Chongqing's motorcycle industry. In 2000, Yin Mingshan spent 55.8 million yuan to acquire "Qianwei Huandao" and changed its name to "Chongqing Lifan Football". That year, the team won the Football Association Cup, becoming the first championship in the history of Chongqing football.

He was also the founder of Chongqing Automobile.

In 2003, in order to expand business, Yin Mingshan decided to enter the automobile industry, and Lifan Group immediately kicked off automobile manufacturing. He acquired 80% of the shares of Chongqing Special Purpose Vehicle Manufacturing Plant, and later increased his holdings to 95%. The trademark was completely changed to "Lifan", and he began to build a sedan production base in Beibei. In Yin Mingshan's view, "Toyota and Santana are everywhere. Ask Lifan people, what should we do?" "What's the difference between a boss without dreams and a drunkard?"

In 2005, Lifan won the He obtained automobile production qualifications and officially launched his Lifan 520 sedan on the market in 2006. At this time, Yin Mingshan was 68 years old. As an old man, he has ambitions for thousands of miles. In his old age, a martyr has great ambitions.

On November 25, 2010, when Lifan was listed on the Shanghai A-share market, it became China's first listed private car company. Yin Mingshan said that it was the "best gift" he received at the age of 73. After listing, the market value of Lifan Holdings reached 10 billion yuan, and Yin Mingshan became the richest man in Chongqing.

At this point, Yin Mingshan has reached the pinnacle of his life.

But it was also from the day he entered the automobile industry that he may have laid the groundwork for his current results.

In more than 10 years of innovation, Lifan Motors has successively manufactured and developed multiple models. Later, it also followed the development trend and launched new energy vehicles, but sales were relatively bleak. Yin Mingshan's "imitation" strategy worked well when making motorcycles, but when it was used to build cars, it quickly ran out of money. Lifan Motors, which had relied on imitation and plagiarism for many years, did not have the support of core technology. Both its product reputation and brand awareness were unsatisfactory, and its financial crisis gradually emerged.

In the increasingly competitive automobile market, Lifan began to lag behind, with both sales and profits declining.

According to the latest sales data of Lifan Co., Ltd., the company only sold 15 traditional passenger cars in August, a year-on-year decrease of 92.4%, and 49 new energy vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 78%; from January to August, the company*** 1,183 traditional passenger cars were sold, a year-on-year decrease of 94.53, and 661 new energy vehicles were sold, a year-on-year decrease of 60.54.

In terms of performance, *ST Lifan achieved operating income of 1.584 billion yuan in the first half of the year, a year-on-year decrease of 6.942%; a net loss of 2.595 billion yuan, a loss of 947 million yuan in the same period last year, a year-on-year increase of 173.99%.

Total assets are approximately 16.96 billion yuan, net assets are only 106 million yuan, a sharp drop of 96.12 year-on-year, liabilities are as high as 16.77 billion yuan, and the asset-liability ratio is as high as 98.87.

“Since 2018, Lifan has been at a critical moment of life and death.” Industry insiders said frankly.

The Car has Wisdom also lamented in "Lifan at the End, Desolate Yin Mingshan?|?Future Character": This octogenarian old man had to struggle to support his dream when his dream was shattered.

The reality is so cruel, and fate still has not given Yin Mingshan a chance to "die well".

Lifan also has a slim chance.

At almost the same time that Yin Mingshan was filed, the first creditors meeting of the reorganization case of Lifan (Industrial) Group Co., Ltd. and ten wholly-owned subsidiaries was held in the Chongqing Fifth Intermediate People’s Court. Court session. Lifan Motors' bankruptcy and reorganization officially kicked off.

The legal entity for Lifan in this round of court proceedings is Lifan Automobile Sales Co., Ltd. The audit results of the debt manager appointed by the court (referred to as the "manager") show that Lifan Sales Company currently has book assets of approximately 30 million yuan and fixed assets of approximately 15 million yuan.

These assets are a drop in the bucket compared to debt. In two months, the manager *** received declarations of claims from 489 companies, with a total declared claim of 1.128 billion yuan, and the final approved total claim was 699 million yuan. The main reasons for claims that have not been approved are due to pending litigation, unqualified reporting entities, and insufficient evidence. In other words, there is still a gap of nearly RMB 700 million between the assets and debts of Lifan Sales Company.

In addition, Lifan Sales Company has 162 pending civil lawsuits and arbitration lawsuits, involving a total execution target of approximately 870 million yuan. Among ordinary creditors, the largest single debt is Xi'an Branch of Ping An Bank Co., Ltd., with an approved credit amount of 284 million yuan; the smallest single debt is Xiamen Jianxiu Mirror Industry Co., Ltd., with an approved amount of 1,665 yuan.

It can be seen that finance is the only factor that determines Lifan’s survival.

A few days ago, *ST Lifan announced that Chongqing Liangjiang Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Liangjiang Fund") and Geely Maijie Investment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Geely Maijie") will serve as interested parties. Reorganize investors and participate in the restructuring of Lifan shares. According to information from Tianyancha, Geely Maijie is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Geely Technology Group, which is wholly-owned by the Chongqing Liangjiang New Area Management Committee.

This means that Geely has begun to participate in the restructuring of Lifan.

The major shareholder of Geely Maijie is Geely Technology Group Co., Ltd., and its actual controller is Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding Group. This means that Geely may take over and acquire Lifan shares. Some people believe that the latter's listed company shell resources, land assets, and financial licenses may be parts of Geely's fancy.

Public opinion believes that, on the one hand, as a listed company, Lifan’s “shell” resources can be “loaded” into other businesses, bringing more convenience to Geely in the capital market; on the other hand, it is beneficial to By laying out the southwest market, Lifan Motors' Chongqing production base can enjoy certain dividends in terms of industrial supporting facilities and local policies. Judging from Geely's current production layout, the main factories are located in the east and north. The acquisition of Lifan can improve its national production network.

The outcome is unknown.

It is worth mentioning that in June this year, Geely Holdings was repeatedly rumored to be interested in acquiring Lifan shares. In response, Geely Holding Group spokesperson Yang Xueliang denied at the time that there was "no such thing." Even if Geely lets Lifan see the light of day, it is still unknown whether Geely will retain Lifan. The most likely possibility is that when Geely takes over Lifan, it will be the time for Lifan to withdraw from the stage.

In general, underestimating the difficulty of building a car is the fundamental reason for Yin Mingshan's decline.

“The complexity of motorcycle technology is different from that of cars. It is not a problem of two wheels or four wheels. Management, funding and other conditions are not ready, and Lifan is very difficult to do.” Experts said This is how Lifan’s failure is interpreted.

In the eyes of the outside world, for Yin Mingshan and Lifan, who have been dragged into a life-and-death situation by debt, building cars is no longer the top priority, but paying off debt is.

No matter what the outcome of the China Securities Regulatory Commission’s investigation is, or whether Geely can save Lifan, the reckless era of Yin Mingshan and China’s independent car manufacturing has finally come to an end. The former richest man in Chongqing and the former giant car company have become a thing of the past.

"Do you still remember the dream you had when you were young? Like a flower that never adjusts to zero. Accompany me through the wind and rain, and see the impermanence of the world and the vicissitudes of life." I wonder if Yin Mingshan heard this song How do you feel when watching "The Price of Love"? (Written by? | Cars are smart? Wang Deyuan)

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