For the automobile industry, this is an era with no certainties.
In the ebb and flow of time, you can become a hero sought after by thousands of people, or you can become a "street rat" that everyone shouts and beats.
Half of those new car founders who once stood in the spotlight and criticized Fang Qiu have left the scene silently. After the new car-making forces experienced a major reshuffle in the 1.0 era, the current situation is becoming increasingly stable. Six new car companies, led by Weilai, Xpeng, Ideal, WM Motor, Hezon and Leapmotor, have also officially entered the more brutal 2.0 battle.
Of course, there will be some occasional " For brave people who are not afraid of death, capital, business, and car building are still full of unlimited expectations and temptations.
Who else is not afraid of death?
In my mailbox this morning, an email appeared inexplicably, titled "Here he comes, he comes, he comes with "Healthy Car Life"! 》, even though it was positioned as an advertising email, “Here he comes” still attracted me to open the email.
"On July 18th, a unique "health feast" in the automotive industry is about to be staged! The heavyweight protagonist this time is of course - it!"
"July On the 18th, Tianmei ET5 will be unveiled for the first time in China and the price range will be announced. "
If it weren't for the email reminder, I would almost feel that Tianmei Auto, a new car brand, would be left in a corner.
Since Tianmei’s first model was officially named ET5 in April, this so-called new car-making force has made little progress. The old-fashioned form of communication, the painless release of public relations releases, does not seem to be able to arouse interest in this model.
On the contrary, the story of Skyworth Huang Hongsheng, the founder behind it, is even more exciting.
As I said above, this so-called new car-making force is actually not new. Because before the birth of Tianmei Automobile, Huang Hongsheng had been fighting in the field of new energy commercial vehicles for ten years.
Huang Hongsheng founded Kaiwo New Energy Vehicles in December 2010; today, Kaiwo New Energy basically covers everything from electric buses, logistics vehicles, sanitation vehicles to various urban public and commercial vehicles. type.
Compared to Gree Dong Mingzhu and Evergrande Xu Jiayin, Huang Hongsheng of Skyworth may be the first cross-border businessman to enter new energy vehicles in a strict sense.
In 2016, Huang Hongsheng registered the "SKYWELL" trademark, which was translated into Chinese as Kaiwo. The English name of Tianmei Automobile, which was established in November 2019, also happens to be "SKYWELL", which is similar to Skyworth's "Skyworth". Huang Hongsheng deliberately made both Kaiwo and Tianmei carry the beautiful meaning of All?is?well.
But to the outside world, this color TV "king" who has been working hard in the home appliance industry for half his life crossed over into the automotive field. In addition to wanting more capital, he has already entered the "60s" New car builders seem to have no more reasons to persist in this "ever-ending marathon".
Being questioned by the outside world has also become the label of Tianmei Automobile before it started.
But in fact, such doubts are well-founded.
As the leading domestic color TV company, the Skyworth in our imagination should be an image of making a lot of money. However, since Skyworth ranked first in the domestic color TV brand with a shipment volume of 9.94 million units in 2016, and its market share is close to 20%, Skyworth's marketing data has been "offline".
In 2017, Skyworth’s cumulative domestic sales of color TVs were only 7.81 million units, and its domestic market share dropped to 16.44; in 2018, Skyworth experienced its biggest performance collapse since its listing, with net profit in the 2017-2018 fiscal year A sharp decline of more than 60% year-on-year.
Recently (June 15), Skyworth Group’s share price fell below HK$2, and it suspended trading on June 17 and issued an announcement to repurchase shares in a large amount for the first time. Skyworth plans to spend HK$1.09984 billion to repurchase and cancel up to 392.8 million shares at a price of HK$2.8 per share, accounting for approximately 1.283% of the total shares, and will be paid in cash.
Skyworth's continuous losses completely reflect the current situation that its product power is insufficient and its brand power is not recognized by the market.
But in such a dilemma, Huang Hongsheng is still determined to take the road of new energy vehicles, and Tianmei Automobile must be born.
If the prediction is correct, Tianmei Automobile is the core of Huang Hongsheng’s second venture.
With Kaiwo Commercial Vehicles as a prerequisite guarantee, the arrival of Tianmei Automobile will undoubtedly enable Huang Hongsheng's new energy layout to walk on "two legs" of commercial vehicles and passenger cars.
But here comes the problem. The market of new car-making forces is accelerating the survival of the fittest and has entered the 2.0 era of competitive pull. Huang Hongsheng’s Tianmei Automobile does not have too many advantages. Such a "latecomer" has no chance of winning. How much?
The 2.0 battle for new forces
After a round of reshuffle, the new car-making forces have ushered in a period of smooth sailing in recent years.
Weilai negotiated a comprehensive credit extension of 10.4 billion yuan with six banks, but Tencent once again increased its holdings.
On July 13, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) documents showed that Weilai Automobile received an increase in common stock holdings from Tencent Holdings, increasing from 15.1 to 16.3. Tencent became the second largest shareholder of Weilai .
Not only Tencent, but also Li Auto and Xpeng Motors are favored by the capital market. The frequent moves by Meituan and Xiaomi have given the new car-making market a boom.
The new power market seems to have reached an era where others say, "After the survival of the fittest, all that remains are the kings."
First, let’s take a look at Weilai’s early financial reports.
On the evening of May 28, NIO’s financial report for the first quarter of 2020 showed that NIO’s total revenue fell by 1.59 to 1.372 billion yuan year-on-year; its net loss dropped by 3.55 to 1.6918 billion yuan year-on-year, becoming NIO’s first quarter financial report. The lowest single-quarter loss since listing.
Nio sold 14,169 vehicles from January to June, a year-on-year increase of 87.9, of which 3,740 vehicles were sold in June, a year-on-year increase of 179.1. In the large pure electric SUV market, NIO has become a brand that has achieved more than 10,000 units. The superior power visible to the naked eye is falling to NIO, and Li Bin will definitely not be the worst person this year.
As for Li Auto, it is a certainty to submit an IPO prospectus and go public in the United States. The cumulative sales of the promising Ideal ONE in the first half of the year were 9,500 units, of which 1,834 units were sold in June.
As a model that was only officially delivered in batches at the end of 2019, Ideal ONE has achieved good results that cannot be replicated in the industry, ranking second among independent new car manufacturers in terms of half-year sales. With such an Ideal Car, it’s no wonder that Wang Xing always spares no effort to express his favorable impression of Ideal Car, “If nothing major happens, Ideal ONE should become the first model among the new car-making forces to deliver more than 100,000 units.”
With the current upward trend of new car-making forces, even the attitudes of industry analysts have changed significantly.
For example, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America not only raised the target stock price of NIO, but also estimated that NIO’s monthly sales will reach 10,000 vehicles by 2022, achieving operating profit breakeven, and will account for 10% of China’s 19% of the high-end electric vehicle market.
As for ideals, in addition to normal capital operations, they are more interested in how L4 autonomous driving can enter the market from travel services and logistics services, which coincides with Wang Xing's point of view.
If Li Auto is successfully launched, Li Auto, which has promised that "there will be no other product iterations within three years," will inevitably make more breakthroughs in the field of driverless intelligence.
There is no doubt that among the current new power car companies, smart travel, smart car machines, and 5G services have become the most intuitive and fundamental way to survive after the new car manufacturing power enters the 2.0 era.
Huang Hongsheng’s adventurous approach
Perhaps it is precisely because the current first-tier car companies are constantly doing good things that makes Tianmei Automobile’s entry into the game at this time seem slightly embarrassing.
No matter what advantages Kaiwo’s sales and layout have in the new energy commercial vehicle industry, Tianmei Automobile is still a newcomer in the passenger car market, and it will face a series of user problems: How do people know you? , perceive you, experience you, and are willing to spend nearly 150,000 yuan to buy you. These problems that are completely incomparable with the commercial vehicle industry and the home appliance industry are pressing on this new brand.
But Huang Hongsheng, who has already taken the lead in Kaiwo commercial vehicles, obviously will not give up the opportunity to enter the passenger car market because of these unresolved problems.
For Tianmei Automobile, Huang Hongsheng once had this interpretation, "I still have a little adventurous gene in my blood, and pursuing new business territory is a way for me to take risks. New energy passenger cars are called This is a once-in-a-century Himalaya for the automobile industry. Tianmei Automobile must be a full-time investment in revitalizing the national industry.”
But even if Huang Hongsheng impassionedly injects good vision into Tianmei Automobile, it will not be the best for the industry. , Tianmei Automobile still needs to go back to the initial stage of a new car-making force. It needs product strength, channels, marketing, and funds.
Of course, all of this is not a problem in Huang Hongsheng's eyes.
Skyworth’s channel layout covers all of China, copying and pasting from the home appliance industry to the automotive industry, which seems to be a familiar path.
Hopefully, such familiarity can lead to a good start for Tianmei Automobile.
There is a series of astonishing figures in the timetable disclosed by Huang Hongsheng in 2019. "By 2025, Kaiwo Automobile's revenue will exceed 120 billion yuan, including buses, light buses, passenger cars, etc." The annual vehicle production and sales are 30,000, 70,000 and 500,000 respectively, and the main business income is 20 billion, 20 billion and 50 billion respectively. In addition, the main business income of parts and components is 30 billion; Tianmei Automobile expects passenger The production and sales volume of cars is 500,000. From 2019 to 2025, the production and sales volume will be 500,000 and the revenue will be 50 billion.”
Some people say that Huang Hongsheng is crazy; some people say that Huang Hongsheng is crazy. I really don’t understand cars.
But for a 64-year-old entrepreneur, so what if it’s crazy?
Compared with other new forces that need constant financing to supply, Huang Hongsheng’s Tianmei Automobile seems to be able to put money second. After all, what they want to do is to revitalize the national industry. Isn’t this dream and determination crazy? Can do it.
Text/james
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.