After the cold winter of 2019, the situation of the new car-making forces in 2020 is quietly changing.
Editor’s note: This article comes from the WeChat public account “Invest in China” (ID: China-Venture), author: Fisher.
Ten billions of credits, IPO process… The new car-making forces that have opened up the blood of financing are reopening.
On the evening of June 6, Xiaopeng Automobile CEO He Xiaopeng posted a Weibo: “Three hardships, remembering hardships…”, with pictures of him and Weilai Automobile CEO Li Bin, ideal Group photo of auto CEO Li Xiang.
(from left to right: He Xiaopeng, Li Bin, Li Xiang)
The three founders, carrying three tens of billions of car-making dreams, experienced a series of layoffs, salary cuts, and bankruptcies. The good news is that the days of hard work are just around the corner.
On July 10, six banks in Anhui announced that they would provide 10.4 billion credits to Weilai Automobile, and then Tencent increased its shareholdings, and its stock price skyrocketed. Ideal Motors also submitted a prospectus to open the way to listing in the US.
Obviously, after the cold winter of 2019, the new car-making forces in 2020 are splitting up: a group of car dreamers represented by Byton has fallen, and another group of head-mounted dreamers Started to do everything possible to “survive”.
Fortunately, the new head-builders finally squeezed into a fast lane-“China needs its own Tesla.”
But getting tens of billions of financing and IPO is not a safe landing, can only say that the “warm up race” of the new car-making forces came to an end. Entering the “Qualifying Tournament” from the “Warm-up Tournament” requires a competition scale-who will live to the end depends on who sells 100,000 cars first.
This also means that the money-burning war of the new car-making forces will not end, and will continue, but these car dreamers have to burn and feed themselves.
Wei Lai came through: from the “warm-up match” to the “qualification match”
“China needs its own Tesla.” This view is becoming more and more obvious.
The value of Weilai Automobile is that it is China’s first luxury new energy vehicle brand. In China, the electricOf the four or five hundred thousand cars sold, only Weilai. Market demand is driving Weilai’s sales.
Compared with several other new car-making forces, Wei Lai is ahead in terms of financing progress and sales.
Since this year, Wei Lai has changed the difficult situation of financing last year, and the financing speed is fast.
From February to March, Weilai Automobile successively issued three convertible bonds, raising a total of 435 million US dollars; in April, the relevant investment department of Anhui Province invested 7 billion as a strategic investor; in June, it completed a 5 Additional issuance of US dollars.
Including the 10.4 billion credit this time, just over half of 2020, Wei Lai has received about 20 billion in financing.
At this time, Li Bin is not the “worst person” anymore.
“Hefei chose Weilai because it survived,” Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Car Federation, told ChinaNet.com.
Cui Dongshu believes that the current market structure of the new car-making forces has gradually stabilized, so Wei Lai, the best performer, has been recognized. Previously, out of a wait-and-see state, the government wanted to choose a leading company-“In the short term, state-owned capital will save new forces in car manufacturing.”
Under the pressure of funds, relying on local government capital and bundling and cooperating with local governments has become a common choice for the new forces to build cars.
On April 29, Weilai China headquarters officially landed in Hefei. Now it seems that the settlement in Hefei has opened a new financing situation for Weilai.
“Hefei’s government’s past experience in working style, and the matching of the needs of both parties at this time point have contributed to many factors. The vehicle is definitely what the government wants, and its industry chain driving ability and industry aggregation ability are It is difficult to compare with other industries.” Liu Zhiqiang, Director of Operation of China Merchants, said in an analysis of investment in China from the perspective of local government investment attraction.
In addition to funding, Weilai’s sales in the first half of the year were also very gratifying. In June, Weilai completed the delivery of 3,740 vehicles, an increase of 179% year-on-year, and hit a new monthly high, which has risen for the fourth consecutive month.
In the first half of the year, Weilai has delivered a total of 14,169 vehicles, up 88% year-on-year, and it is also the best performer among several new car-making forces.
Wei Lai has been growing steadily: sales in the first year exceeded 10,000, sales in the second year exceeded 20,000, and sales in the second quarter of the third year exceeded 10,000.
At the same time, Wei Lai’s stock market also changed its downward trend and rose up: As of the close of July 9 local time in the United States, Wei Lai Automobile closed at 14.57 US dollars per share, up nearly 90% from the end of June.
Since the official settlement in Hefei, Wei Lai’s share price has tripled, even higher than Tesla.
The total market value of Weilai Automobile also exceeded US$16.2 billion, ranking fifth in the market value ranking of China’s listed car companies, second only to BYD, SAIC, Geely Automobile and GAC Group.
At the same time, founder Li Bin can’t hide his joy: “Wei Lai has passed the dangerous period, and now a very important reason for not buying Wei Lai (Wei Lai is going to close down) has disappeared”; “I am confident to achieve 2020 The gross profit margin turned positive in the second quarter, and the gross profit margin reached a double-digit target by the end of the year”; “Wei Lai is a listed company with more financing channels than everyone thinks. Now we have entered the stage of “Qualification Tournament” from the “warm-up match.”
Before mass production, Byton is still not rich enough
“Li Bin still has a way.”
An industry investor said to China Investment Network: “The so-called winner is the king and the loser is the invader. In the car industry, money is everything and money is the winner, and if you lose money, you lose.”
The capital needed to build a car is far more than 20 billion yuan. In the current situation of selling a lost one, you need to use the funds raised to live a little longer: “The main force at the current stage of the new car-making forces is financing ability.” Liu Zhiqiang said.
In contrast to Wei Lai, which frequently receives large sums of financing, in this money-burning battle, Byton Motors fell on the eve of mass production.
Therefore, Wei Lai’s future depends on financing ability, and Li Bin is a key figure in Wei Lai’s “Capital Bureau”.
“Li Bin’s investment and entrepreneurial experience has made his circle of friends very large. He has made money for many companies, such as Tencent. These companies are more willing to help, so Wei Lai’s financing is smoother.”
“Xiaopeng and Li Bin are rich billionaires. They pay for their own pockets and have a lot of gambling, and investment institutions are willing to follow up. And founders like Byton are not rich enough, the communication circle is not enough, and financing It was not so smooth.” The above investors said.
As early as the first round of funding for Weilai in 2014, Li Bin himself paid $150 million.
Look at Li Bin’s capital circle of friends.The industry is in the process of accelerating the reshuffle, the weaker the weaker, the stronger the strong. “Caixin Securities said in its research report.
Who can win in danger, I believe there will be an answer within a few years.