(Original title: What happened? This car brand was officially named!)
The former car-making new force ranked second in sales, but now it seems to be facing difficulties.
Recently, the official WeChat account of Shanghai Qingpu District Consumer Protection Committee "Qingpu District Consumer Protection Committee" issued a consumer warning saying that Weimar Automobile Technology Co., Ltd.
However, as of March 5, this article is no longer available in the above public account.
In February of this year, Shen Hui, the founder, chairman and CEO of WM Motor, once posted on Weibo, saying: "WM Motor has indeed encountered some difficulties. But now it is adjusting through a series of measures to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and fully guarantee the resumption of work. Resume."
According to statistics from the Car Owner's Home platform, in December 2022, the sales volume of Weimar vehicles is only 30, of which the sales volume of Weimar W6 is 20, and that of Weimar EX5 is 10.
However, according to the industry data monitoring of Zhongche.com, the sales volume of WM Motor in the Chinese market reached 120 in December.
Whether it is 30 or 120, it seems a bit lonely under the background that the sales of new energy vehicles are often in units of "10,000".
What are the difficulties faced by new car-making forces like WM Motor?
"Consumption Warning" from the Consumer Protection Committee
On February 28, the WeChat public account of the "Qingpu District Consumer Protection Committee" issued a document stating that Weimar may be operating abnormally, and consumers are cautious in buying.
Since October 2022, the Consumer Protection Committee of Qingpu District has received complaints from nearly 90 consumers about WM Motor, reflecting that the company’s operations are abnormal, stores are closed, auto parts cannot be provided, after-sales service is stagnant, and manual customer service is absent etc., causing them to be unable to perform normal maintenance after purchasing Weimar vehicles, unable to repair the vehicle in a timely manner after a breakdown, unable to fulfill the signed battery replacement agreement, and unable to get through the customer service hotline, which has damaged consumer rights.
According to the analysis of the Consumer Protection Committee of Qingpu District, the price of most consumers’ car purchases ranges from 100,000 to 200,000, and the purchase time is around 2018 to 2022. Consumers report that the car cannot be maintained and repaired normally because the company cannot provide accessories the most concentrated question.
The article stated: “For consumers’ rights protection appeals and the mediation work of the Consumer Protection Committee, Weimar Motors currently adopts an evasive attitude, responds negatively, does not properly handle consumer complaints, and has not come up with any substantive solutions.”
Based on the above situation, the Qingpu District Consumer Protection Committee believes that the company's abnormal operation and lack of after-sales service have seriously affected the normal use of consumers and damaged the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. Warning: "The business address of Weimar Automobile Technology Co., Ltd. is: Weima Automobile Building, Lane 308, Xumin Road. Currently, the company's sales and maintenance are almost at a standstill. Consumers are advised to purchase Weimar brand cars carefully to avoid infringement of legal rights."
Today, the above-mentioned article is no longer available on the WeChat official account of the "Qingpu District Consumer Protection Committee".
What do you think of the Shanghai Qingpu District Consumer Protection Committee warning consumers to be cautious about buying WM vehicles?
Zhang Xiaorong, president of Deepin Technology Research Institute, said in an interview with reporters that the reminder from the Consumer Protection Committee has confirmed the rumors that Weimar Motors is in business difficulties from the side.
Since the end of last year, there have been constant news of Weimar Motors' difficult business operations. Although the company has been actively working hard to get out of the predicament, it still seems difficult to "turn over".
What impact will this "warning" have?
An Guangyong, an expert member of the Credit Management Committee of the Quanlian Mergers and Acquisitions Association and secretary-general of the Credit Investigation Committee of the CDO Alliance, said in an interview that the reminder from the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee indicated that there was an abnormality in the operating conditions of Weimar Motors, which led to consumers’ legitimate rights and interests. got damage.
This would have a negative impact on consumer confidence and adversely affect Weimar's brand image and sales performance.
For consumers, they should purchase carefully, and for Weimar, they should take timely measures to solve the problem, protect the rights and interests of consumers, and restore market confidence.
Dilemma of new car-making forces
The former Weimaraner was also a well-known new car-making brand along with "Wei Xiaoli".
In 2019, Weilai Automobile sold 20,565 vehicles, ranking first among new car-making forces.
Followed by Weimar, it ranked second with sales of 16,876 vehicles, surpassing many car companies such as Xiaopeng and Nezha.
But today, when the sales of "Wei Xiaoli" have broken through the 100,000 mark, Weimar seems to have stagnated.
In 2022, Ideal Automobile will deliver 133,200 new cars, Weilai Automobile will deliver 122,500 units, and Xiaopeng Automobile will deliver 120,800 units.
However, Weimar Motors, which ranked at the top in the past, will sell 29,500 vehicles in 2022. It can be said that the sales volume is only a fraction of that of its peers.
At the end of 2022, the sales of Weimar Motors have approached a stagnation.
According to the statistics of the owner's home, the sales volume of WM Motor in December 2022 will be 30.
The industry data monitoring of Zhongche.com shows that in December 2022, the sales volume of WM Motor will be 120 vehicles.
On January 12 this year, Shen Hui, the founder of Weimar Motors, shared a short video with lines on Weibo. There was only one sentence in it: "Live, live like an animal." This is a classic line from "Furong Town" , perhaps also the current situation of WM Motor.
In February of this year, Weimar Motors was deeply involved in the whirlpool of public opinion.
Shen Hui posted on Weibo, "Due to the objective impact of the epidemic and the market environment in the past year, Weimar has indeed encountered some difficulties. We are adjusting through a series of measures to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and make every effort to ensure the resumption of work and production and the end users' safety. Experience. After learning from the pain, we can pack up and start again! Thank you for your concern, and please don’t believe in rumors or spread rumors, and wait for our good news.”
In fact, since the beginning of this year, under the background of the withdrawal of the "state subsidy" of new energy vehicles, the pressure of Tesla's price cuts, and the difficulty of financing in the primary and secondary markets of vehicle companies, the new forces facing the problem of "surviving" are not limited to threats. The horse car family.
From the performance point of view, the current car-making new forces are still generally in a state of loss.
In 2022, Ideal Auto will have a net loss of 2.032 billion yuan, compared with a loss of 320 million yuan in the same period in 2021; Weilai Automobile's net loss will exceed 14.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 259.4%; Xiaopeng’s net loss was 6.778 billion yuan, an increase of 89.54% year-on-year.
On the whole, what problems are the new car-making forces facing?
Chen Jia, a researcher at the International Monetary Institute of Renmin University of China and an independent international strategy researcher, said in an interview with reporters that the main problem is "high cost". etc.), lithium resource prices fluctuate at a high level, coupled with the tight supply of automotive-grade memory chips, the cost problem has become the biggest shackle in the development of China's new energy vehicle brands in the past few years.
"At the same time, the production technology of China's new energy vehicle companies failed to achieve the expected breakthrough in the short term, resulting in the actual production cost of new energy vehicles not being effectively reduced. Lithium batteries still account for the vast majority of the cost of a single vehicle. This also makes China's new energy vehicles The actual pricing power of the brand is not strong, and its weight in the profit chain is not comparable to that of global lithium battery brands.” Chen Jia said.
It is understood that Tesla has achieved many technological breakthroughs in the field of cost reduction in recent years.
At the Tesla Investor Day event held on March 1, Eastern Time, Musk said that Tesla's next-generation models will adopt a method different from the gradual production of traditional cars, with parts being produced and painted simultaneously, and then one at a time. It can be assembled in a flexible manner, which reduces the assembly steps by 40% and the manufacturing cost by 50%.
Previously, Tesla's integrated die-casting and other technologies have also greatly reduced the production and manufacturing costs of automobiles.
According to Minsheng Securities Research Report, compared with traditional automobile manufacturing, integrated die-casting can increase production efficiency by about 79 times, shorten the model development cycle by 1/3, reduce manufacturing costs by about 40%, and reduce the factory area by about 30%. The number is reduced by about 10%.
For most of the domestic car companies, they lag behind in technological breakthroughs in reducing costs, so they are still at a disadvantage in the competition for the "pricing power" of cars.
When Tesla suddenly cut prices and launched a price war, many domestic car companies that are still losing money will easily fall into the dilemma of "selling sales or making profits". Some car companies whose price range overlaps with Tesla are also more likely to fall into Dilemma.
Zhang Xiaorong concluded to reporters that there are three main difficulties faced by the new car manufacturers: first, the market’s living space has been compressed, competition pressure is increasing, and market share is shrinking; second, the company’s innovation cannot keep up with the pace of market development. Innovation and business innovation capabilities are at a disadvantage in the market; third, the ability to control the industrial chain is weak, and it is difficult to compete with the development model of the entire industrial chain of leading manufacturers.
Is the price reduction of lithium carbonate a "savior"?
For a new car-making force like Weimar, one of the keys to whether it can "survive" is: when can it end the state of large losses and achieve a break-even.
In a recent earnings conference call, Li Bin, founder, chairman, and CEO of Weilai Automobile, said that Weilai is expected to achieve a break-even balance for the NIO brand in the fourth quarter of this year, and achieve a break-even balance for the company as a whole next year.
Last year, Weilai's net loss exceeded 14.4 billion. Where does it have the confidence to achieve breakeven this year?
Li Bin said: "If the price of raw materials reaches our expected rate of decline according to the current trend, we will not change the goal of achieving breakeven for the Weilai brand in the fourth quarter of 2023. Lithium carbonate has a chance to drop to 200,000 yuan/ton or even lower in the fourth quarter. .As costs decline, NIO can return to gross margins of 18% to 20% in 2023."
It is understood that at present, about 40%-60% of the cost of new energy vehicles is on power batteries, and nearly half of the cost of power batteries is on lithium carbonate.
From 2020 to 2022, the soaring price of lithium carbonate will become an important reason for the squeezed profit margins of vehicle companies.
Since the beginning of this year, the price of lithium carbonate has fallen sharply.
According to Wind data, as of March 3, the average price of domestic battery-grade lithium carbonate fell to 370,000 yuan/ton, a drop of nearly 35% from the price of 567,500 yuan/ton in November last year.
Regarding the price of lithium carbonate, Li Xiang, CEO of Ideal Auto, recently posted on Weibo: "According to preliminary statistics on the amount of insurance, in January and February 2023, the amount of insurance on passenger cars fell by more than 25% year-on-year in 2022; in addition, The proportion of new energy passenger vehicles has exceeded 30%. Conclusion: Lithium carbonate will have to drop sharply in any case, because the demand is far lower than expected.”
So, will the price reduction of lithium carbonate become the key to breaking the predicament for new car manufacturers?
An Guangyong believes that lithium carbonate is one of the important raw materials for electric vehicle batteries, and its price decline will have a positive impact on the cost reduction of new car manufacturers, helping companies reduce costs and improve profitability.
However, cost reduction is not the only way to solve the problem of new car manufacturers. Enterprises still need to improve product quality and market competitiveness, innovate marketing strategies and sales models, and improve user experience. Only by optimizing can they really get out of the predicament and achieve sustainable develop.
"Whether Chinese electric vehicle brands can survive and develop in the price war of the new energy industry chain detonated by Tesla, objectively does not depend on the price of lithium resources, but on the independent innovation capabilities of Chinese auto companies! If my country New energy car companies cannot effectively accelerate technological change, deepen independent innovation, and strengthen supply chain control capabilities. In the context of rapid technological change and changing market structure, they may not even be able to stabilize production, supply, and prices. When it comes to stabilizing the situation and improving the situation? Not to mention customer base development and consumer rights protection.” Chen Jia said.
Chen Jia believes that the warning issued by the Consumer Protection Committee of Qingpu District is not only a risk reminder for consumers, but also a risk control warning for all enterprises in the new energy vehicle industry chain. The strong Chinese new energy vehicle brands should take precautions Therefore, the weak should catch up and strive to smoothly survive the current technology and market battle set off by Tesla.