New cars are sold as used cars, and the collapse of Gaohe has begun?
Gaohe, which announced that it would suspend production for half a year, is still waiting for rescue, and the prices of its models on sale have begun to be a big "avalanche" in disguise. The HiPhi Y, priced at 339,000-459,000 yuan, was recently sold by Chen Dan, a second-hand car dealer in Shanghai, at a price of 220,000 yuan.
According to Chen Dan, the HiPhi Y in his hand was originally a store exhibition car, and the owner was a middle-level employee of Gaohe, who sold the show car to employees at a low price, and gave a certain subsidy during the exhibition, which was owned by the employees after the exhibition.
At a time when the company is in turmoil, these low-cost "quasi-new cars" are not only a hot potato in the hands of employees, but also a novelty in the eyes of second-hand car dealers. "There are still four or five (HiPhi Ys) in the talks, and it is estimated that they will arrive in the store in a while. Chen Dan said.
Before the launch of HiPhi Y, no one would associate HiPhi with "cost performance". At the beginning of its establishment, the goal of HiPhi was to reach the high-end luxury market of 600,000-800,000 yuan, and under the pressure of sales volume, in 2023, HiPhi launched HiPhi Y, which lowered the price to the range of 350,000 yuan, hoping to boost sales and pave the way for follow-up financing.
However, after the launch of HiPhi Y, the overall sales volume of HiPhi still did not improve, and the investment of about 40 billion yuan in the Middle East, which had caused heated discussions, has not been followed up so far.
The stagnation of financing progress has triggered a series of chain reactions: in October 2023, Gaohe was laid off by 20% of its employees, and some departments even laid off more than half; at the end of 2023, some suppliers suspended the supply of employees to Gaohe, and some small and medium-sized suppliers began to defend their rights; according to Jiemian News, on the first day of resumption of work during the Spring Festival holiday on February 18, Gaohe Automobile held an internal meeting and announced that it would suspend work and production for 6 months from now on.
These internal and external troubles eventually led to the collapse of the price system - for Gaohe, which is positioned as a luxury, this is tantamount to a fatal blow.
A
On the first day after the Spring Festival, Chen Dan, a second-hand car dealer in Shanghai who mainly does NIO business, drove a HiPhi Y into the live broadcast room. Circulation speed is the lifeblood of second-hand car dealers, and Chen Dan rarely received unpopular brand cars such as Gaohe before. The only thing that can make Chen Dan "don't die" is the price.
The HiPhi Y in Chen Dan's hand has less than 50 kilometers, but the price is only 220,000 yuan, and the price will only be lower. "This car (HiPhi Y) is now very cost-effective, and a lot of people ask," Chen Dan told Wujicaijing (ID: wujicaijing), "Dozens of people came to ask, and four or five people made an appointment to see the car." ”
A "high-level hunter" like Chen Dan is not an isolated case. On the second-hand e-commerce platform, searching for "Gaohe", there are a large number of new cars listed for sale, of which HiPhi Y accounts for more than half.
Cheap price is the common feature of these "brand new used cars", a HiPhi Y that was licensed at the end of last year and only drove 8 kilometers, the second-hand price is 80,000 yuan lower than the original price, which is equivalent to a discount of 10,000 yuan per kilometer.
According to the second-hand car dealers, the source of these low-priced new second-hand cars entering the market may be the Gaohe store show cars purchased by the employees.
A large number of licensed show cars have flowed into the second-hand car market, which may be related to Gaohe's recent store withdrawal. At the end of January this year, Gaohe Automobile successively closed some stores in Guangzhou, Chengdu and other places, and the explanation given by Gaohe was to "optimize the channel layout", while the shopping mall denounced Gaohe for "failing to fulfill its obligations in accordance with the terms of the lease contract".
The Gaohe store, which is still open, is hardly optimistic.
On the morning of February 19th, the alphabet list came to Gaohe Beijing Blue Harbor Store for a field visit. There are a few firecracker-shaped ornaments in front of the store that symbolize the festive atmosphere, but the store is dimly lit, few customers come to the door, and the only staff member is more like guarding the venue than it is open.
When asked about the status of other stores in Beijing, the employee said that the other stores had moved out, and that the Blue Harbor store was the last store of Gaohe in Beijing. When asked where the other stores were, the employee whispered, "It's closed." ”
Although the service is not active, the store is still selling cars to the outside world. The earliest HiPhi X on the market was sold with only one test car, the original price of which was 740,000 yuan, and the current price is only 360,000 yuan, a discount of more than half.
The reason for the discount is that the market has been on the market for a long time, the second is that the number of test driving kilometers is high, generally 1-20,000 kilometers, and the third is that the quality is really a little cold - there are obvious scratches on the wheels and obvious traces of seat driving. The clerk said that if an order is placed, Gaohe will officially provide maintenance, and if there is no need for maintenance, the price can be another 1-20,000 yuan.
Compared with the HiPhi X, the HiPhi Z that was launched later also has a lower discount, with a mileage of 2-30,000 kilometers for a test drive, priced between 450,000 and 550,000 yuan, about 70%-80% of the original price, and there is no discount in the store for the HiPhi Y that was launched last year. "The new model does not sell show cars for test drives, and there are no discounts, and the original price can be picked up in 6-8 weeks if the order is placed. The clerk said. However, the clerk did not give a clear reply to questions such as "whether there are still people who place orders", "who will produce after the order", and "how to guarantee after-sales".
B
Layoffs, store closures, work stoppages, and the chaos of sales channels are all signs that Gaohe is on the brink of life and death. The delay in the investment of the Middle East tycoon may be the last straw that crushes Gaohe.
In June 2023, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Investment signed an agreement worth SAR 21 billion (about 40 billion yuan) with Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Human Horizons to establish a joint venture to develop, manufacture and sell vehicles.
Less than a month after Saudi capital announced its investment in Gaohe, Abu Dhabi investment institution CYVN Holdings L.L.C injected capital into NIO, investing more than 3 billion US dollars, or about 23.4 billion yuan, in half a year.
But for Gaohe, this financing is precious.
At present, the new car-making forces that are still on the table have rich financing channels, including but not limited to bank loans, equity financing, secondary market fundraising, etc., and car companies with better sales such as Ideal have the ability to self-hematopoiesis.
On the other hand, there is only one financing information in November 2021 in the public information, and Bank of Communications Investment, a subsidiary of Bank of Communications, has provided it with strategic support of RMB 5 billion. For Gaohe, whose monthly sales are hovering around 1,000 units, the favor of Middle Eastern capital is tantamount to a send-off in the snow.
However, with the dual benefits of capital injection in the Middle East and the launch of the new car HiPhi Y, HiPhi was unable to pull up the growth momentum in one go. According to public data, in October 2023, HiPhi Y delivered 1,606 units, "a new high in monthly deliveries", but in December, in the data of the Passenger Association, the wholesale sales of HiPhi were only 564 units.
Under the sluggish sales, the actions of the Middle East tyrants seem to be a little hesitant. A number of media quoted Gaohe insiders as saying that the "life-saving money" has not been received, and the investment has failed.
Lack of money is the biggest problem facing Gaohe, but it is not the only factor that has slid into the abyss.
Ding Lei, the founder of Gaohe, is a veteran of the automotive industry. After graduating with a master's degree in 1988, Ding Lei joined SAIC Volkswagen, starting as a grassroots employee, and rose to the position of vice president of SAIC Group and general manager of SAIC-GM in 23 years.
After leaving SAIC, in August 2013, Ding Lei participated in the introduction of Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory project as the deputy mayor of Pudong New Area, Shanghai, and in July 2015, Ding Lei resigned from public office and later joined LeTV Super Auto as global vice chairman, CEO of China and Asia Pacific.
According to insiders of Gaohe Automobile, Ding Lei himself strongly opposes the outside world mentioning his experience of working with Jia Yueting, but in terms of car-making strategy, whether it is a high-end route or a product form, Ding Lei's Gaohe and Jia Yueting's FF are somewhat similar. Even the current status quo of Gaohe and FF is strikingly similar, and the two can be called a pair of "difficult brothers".
C
Spending more and earning less is another important reason why Gaohe is in the current predicament.
As the "number one", Ding Lei is a person who pays special attention to pomp. According to the alphabet list, at a media communication meeting in early 2022, Ding Lei first took the stage in a black suit to give a speech, and at the dinner that night, he deliberately changed into a burgundy evening dress.
Spending a lot of money is the characteristic of Gaohe on the bright side. Gaohe has a large operation center in Pujiang, Shanghai, covering an area of more than 30,000 square meters, with a construction area of more than 13,000 square meters, adjacent to the Huahua factory in the north, the Sanlu River in the west, and the planned river in the south.
Even in 2023, where the competition is extremely fierce, Gaohe has not stopped spending money. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July last year, two models of HiPhi Z and HiPhi Y were present. Ding Lei also flew to the UK in person to take a photo with the Duke of Richmond, the founder of the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
In the matter of opening a store, Gaohe also pays attention to pomp, and must choose the best location and open the largest storefront. For example, in September last year, the first overseas experience center of Gaohe Automobile was officially opened in Munich, Germany, and the location of this store is in the center of the ground floor terminal street of Munich International Airport, which can be regarded as one of the most densely populated locations in Munich.
There are many places to spend money, but few places to earn.
In the high-end market in the past few years, Gaohe can also wrestle with Porsche's pure electric models in terms of sales, public data shows that in 2021, the cumulative sales of Gaohe Automobile will be 4,237 units, and the cumulative sales in 2022 will be 4,349 units. Especially in 2022, in the sales list of luxury electric vehicles with more than 500,000 yuan, Gaohe also ranked first.
However, in 2023, the annual sales of HiPhi X and HiPhi Z, the two flagship models of HiPhi X, will only add up to about 3,000 units. According to the data of the Passenger Association, from 2019 to 2023, the average price of domestic luxury cars has dropped from 340,400 yuan to 328,000 yuan.
Just when the outside world thought that Gaohe was going to go down-to-earth, at the Guangzhou Auto Show in November 2023, Gaohe unexpectedly released a supercar model HiPhi A positioned at the million-level level. Obviously, Gaohe still hasn't let go of his son, and when the price war is raging, the bloodshed will continue to chase high.
On the other hand, there are too many technologies from suppliers piled up on Gaohe's products, and there is a lack of self-developed core technology accumulation. Over time, it will lead to insufficient competitiveness and poor cost control.
Take the HhiPi Y as an example. The automatic parking function is provided by Desay SV and developed based on Texas Instruments' TDA4VM processor series, the in-car camera vision algorithm is provided by SenseTime, a subsidiary of SenseTime, and the voice interaction is provided by iFLYTEK.
According to the alphabet list, at the end of 2023, Gaohe Automobile sought cooperation in intelligent driving from a technology company headquartered in Shenzhen, and hoped to quickly make up for its intelligent shortcomings. But as the negative news continued to ferment, the technology company finally declined Gaohe's request for cooperation.
D
Gao He's current situation can't help but be reminiscent of the last Weimar that fell.
At the end of 2022, Weimar began to lay off employees and cut salaries, and the company's dilemma of not being able to open the pot was completely exposed to employees.
On December 29, 2023, the Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People's Court officially accepted the bankruptcy reorganization case of WM Motor, and the first creditors' meeting is expected to be held in March.
Gaohe has not yet reached the step of bankruptcy reorganization like Weimar, but with layoffs and salary cuts, store closures and production stoppages, Gaohe is not far from repeating the mistakes of Weimar.
A person close to Gaohe told Alphabet that Gaohe's current strategy is to reduce costs through various means, clear inventory vehicles, and wait for follow-up investment or acquisition.
According to the Tiger Sniff report, Gaohe did have the action of "asking for help" from the outside world. Tiger Sniff quoted Gaohe employees as saying that before the Spring Festival, Ding Lei went to Qingdao to seek financial assistance, but in the end there was no follow-up.
Asking for help from the outside world shows that Gaohe's current problems can no longer be solved by the outside world alone, and the shareholders behind the company, Ding Lei's accumulation of contacts for many years, may be Gaohe's last hope to tide over the difficulties.
In addition to the support of Bank of Communications, in 2017, Human Horizons (Jiangsu) Technology Co., Ltd. was established, of which Human Horizons Holdings (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. holds 80% of the shares, and Jiangsu Yueda Group Co., Ltd. holds 20% of the shares, and the actual controller of the latter is Jiangsu State-owned Assets. In January 2022, Human Horizons signed a cooperation agreement with Qingdao to set up its China headquarters in Qingdao.
In addition, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), is in talks to invest at least $250 million in Chinese electric vehicle maker Human Horizons, as reported by Bloomberg in November. At the same time, PIF may buy a stake in the company at a valuation of $3 billion, and the details of the terms are still being finalized, and the two parties have not yet made a final decision.
With the support of the governments of Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Shandong, and the olive branch of Saudi capital, Gaohe hopes to tell a story like NIO to the outside world. , but Gaohe is not NIO after all, and the current auto market is also very different from 2020 when NIO got financing life-saving money. "Now (car companies) prices are too high, and there are certain risks in Gaohe, and institutions will have concerns. An investor told the alphabet list.
Although the prospects of Gaohe are not optimistic, second-hand car dealers do not want Gaohe to fall too quickly, at least wait for the car at hand to sell, "Behind Gaohe is state-owned assets, and it is no problem to operate for three or five years." When the alphabet list asked about after-sales as a consumer, a second-hand car dealer swore that he said.
Resources:
"The Slow Death of Gaohe Motors" power plant
"The Mystery of Gaohe Automobile Sales at an Unfavorable Start and Financing Failed" leveraged game
"Weimar "stumbled": withdrawing stores, laying off employees, and cutting salaries, Shen Hui said that he wanted to "close his life and live"" on the news
"Gaohe Emergency Response to Store Closure, Where is the Luxury New Power Brand Heading?", Beijing News
"Gaohe Automobile Announces Suspension of Production for 6 Months" interface news