On April 7, some netizens broke the news that AVATR had reached an agreement on the acquisition of Gaohe, and Gaohe is expected to resume work at the end of April. At this time, there is only one and a half months left before the three-month turnaround window period in the mouth of Ding Lei, CEO of Gaohe Automobile. In this regard, some netizens said that they couldn't understand what AVATAR's operation was for.
Previously, on the third day of the announcement of the shutdown (February 22), in the internal meeting of Gaohe, Ding Lei had predicted that the window period for Gaohe Automobile to turn over was at most three months, and he would actively strive to make Gaohe tide over the difficulties. However, for the news, AVATR responded to Feiling Automobile on the evening of April 7 by calling it "fake news".
However, the ambiguity between AVATR and Gaohe has existed for a long time.
Previously, Ding Lei mentioned in his internal speech that at present, there are many companies outside that are interested in Gaohe Automobile, including acquisitions or investments. And just 9 days after Gaohe Automobile stopped production on February 19 (February 28), a photo of Ding Lei and Zhu Huarong, chairman of Changan Automobile, was exposed. At that time, some Gaohe insiders responded that Gaohe's visit to Chang'an and test drive were true, and the senior management of the two sides also had friendly communication.
Regarding the news that Changan Automobile may acquire 51% of Gaohe's shares, Zhu Huarong responded to questions from the media and said: "We are talking, but we are still far from 'proper'." This answer left room for Changan Automobile to take over Gaohe Automobile.
Subsequently, on March 1, Chen Zhuo, president of AVATR Technology, also posted on Weibo to support Ding Lei. Chen Zhuo said that Ding Lei is a respected industry veteran who has made great contributions to the development of China's automobile industry. "Gaohe Automobile is a company worthy of our respect, and he has also contributed to the development of China's high-end brands. Although Gaohe Automobile has encountered challenges at present, I am very confident that under the leadership of Mr. Ding Lei, Gaohe Automobile will be able to get out of the predicament. Chen Zhuo said at the time. Soon after, the official accounts of AVATR and Gaohe reposted it one after another. At that time, some netizens speculated that AVATR might take over Gaohe Automobile.
AVATR is a high-end new energy brand under Changan Automobile, which is jointly built with CATL and Huawei. In terms of equity relationship, its largest shareholder is Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd. (i.e. Changan Automobile), accounting for 40.99% of the shares, CATL New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (i.e., CATL) is its second largest shareholder, accounting for 17.10%, and Huawei mainly provides intelligent driving technology and parts. If AVATR is the main body of the merger, does it mean that in addition to Changan Automobile, CATL will also invest in Gaohe? Does it mean that Huawei will also participate in Gaohe car manufacturing?
These questions need to be further answered. The only thing that is certain is that if Gaohe uses AVATR to get close to the three leading manufacturers at once, its resurrection is still very interesting.
Of course, the outside world is more concerned about the positioning of AVATR and Gaohe after the merger and acquisition. From the perspective of positioning, the positioning of Gaohe Automobile is significantly higher than that of AVATAR, and the price range of its current products on sale is 339,000 yuan to 800,000 yuan, while the price range of AVATAR's products on sale is 260,000 yuan to 400,000 yuan. If AVATR acquires Gaohe, the two parties may continue to continue this brand positioning. In fact, there was also speculation that Gaohe would become a sub-brand of AVATAR. At the same time, Gaohe also hopes to achieve a greater degree of market breakthrough with the help of Huawei's intelligent cockpit and intelligent driving.
However, this assumption is also flawed. The first consideration is, does AVATR need a higher-end sub-sequence? From the current point of view, Gaohe's investment is still a bottomless pit, and Chang'an currently has a number of sub-brands, whether it has the ability to bear such a large investment.
It is worth mentioning that in the month and a half of the shutdown, in addition to looking for investment, Gaohe has been trying to find ways to save itself. For example, Yang Yueqing, project director of Gaohe Automobile, started a live broadcast with goods on the official Douyin account of Gaohe Automobile. Yang Yueqing said that the income from live streaming will be used for the income of after-sales personnel to ensure the after-sales problems of car owners. Gaohe's positive self-help has also attracted the understanding and support of most netizens.