China has become an important center in the global auto industry, attracting many car companies to come to layout. The two former "iron buddies" Musk and Jia Yueting have gone to a fork in the road in this hot land.
Musk sees the huge potential of the Chinese market, firmly rooted in it, and has achieved remarkable results. Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory has become a global model for its operational efficiency and production capacity, setting a heavy tone for Musk's decision-making in China. He praised the integrity and efficiency of China's supply chain system as an important part of Tesla's globalization process.
Jia Yueting chose a long and winding path. He went to the United States with the dream of FF91 and tried to build his own new energy vehicle kingdom there. Due to various reasons, the road to mass production of FF91 was full of twists and turns, which made Jia Yueting fall into the dilemma of breaking the capital chain. At a time when domestic peers such as Gaohe Automobile have been successful, Jia Yueting's choice has been questioned.
Musk is bullish on the Chinese market
For Musk, taking root in the Chinese market is a smart move. China is not only the world's largest automobile consumer market, but also the new energy vehicle industry is developing rapidly, and policy dividends have been released.
Musk has a precise judgment on this. During his latest visit to China, he not only met with a number of high-level officials of the Chinese government and had in-depth exchanges on the prospects for cooperation between the two sides in the fields of new energy vehicles and intelligent networked vehicles, but also repeatedly expressed his confidence and expectations in the Chinese market.
"The interests of the United States and China are intertwined, like conjoined babies. Tesla opposes 'decoupling and chain breaking', and is willing to continue to expand its business in China and share China's development opportunities. Musk's remarks not only conveyed his understanding of Sino-US relations, but also demonstrated his determination in the Chinese market.
Tesla's development in China can be described as soaring. Since the start of construction in 2019, the Shanghai Gigafactory has shocked the world with its "Shanghai speed", and has achieved the "four consecutive championships" of start-up, completion, production and listing that year. Today, the plant is Tesla's largest single production base in the world, accounting for more than one-third of Tesla's total global production capacity last year.
Jia Yueting is in trouble in the United States
In stark contrast to Musk's Sunshine Avenue in China, Jia Yueting is in a difficult situation in the United States. As the predecessor of LETV Automobile, FF's dream originated from Jia Yueting's new thinking about automotive products in the mobile Internet era. This dream has been hampered by many obstacles on the long road.
The most serious is the crisis of the rupture of the capital chain. As early as 2022, FF was strictly investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and faced the risk of delisting. At that time, the verdict was that if it could not prove compliance within 34 days, FF would be forced to delist, thus completely cutting off its access to fundraising in the US capital market.
FF has not been able to achieve large-scale production and delivery. The data shows that in 2023, FF will only deliver 10 FF91 models, which is regrettable. FF's loss profile has also not improved, with a net loss of $304 million in the third quarter of 2022.
Faced with such a predicament, Jia Yueting had to start looking away and set his eyes on China, the hot land he had left. "FF's supply chain is trying to move to China, and we will bring FF91 back to China for manufacturing at the right time. Jia Yueting said. Whether it can regain its foothold in China remains to be seen over time.
Chinese car companies are replaced by the old and the new
Whether it is Musk or Jia Yueting, their fates are closely related to the replacement of the old and the new Chinese car companies. As the world's largest automobile producer and consumer, China's auto market is undergoing profound changes.
On the one hand, traditional joint venture brands still dominate. According to the data, China's automobile production and sales will exceed 30 million units in 2023, a record high, and joint venture brands have made an important contribution to it. However, the development of independent brands is also advancing by leaps and bounds, especially in the field of new energy vehicles, and Chinese car companies have achieved a leading position in the world.
Taking the "lifeblood" power battery of electric vehicles as an example, in the first half of 2023, 6 of the top 10 power battery installed capacity in the world will come from China, accounting for more than half of the market share. In the field of key components, Chinese companies are also in a leading position.
This pattern of alternating between the old and the new is pushing China's auto industry towards the high end of the value chain. With the continuous improvement of independent brands in terms of product quality, technical level and global market influence, Chinese car companies are moving from "Made in China" to "Made in China", injecting new impetus into the construction of an automobile power.
Two former friends are now in the "showdown of the automotive industry" in China and the United States, and their fate reflects the great changes in China's auto industry. This battle between the old and the new will ultimately determine the future of the automotive industry. In this process, China will play an increasingly important role on the global stage with its complete industrial chain system and rising independent innovation capabilities.