After Geely Technology planned to put the Western Headquarters in Chongqing Liangjiang New Area, the binding between Geely Automobile and Lifan was also deepened.
On December 13, Geely Automobile Holdings Co., Ltd. and Lifan Technology (Group) Co., Ltd. both announced that the two sides intend to jointly invest in the establishment of a joint venture. The registered capital of the new joint venture will be RMB 600 million, with Geely Automobile and Lifan Technology each contributing RMB300 million, holding 50% of the shares.
The formulation of the new joint venture company is undoubtedly good for Lifan's upgrading and acceleration of industrial transformation, while for Geely, it may still be for a longer-term strategic operation.
After the reorganization, Lifan walked out of the "intensive care unit"
A year has passed, and Lifan is no longer the Lifan that is deeply involved in the debt crisis.
In November last year, Geely participated in the restructuring of Lifan with the help of Chongqing Manjianghong Enterprise Management Co., Ltd., and later joined the main sail. In the process of reorganization, Lifan quickly "took off the star and took off the hat" in the first half of this year, and officially changed its name to "Lifan Technology".
After that, Lifan Technology really began to resume its automotive business. On May 18 this year, Lifan Technology's first power-changing model, 80V, rolled off the production line at the Caijia production base in Chongqing. At the off-line ceremony, Lifan Technology reached strategic cooperation with Cao Cao Travel and Easy Internet Technology, and confirmed the purchase intention of the replacement model.
According to the plan, Lifan Technology will also launch two power-changing models this year - 60S and 80X. Among them, the 60S will be a replacement Sedan for the taxi and online ride-hailing markets, and the 80X is a large-scale replacement SUV model mainly for official car customers.
From the release plan of several models, it can be seen that the first mass production of Lifan Technology will be a power replacement model mainly for the B-end market, and can be digested by Geely's travel companies. In fact, it can be predicted here that the "resurrection" of Lifan will be expected.
According to the latest production and sales express report disclosed by Lifan Technology, in November this year, Lifan Technology produced a total of 1510 new energy vehicles, an increase of 941.38%; a total of 1140 new energy vehicles were sold, an increase of 917.86% year-on-year. From January to November, Lifan Technology produced a total of 2636 new energy vehicles, an increase of 162.55% year-on-year; sales of new energy vehicles were 1970 units, an increase of 107.37% year-on-year.
In addition to the gradual development and marketing on the right track, the financial report has also improved. In the first three quarters of this year, Lifan Technology's total revenue was 2.56 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.79%; the net profit attributable to the parent company was 49.6361 million yuan, an increase of 101.44% year-on-year; and the deduction of non-net profit was 72.3343 million yuan, an increase of 104.46% year-on-year.
This means that the effect of Geely's entry into ownership has begun to appear. Moreover, Geely once again invested funds to establish a joint venture with Lifan, which may also be based on the trend of Lifan to the future.
Geely output again, the turning point of Lifan Technology has come?
Among a number of marginal enterprises, Lifan's "resurrection" has some incentive meaning. After all, not everyone can wait for the right person to be reorganized, and not all reorganization can bring the "marginalized person" back to life.
The deep binding with Geely is obviously good for Lifan Technology.
According to the plan, the new joint venture company will be established in the direct management area of Liangjiang New District, Chongqing, and its business scope mainly includes vehicle design, research and development, sales (including accessories, parts processing equipment, automotive decoration); import and export of goods, agent import and export, technology import and export; software development, technology development, technical services, technical consulting, and technology transfer.
The main goal of the joint venture is to "jointly promote the transformation and upgrading of Lifan Technology's automotive industry through the development, sale and operation of vehicles (including but not limited to tram exchange), so as to promote the rapid increase in the overall market share of its products in the passenger car market." At the same time, the establishment of the joint venture company can continue to promote the upward development of the Geely brand. ”
For the construction of a joint venture company, Geely's previous layout has actually laid the foundation.
On November 26, Geely Technology Group signed cooperation agreements with Liangjiang New Area and Fuling District respectively, planning to set up a western headquarters company in Liangjiang New Area, set up an innovation research institute at the same time, build an integrated platform for production, education and research, and incubate high-quality enterprises in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. At the same time, it will also invest in the construction of a 12GWh power battery project in Fuling District.
At that time, it can be seen that Jili entered the main sail in order to brew a larger layout.
From the announcement of the joint venture plan, it can be seen that the joint venture between Geely and Lifan is first of all a power replacement model, but it is not limited to this. In this regard, the industry is more speculative that the new joint venture company will invest in the construction of high-end new energy vehicles in the future.
According to the cooperation signed by Geely with Liangjiang New Area and Fuling District, and the rhythm of Geely's accelerated layout in Chongqing, it really does not seem to be a layout just for power exchange.
Moreover, last year's Lifan reorganization plan stated that Lifan will introduce intelligent, platform-based, and networked power exchange vehicle business to create a new brand, new technology, new format, new model intelligent power exchange new energy vehicle new energy vehicle new ecology. In terms of brand building, we will rely on the support of the Geely brand and the professional team of industrial investors to create a new brand, focusing on the B-end mass model market and the C-end high-end model market.
Combined with the existing layout, the power exchange model built for the B-end will be the first step in Lifan's transformation, or a step that plays a transitional and turning over role. The focus on the layout of the C-end high-end models may be understood as the focus of Lifan Technology after it is fully on the right track.
To sum up, the current Lifan Technology is still in the stage of just "coming back to life", and the upcoming 2022 may be a real turning point to verify whether Lifan Technology can completely turn over.
The joint venture between Geely Automobile and Lifan Technology is not limited to the conventional one plus one is greater than two, but the long-term layout of the two sides. This is not only related to whether Lifan can make a turn here and boost Chongqing's automobile industry, but also whether Geely's efforts in Lifan can get a longer-term "return on investment".