Author | Xing Siyuan Liu Xingzhi
Source | Face-to-face (ID: faceurhart)
Recently, some employees who claim to be autohomes have exposed the company's year-end layoffs on the pulse, saying that "the proportion of layoffs is 20%, the same day talks about the same day", "top-down layoffs, the scale is about 800 people", "compensation N+2 or N+1+ year-end bonus".
A recently laid-off Autohome employee told alphabet that it had laid off 20 percent of its employees in most departments, and his group was the hardest hit area, with seven of the 11-member group being laid off. "I still have the work on hand and I am suddenly told to leave my job by my supervisor and pay N+1+ year-end bonus."
In this regard, the alphabet list (ID: wujicaijing) asked Autohome for verification, and Autohome said that "the layoff of 800 people is absolutely not true, there is no layoff, but it involves the adjustment of the organizational structure at the end of the year." According to the official statement, the optimization range of personnel this time is not more than 5%.
Since the beginning of this year, the stock price of Autohome has fallen all the way. As of the close of trading on December 29, Autohome's U.S. stock closed at $26.13 per share, down more than 80% from the high of $137.84 per share during the year.
The Hong Kong stock market also performed badly. In March this year, Autohome landed on the Hong Kong stock market, closing at HK$180 on its first day, with a total market capitalization of HK$90.872 billion. As of the close of Hong Kong stocks on December 28, auto home closed at HK$58.50, with a market value of HK$29.8 billion, and the market value shrank by more than HK$60 billion.
Autohome's latest third quarter report for fiscal 2021 shows that the net revenue of Autohome in the third quarter was about 1.764 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 23.8%; the net profit attributable to Autohome was 522 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 38.4%. This is the worst quarterly earnings report of Autohome since Ping An took over in 2016.
Some investment banks have also begun to look down on Autohome. In August, Bank of America downgraded Autohome from buy by two tiers to underperforming the broader market.
The market's bearishness stems from its poor performance on the one hand. On the other hand, under the pressure of the two strong enemies of Yiche and Zhichedi, autohome was squeezed out of the first position in the industry. "Autohome has gone from being a solid online vertical market leader to a market player that is increasingly weakened by headwinds and competition," Bank of America said. ”
1. The foreshadowing of the fall of the auto home is buried in frequent equity changes and executive turnover.
In 2013, Li wanted to lead autohome to the U.S. stock market. Autohome opened at $30.16, up 77.4% from the $17 issue price, with a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, and Li Xiang's own value was as high as $152 million.
In 2015, Li wanted to gradually fade out of the auto home and prepare for his third venture. According to the data of Tianyancha, on October 29, 2015, Li Xiang stepped down as the executive director and manager of Autohome and was taken over by Qin Zhi. At that time, no one could have imagined that Li wanted to hand over the baton and Qin Zhi to take over the baton, but it was only the beginning of many changes in the autohome executive team since then.
Lee thought
On 15 April 2016, Telstra announced that it would sell its 47.7% stake in Autohome to Ping An Insurance Group of China.
Qin Zhi and management reacted quickly and made a privatization offer to the board of directors, and the autohome senior management team, including Qin Zhi, appeared on the buyer's consortium list with Boyu Capital, Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia China and other consortiums.
Although the price of the plan proposed by Qin Zhi was higher than that of Ping An, Telstra still rejected the plan.
For the privatization plan was not successful, Li Xiang said in his statement that from the point of view of time, it is a little late, and a full fiscal year for SDT is until June 30, so SDT is very motivated to complete the transaction and delivery before June 30.
Ma Gang, a former vice president of Autohome, wrote after learning of the deal: "The deal between O'An and Ping An bypasses management, just like a farmer sells a cow to a cattle dealer or a butcher, of course, there is no need to negotiate with the cow."
As the major shareholders, CED AND and Ping An Trust act in very different styles. Qantas recognizes and trusts Autohome's executive team, and as an absolute majority shareholder, they do not have a single executive.
Ma Gang said that in more than 4 years of working at Autohome, he has not seen a single white director. When the NYSE went public at the end of 2013, not a single white person from Austin was present at the dinner.
After Ping An Trust took over Autohome, a major change of management followed: Kang Yan became the president of Autohome; Lu Min was parachuted in as CEO; Wang Junlang succeeded Zhong Yiqi as CFO, and the above three successors were all from the Ping An system.
Some former employees of Autohome told the alphabet list that after the founding team was out, many old employees also left under the rapid change of the senior management team and the adjustment of strategic planning.
This big change of blood is not the end of the management change, and in 2021, Autohome ushered in a new round of personnel changes.
According to public data, on May 27, Zhang Jinyu, co-president of Autohome, resigned for personal reasons; on July 4, Zou Jun, chief financial officer of Autohome, also resigned for other personal reasons; on October 10, Wang Xiao, CTO of Autohome, also resigned for other personal reasons; on October 21, Liu Dong, director of Autohome, resigned for other personal reasons.
Some Autohome employees revealed to the alphabet that in the new round of personnel changes, the proportion of executives from Ping An has been less than 30%.
However, Tianyan's investigation shows that Long Quan, the current chairman and CEO of Autohome, once served as the deputy general manager of Ping An Property & Casualty. Ping An still has a considerable voice within the company.
Along with the new round of high-level changes, it is the fall behind of the autohome business.
According to the "2021 Q2 Mobile Internet Industry Data Research Report" (hereinafter referred to as the report) released by the third-party data company Aurora, in the mainstream automotive information APP, the monthly active users of the e-car application in the second quarter of this year increased rapidly compared with the same period last year, with the average value of MAU reaching 31.773 million, an increase of 57.2% year-on-year, surpassing Autohome and ranking first in the industry since the fourth quarter of 2020.
Autohome, which is facing the squeeze of easy cars and understanding car emperors, has triggered market concerns about its decline in performance.
2. After Ping An became the owner, Autohome tried to transform from a vertical information platform to an integrated platform covering the entire automotive industry chain.
In September this year, Autohome proposed an ecological strategy to the outside world, and joined hands with Ping An Group to expand its business territory and enter the automotive ecology.
However, while seeking horizontal expansion, the content products that Autohome has settled down have ushered in a bad review of the decline in user experience.
On social media platforms, complaints about the quality of Autohome content are not uncommon. Some car enthusiasts told the alphabet list that they prefer to understand the car emperor than the car home, "the content of the car home is too old-fashioned, the evaluation of the car emperor is more comprehensive, and the amount of information is greater." ”
Backed by Tencent and ByteDance, Yiche and Zhichedi also have more advantages in traffic acquisition and strategic adjustment. Some Autohome employees said on the pulse that after Ping An took over, the company's "Internet taste is 0".
After short videos became the outlet, Douyin Kuaishou has successively entered the automotive field, and The Car Emperor also launched the automotive short video community in 2017.
Autohome didn't start laying out video and live streaming business until 2020. The decline in user experience and strategic lag continue to exacerbate the pressure facing Autohome from competitors.
Report data show that in the second quarter of 2021, the mainstream automotive information APP monthly active average easy car series occupied the first place with 31.773 million, and the auto home system ranked second with 26.574 million, followed by the car emperor.
In the second quarter of 2021, the average value of the Masu has begun to approach the Autohome; and since the first quarter of 2021, the number of new users in the quarter of the Chedi has exceeded that of the Autohome. According to the current growth trend, it may only be a matter of time before the auto home is overtaken by the car emperor.
Looking back at the history of Autohome, from the highlight of the listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2013, to the frustrated departure of the founder in 2015, to the change of executives after Ping An entered the ownership, the business has fallen behind, and a once textbook successful Internet company is now also unable to escape the dilemma of expanding from vertical to full platform.
Resources:
"The Elegy of the Autohome - Dreams Drift zero in the capital game" Ma Gang
"2021 Q2 Mobile Internet Industry Data Research Report" Aurora
QuestMobile, 2020 Automotive Marketing Insights Inventory Report
"Behind the Cold Winter of the Industry: Autohome, Easy Car Network, and The Love and Killing of Che Emperor", Liu Kuang
"Autohome has no comfort zone", a guest