Renault Brilliance Gold Cup filed for bankruptcy, and Renault's joint ventures in China were defeated

Wen | author of "Finance and Economics" Weekly, Wang Xin

Editor| Mao Shiyang

Due to the debt-laden Brilliance Group is still postponing the proposal for the merger and reorganization of his 12 enterprises, on December 30, 2021, Brilliance's other joint venture company, Renault Brilliance Capital Cup Automobile, came with bad news.

On December 30, according to the National Enterprise Bankruptcy and Reorganization Case Information Network, Brilliance Renault Jinbei Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Brilliance Renault Jinbei" filed for bankruptcy, case number is (2021) Liao01 Breaking Shen No. 24, and the economic court is the Intermediate People's Court of Shenyang City, Liaoning Province.

It is worth noting that the bankruptcy of the Renault Brilliance Gold Cup has long been foreshadowed. A week ago, some media exposed that Renault Brilliance Jinbei was defended by employees and suppliers for arrears of wages. Earlier, Renault Brilliance Gold Cup was exposed to be in arrears with suppliers.

Suspension of wage payments and arrears of payments to suppliers

On December 21, according to the "First Finance" report, the Renault Brilliance Gold Cup has begun to suspend the payment of wages. "We received notice yesterday that the payroll has been suspended." An employee of Renault Brilliance Gold Cup said.

According to the above-mentioned personnel, the company's meeting information on December 20 shows: 1, from now on the suspension of wage payment; 2, various insurance and provident fund suspension payment (only pay medical insurance); 3, this year's heating fee has been put on the agenda, reimbursement or not specific waiting for the result.

Previously, some employees revealed to the outside world, "Many people have left, and Great Wall Motors has received many people from Renault Brilliance Gold Cup." In addition, some suppliers disclosed that the Renault Brilliance Gold Cup has been in arrears for several months and has sued the Renault Brilliance Gold Cup in court.

According to the risk information of Tianyancha, the company's current execution amount has exceeded 9 million yuan.

In fact, at the beginning of 2020, the Renault Brilliance Golden Cup began to carry out organizational reform, announcing that it would "launch the independent entrepreneurship plan for auxiliary employees". In December of that year, employees within the Renault Brilliance Golden Cup revealed that the company planned to reduce the total number of employees by 30% to 40%.

Brilliance's second joint venture was in jeopardy and Renault lost to China

There has been no further progress in the bankruptcy and reorganization of Brilliance Group, but the Renault Brilliance Gold Cup has ushered in the expiration of the 4-year joint venture contract.

On December 15, 2017, after a year and a half of negotiations, Brilliance China and Renault Group formally signed a contract to form a joint venture company, Renault Brilliance Jinbei Co., Ltd., which plans to produce and sell light commercial vehicles under the three brands of Jinbei, Renault and Huasong.

Founded in 1989, brilliance Gold Cup reached a historical peak of losses at the beginning of 2017, and if government subsidies are not counted, the company lost 424 million yuan that year, and the accumulated debt also exceeded 1 billion yuan. As a result, Brilliance Auto Group sold 49% of the equity of Shenyang Brilliance Jinbei Automobile Co., Ltd. to Renault for 1 yuan. They hope that in the future, the two sides will further invest 1.5 billion yuan to achieve a turnaround in the light passenger business.

Qi Yumin, then chairman of Brilliance AutoMotive Group, said frankly, "The development of Brilliance Jinbei has indeed encountered difficulties, in this case, how to make the two brands of Jinbei and Huasong 'how fast and economical' to develop is a problem I have been considering, and the establishment of a new joint venture company and the vigorous development of Jinbei on this platform, the purpose is to make Jinbei turn losses into profits as soon as possible." ”

According to the data, in 2018, The Renault Brilliance Gold Cup sold 43,000 vehicles, down nearly 30% year-on-year; in 2019, sales were 40,200 units, down 6.5% year-on-year; and sales in 2020 were about 23,000 units, down another 42.8% year-on-year.

On November 24, 2020, just four days after Brilliance Group announced bankruptcy reorganization, the first model of the Brilliance Renault Gold Cup Joint Venture, the Jinbei Hiace King, was officially launched. Prior to this, the main models were only the Jinbei F50 and SUV Jinbei Guanjing.

However, according to the official plan, by 2023, 5 core competitive models will be launched, and it will also enter the electric light bus market, and by 2025, the proportion of mid-size vans in the Renault Brilliance Gold Cup will reach 15%.

In January this year, the Renault Brilliance Gold Cup received the last capital injection from both sides of the joint venture, a total of 600 million yuan, and the French side paid 300 million yuan, "since then there has been no new financial income."

In April last year, Dongfeng Renault disintegrated, and Renault brand passenger cars announced their withdrawal from the Chinese market. When the wind is around, will the Renault Brilliance Gold Cup also collapse, and will Renault "lose" China?

There are signs that Renault seems to have lost faith in Brilliance. In September this year, foreign media reported that Renault was rectifying its troubled Chinese business, and was currently in in-depth discussions on the end of the commercial vehicle joint venture with Brilliance Automotive, and Renault French representatives had left China one after another.

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