Xiaopeng Automobile finds "opponent"

Text/Leju Finance Li Shanshan

"I've always suggested that Lei Jun build a car because the car will be cooler than the car."

He Xiaopeng, the helmsman of Xiaopeng Motors, said in the recently broadcast CCTV "Dialogue Challenger" column that he cautiously revealed a hint of publicity in front of the camera.

In fact, He Xiaopeng, who is "enthusiastic" about CCTV, is not the first time he has appeared on the CCTV stage. CCTV is synonymous with authority and traffic, and for He Xiaopeng, who came from the Internet, concept packaging is his strength, so he knows more about creating momentum.

Sure enough, as soon as the "instigation" Lei Jun's car-making skills came out, it attracted the attention of all parties and quickly appeared on the hot search, which can be called free brand promotion.

Lei Jun voted for He Xiaopeng twice

Compared with The company itself, the intersection of He Xiaopeng, the helmsman of Xiaopeng Automobile, and Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi Group, seems to be more concerned.

Over the years, He Xiaopeng and Lei Jun's friendship has been good. He Xiaopeng from creating UC Browser to founding Xiaopeng Automobile, are inseparable from Lei Jun's full help behind it.

As early as 2007, He Xiaopeng, who was not satisfied with "working" in AsiaInfo, began to go out to start a business, and successively created UC Univision, UC Mailbox, UC WAP and UC Browser.

During this period, He Xiaopeng obtained a 2 million yuan investment from angel investor Lei Jun through his partner Yu Yongfu. This investment is also the most successful of the many projects invested by Lei Jun, obtaining a return of 1,000 times and pocketing 5 billion yuan in cash.

He Xiaopeng, who no longer worries about money, after listening to Lei Jun's advice, decided to focus on the UC browser. Standing on the cusp of the Internet, UC Browser has gained more than 400 million users in just a few years.

UC has become bigger and bigger, becoming the traffic bearer in the Internet circle, and also becoming the "fragrant food" of capital predators. Subsequently, Ma Yun invested in the merger and acquisition of UC UVIS, and He Xiaopeng instantly had 30 billion real money and silver in his hands, and also achieved wealth freedom. After working for Ali for 3 years, he resigned and started a second business, focusing on the automotive field.

According to He Xiaopeng, when he planned to build a car, he went to lei jun several times, when Lei Jun felt that building a car was a very difficult thing, did not expect him to go, and reminded him: If you decide to start a business again, you must be mentally prepared to live a hard life, from business class to economy class, from five-star hotels to budget hotels.

But He Xiaopeng, who was already accustomed to tossing and turning, finally decided to build a car, and later Lei Jun still invested in him, took out 400 million yuan to give full support, and became He Xiaopeng's angel investor for the second time.

In August 2020, when Xiaopeng Automobile was officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Lei Jun also personally attended the scene and handed He Xiaopeng a one-kilogram gold brick as a gift.

In this regard, He Xiaopeng joked: "Every company invested by Lei Jun, if it can achieve an IPO, he will give the founder a gold brick, and UC's gold brick will be given to Yu Yongfu, so I want to start a business again for the briquettal." ”

According to the previous prospectus of Xiaopeng Automobile, the management of Xiaopeng Automobile holds 40.9% of the shares, He Xiaopeng holds 31.6% of the shares as the largest shareholder, and Ali holds 14.4% of the shares as the largest external shareholder. Other major shareholders include Xiaomi, GGV Jiyuan Capital, and Morningside Capital.

First smash 10 billion to build a car

In the matter of car building, He Xiaopeng has always suggested that Lei Jun join the car-making army. When Xiaomi really officially announced that it began to enter the automotive industry, He Xiaopeng also sent a blessing in the circle of friends: life is very short, we should have more courage, pursue their own wonderful, we must applaud the brave.

In fact, Lei Jun, who started with mobile phones, has always been obsessed with building cars. As early as 2013, he expressed his interest in Musk's Tesla cars. In the past decade, Lei Jun's investment in travel-related companies has also occurred from time to time, and statistics show that he has invested in at least 38 companies.

At the spring press conference in March this year, Lei Jun announced his entry into the automotive industry. Only three days after the official announcement, Lei Jun organized a party for the automotive industry, and the guests included almost half of China's intelligent electric vehicles, and He Xiaopeng was also present.

As we all know, building cars is a protracted money-burning battle, but Lei Jun does not seem to be short of money.

On September 1, Xiaomi Automobile Co., Ltd. was officially registered in Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone, with a registered capital of up to 10 billion yuan, and Lei Jun personally took command. In this way, with the registered capital alone, Xiaomi has a first-mover advantage over other new car-making forces.

According to the enterprise investigation, the registered capital of Guangzhou Orange Xing Zhidong Automobile Technology Co., Ltd., the operating entity of Xiaopeng Automobile, is 3.267 billion yuan, the registered capital of Weilai Automobile is 6.429 billion yuan, and the registered capital of Beijing Chehejia Information Technology Co., Ltd., the main operator of the ideal automobile, is 295 million yuan, which is far less than Xiaomi Automobile.

As the saying goes, it's good to cool off with your back to a big tree. Xiaomi Auto relies on the huge user group of Xiaomi ecology and good reputation, laying a solid foundation for its subsequent car sales. The data shows that xiaomi currently has 300 million fans and has become a veritable national brand.

Since the second half of this year, Xiaomi's car-making progress has also pressed the acceleration button. From registration, site selection, team building to capacity planning, Xiaomi Automobile is in full swing. In this regard, in October this year, Lei Jun publicly stated that the progress of car manufacturing exceeded expectations and is expected to achieve mass production in the first half of 2024.

Recently, it has been reported that Lei Jun has successively withdrawn from the director seats of a number of Xiaomi's affiliated companies, which has been interpreted as lei jun will focus on the car-making business in the future.

Lei Jun once said, "Xiaomi Automobile is the last major entrepreneurial project in my life. Willing to bet on the entire reputation of life, personally lead the team, and fight for xiaomi cars! This time, Lei Jun seemed to have made a bet.

State-owned asset credit endorsement

The relationship between Lei Jun and He Xiaopeng is not only an investment cooperation, but also a like-minded brother. This time Lei Jun entered the automotive industry, He Xiaopeng said that on the track of smart cars, he looked forward to having a good brother become a friend.

To have such an open-minded speech, its confidence may come from the fact that Xiaopeng Automobile has occupied a place in the market and is not afraid of challenges.

In recent years, Xiaopeng Automobile, as a new force in new energy vehicle manufacturing, has sprung up. The topic of Xiaopeng Automobile under the magnesium lamp is continuous, but the "hidden" state-owned background behind it is rarely mentioned.

Leju Financial Inquiry learned that as Xiaopeng Automobile 09868. Guangzhou Orange Xing Zhidong Automobile Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Orange Xing Zhidong"), the operating entity of HK, was established in September 2015, and the legal representative is Xia Heng.

In terms of business scope, the company is mainly involved in the technical research and development of vehicle engineering; auto parts design services; auto parts wholesale; auto retail and other businesses.

In terms of the company's equity, Orange XingZhidong is 98.5469%, 1.0640%, 0.3034% and 0.0857% each held by Guangdong Xiaopeng Automobile Technology Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Kaide Investment Holding Co., Ltd., Guangdong Guangdong Guangdong CaiCai Industry Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) and Guangdong Xiaopeng Automobile Industry Holding Co., Ltd.

It can be seen from the equity penetration that behind the second shareholder, Guangzhou Kaide Investment Holdings, is 100% held by Guangzhou Development Zone Holding Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Development Zone Holdings"). Guangzhou Development Zone Holdings is 90% and 10% each held by the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone Management Committee and the Guangdong Provincial Department of Finance.

It is understood that the holding of the development zone is currently Guangdong Kai Securities (830899. OC), Sui Hengyun A (000531.SZ) and Lidman (300289.SZ) are the controlling shareholders.

On the other hand, behind the three shareholders Guangdong Guangdong Cai Industry Investment Fund is also a state-owned asset background. It can be seen from the equity penetration that the institution is 98.0392% and 1.9608% each held by Guangdong Yuecai Investment Holdings Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Guangdong Cai Holdings") and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Guangdong Yuecai Fund Management Co., Ltd.

Retrospective equity shows that Guangdong Yuecai Investment Holdings is 92.1160% and 7.8840% held by the People's Government of Guangdong Province and the Department of Finance of Guangdong Province.

In fact, Guangdong Cai Holdings is a large financial holding enterprise directly under the Guangdong Provincial Government. Invested in Guangfa Bank, Huaxing Bank, Zhujiang Life and other financial institutions, initiated the establishment of E Fund, as of the end of 2020, the company's assets under management reached 547.8 billion yuan.

The introduction of two or three shareholders with state-owned asset backgrounds, although there are not many shares, this move is interpreted by the outside world as Xiaopeng Automobile "leaning on" the thighs of state-owned assets, paving a broad road for its subsequent financing expansion.

In March, Xiaopeng Automobile and Yuecai Holdings reached a strategic cooperation agreement, and the two sides reached a cooperation agreement of 500 million yuan on the investment of Guangdong Industrial Development Fund in Guangzhou Orange Xing Zhidong Automobile Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Xiaopeng Automobile.

On January 12, Xiaopeng Automobile and five banks in Guangdong Province formally reached a strategic partnership, and on the basis of the strategic cooperation, the five banks jointly provided a total of 12.8 billion yuan of credit lines to Xiaopeng Motors.

Protruding "sequelae"

In early December, Xiaopeng Automobile said that it delivered 15,613 smart cars in November, a year-on-year increase of 270%; as of the end of November this year, it had delivered 82,155 smart cars during the year, a sharp increase of 285% year-on-year.

Among the three car companies of "Wei Xiaoli", Xiaopeng Automobile is the first car company to break through the monthly delivery mark of 15,000 vehicles.

Not only that, the third quarter report of this year shows that the total revenue of Xiaopeng Automobile increased by 187.4% year-on-year, an increase of 52.1% month-on-month, reaching 5.72 billion yuan.

Among them, the sales revenue of automobiles reached 5.46 billion yuan, up 187.7% year-on-year and 52.3% month-on-month. From the perspective of delivery volume, Xiaopeng is the highest one in "Wei Xiaoli", reaching 25666 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 199.2%.

However, behind the sudden rise in sales, it is difficult to hide the problems of continuous losses, quality and safety.

According to the data, Xiaopeng Automobile's net loss in the third quarter was 1.595 billion yuan, almost double that of Weilai Automobile in the same period, compared with a loss of 1.148 billion yuan in the same period last year and a loss of 1.195 billion yuan in the second quarter of 2021.

Performance is only one of the hidden worries behind it, and Xiaopeng Automobile has also been fined for illegal operations. On December 14, Xiaopeng was fined 100,000 yuan by the Shanghai Xuhui District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau for installing cameras in several of its stores and illegally collecting 430,000 face photos.

At that time, He Xiaopeng once said that "building a car is not so smooth, but it is much more fun than the Internet." "Compared with the virtual state of the Internet, once the car has a bug, it will affect the safety of the driver's life." In addition to being fined, Xiaopeng Automobile has also been continuously complained by the owner of the car.

For example, in May this year, a photo suspected of a Xiaopeng P7 brake failure caused the owner to pull a banner to defend his rights caused an uproar on the Internet; in February this year, a white Xiaopeng P7 spontaneously combusted on the streets of Shanghai's Minhang District; and in August last year, a Xiaopeng G3 in Guangzhou's Haizhu District went on fire.

For another example, the owner of Xiaopeng P7 complained that due to the abnormal braking and steering wheel shaking of the vehicle, the Bluetooth key was often unusable, and the central control screen had a series of problems such as abnormal noise due to assembly problems.

In January this year, Xiaopeng G3 launched a recall due to the tin-plated terminal tin whiskers connected to the copper row screws on the DC bus capacitor of the vehicle inverter, causing a short circuit between the positive and negative poles of the high-voltage DC, which caused the start failure of the vehicle, and the total number of recalled vehicles was 13399 vehicles.

When this happens, if the vehicle is parked, it may not be able to start again; once the vehicle is in a driving state, it may cause the vehicle to lose power and there is a safety hazard.

In fact, Xiaopeng, as a new force in car manufacturing, may have certain advantages over "Wei Xiaoli", but it is difficult to compete with Tesla and BYD industry giants. In the future, Xiaopeng Motors will not only have a long way to go in terms of profitability, but also in terms of quality and safety.

Source: Leju Finance