"Throw yourself into the land of death and then live, and fall into the land of death and then live." - "Sun Tzu, Nine Lands"
Car brands are the best storytellers.
Three years ago, Fu Qiang, then chairman of AIWAYS, faced the chill blowing from the Huangpu River in the early winter and personally told the story of the bloody past that belonged to AIWAYS and two "blue-blooded automen" in the Shanghai shipyard with a mottled history.
Born in the 1960s, Fu Qiang, who was fascinated by cars from an early age because his father was a translator for Soviet auto experts at Jilin University, also made this seed that had taken root in his heart since he was a child finally blossom when he chose a major in the college entrance examination.
Fu Qiang, who has been wandering around audis, Skoda, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo for decades, met another close friend with the symbolic wisdom "blue blood" at the age when he should have known his destiny, and he saw it at the same time under the mediation of colleagues.
"At that time, Gu Feng and I were nodding at SAIC, and this colleague we were both familiar with found in their respective chats that I and Gu Feng were highly consistent in their views on the future of the entire industry, and they were also in the initial stage of their respective new careers, so they came up with the idea of matching us and doing a big job."
After years of cooperation, Gu Feng also told Fu Qiang about the interesting things after the tea and dinner between the two of them, saying that after saying goodbye, Gu Feng drove back and forth several times and missed the fork in the road to go home, only because at that time, his mind was all about the entrepreneurship that Fu Qiang had just talked about.
A good picture of a high and deep flowing water piano and song.
However, with the passage of time, even if the zhiyin such as Boyazi period is finally unable to escape the fate of the song finally dispersed, looking back and looking back at the car jianghu belongs to the "blue blood auto man" sentimental good story has long become a cup of singing. Gu Feng left Bailian in 2020, and Fu Qiang also changed roles after aiways' latest round of hundreds of millions of dollars in financing.
The 2022 New Year's Day holiday has just ended, after experiencing the C round of financing, the core senior management team of Aiways Automobile has undergone drastic changes, Chen Xuanlin, as the financier of this financing, succeeded Fu Qiang as the new chairman of Aiways Automobile, and introduced Zhang Yang, the previous vice president of Weilai Automobile Development, as CEO, while Fu Qiang himself retired to the position of president.
In layman's terms, Aichi Automobile has changed hands.
Before this round of financing, AIWAYS Automobile has completed 7 rounds of financing, including Ningde Times, Gimpo Investment, Didi Chuxing, Shagang Group, and Guangwei Holdings, which is actually controlled by the new chairman Chen Xuanlin, has also participated in the 2018 Series A financing.
From the book alone, Aichi Automobile can get an olive branch from different capitals every year, but in fact, the company has been struggling on the edge of life and death.
The data shows that in 2020, the cumulative sales volume of AIWAYS in China is only 2600 vehicles. "Our previous sales channels have been rolled out, but the epidemic has suddenly come, many marketing activities have to be suspended, and even the Geneva Motor Show has been cancelled and cannot participate in the exhibition."
Although Fu Qiang blamed Sales Waterloo in 2020 on the aftershocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the delivery report card of less than 300 vehicles per month in 2021 still cannot be a fig leaf for Aichi Cars.
Even in the most difficult time of the company, Fu Qiang, who only wanted to "survive", had also issued a tragic edict to the company that "regardless of the position, full staff marketing", but in Fu Qiang's eyes, the righteous behavior of carrying goods made ordinary employees bear the marketing KPI for no reason, and for a time the whole company complained.
Therefore, under the precarious situation of Aiways Automobile, Chen Xuanlin and the cash flow brought by dongbai group behind it play the role of firefighting captain. It's just that the fire captain doesn't seem to be satisfied with being the behind-the-scenes hero anymore, but takes the chairman's baton from Fu Qiang's hand and personally stands in the spotlight.
Chen Xuanlin went to the United Kingdom to study when he was young, and began to explore the world independently before the age of 18. Chen Xuanlin, who studied in the United Kingdom around 2006, was keenly aware of the opportunity for the domestic stock market to bottom out, and after careful consideration, he still decided to ask his parents to borrow considerable funds, and in just one year, he gained a huge wealth that many entrepreneurs could not reach in a lifetime.
After quickly completing the accumulation of original wealth, Chen Xuanlin quickly withdrew from the stock market and used the huge amount of money earned before to set up a professional investment company, Guangwei Holdings, which is the source of living water that has twice pulled Aichi automobile back from the edge of death.
"Low-key, pragmatic, smart, diligent, good at seizing opportunities and innovation are some of the key words for interpreting Chen Xuanlin and his people."
Zhang Yang, another person in the new leadership team, was also one of the indispensable roles for Weilai Automobile, such as Li Bin and Qin Lihong.
At that time, as the vice president of Weilai Automobile Development, Zhang Yang revealed his true feelings in the darkest moments of 2019, and also expressed his idea of how to turn the tide against the upside down.
"For NIO, we not only adjust the entire rhythm, but also improve the efficiency of the entire operation."
"First of all, car companies must have good products, and the next step is to find the endogenous power to support the brand."
"As Li Bin said, cars are not a winner-take-all market, and every brand has its own audience."
"In the long run, car marathons need continuous capital investment, financing is very important, car companies need to have such capabilities."
The combination of Chen Xuanlin and Zhang Yang has really hit the pain points of Aiways Automobile at present, and the investment company behind Chen Xuanlin can provide strong cash flow as a guarantee, and the real materials accumulated by Zhang Yang and Weilai Automobile in the tribulation and co-accumulation happen to be the right medicine for the lack of product characteristics and Internet thinking of Aiways Automobile, as well as the management problems left by the previous leadership team.
However, what must be viewed objectively is that Chen Xuanlin and Zhang Yang do not have the aura of identity as li bin, He Xiaopeng and other founders. This also means that AIWAYS Isa is more like a pawn of the two on the new energy track, rather than the son who can gamble his life on ALL IN.
First of all, Fu Qiang, who was once the founder and chairman of the board, has become less and less influential on Aiways Automobile after this round of financing, and there is also news that Fu Qiang may be transferred from his existing position to be responsible for the production and manufacturing business of Aiways Automobile.
In addition, Chen Xuanlin also has a Shanghai Vientiane Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd., which is actually controlled by Guangwei Investment, which currently focuses on creating new energy logistics models such as micro-surface, urban logistics cold chain transport vehicles and hydrogen fuel transport vehicles, and its customers include Jingdong Logistics, Cainiao Logistics, SF and other head enterprises, and in 2020, it will be on the list of new energy special vehicles at a high level.
Merchants never just put their eggs in the same basket.
Compared with Vientiane Automobile's booming in the new energy special vehicle market, AIWAYS Automobile is more like the opportunity for Chen Xuanlin to lay out the new energy passenger car track, and it seems that there is always a lack of a sense of mission like Weilai and Xiaopeng.
For most of the capital in the current market, ready-made goods like Aichi Automobile, which have a good foundation and strong plasticity, are not easy to find. Either they have already achieved the head power and the yellow robe is added to the body; or they have already been chicken feathers and left the scene.
In contrast, the U5 series of AIWAYS Automobile has been officially mass-produced, AIWAYS U6, U7 ion are ready to go, and the smart workshop located in the Shangrao Economic Development Zone is also based on the highest standards of the entire industry, whether it is product layout or factory endorsement compared to some head forces have not let much.
What AIWAYS really lacks is an interesting "soul" that resonates with consumers.
When Chen and Zhang's combination of punches with the right medicine was completely beaten, AIWAYS still had a large area of fertile soil to be reclaimed. After all, even Boss Jia, who escaped into the United States, can realize the dream of ringing the bell on the NASDAQ with the FF91 on the PPT, not to mention that it is really just a bit of a straight and masculine Aiways car in the big environment of the inner volume.
When the twin brother Byton automobile has been nailed to the shame column of "burning up 8.4 billion can not build a mass production car", how far can the Aichi car, which was born out of harmony Andyant, go?
Chinese willing to believe that willow dark flowers are another village.