| "Finance and Economics" weekly Wang Xin
Edit the | Mao Shiyang
Following the new car brands WM, Nezha, Zero Run and other companies have been rumored to go to Hong Kong IPO, on January 20, according to Bloomberg news, China's "most expensive" electric vehicle brand Huaren Express is considering listing in Hong Kong as early as 2022, intends to raise no more than 500 million US dollars, and is cooperating with UBS and Morgan Stanley on IPO matters.
In this regard, the relevant person in charge of Huaren Express said that he was "unaware".
It is reported that Huaren Express was established on August 27, 2017, and its Gaohe brand cars are priced at a high price of 800,000 yuan, and according to the official sales report, Gaohe has accumulated sales of 4237 vehicles in 2021.
In fact, this is the first time that Huaren Express has been rumored to be IPO news. Previously, Ding Lei, the founder of Huaren Express Gaohe Automobile, made it clear that "Huaren Express has original capital from the United States, as well as government investment, and there is no plan to start social private placement for the time being, and there will be no A, B, C, D rounds of investment."
In the previous exchange, an industry source told the "Finance and Economics" weekly that Huaren Express is a key project supported by the government of Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, and after the decline of local car company Dongfeng Yueda Kia, Yancheng hopes to find a grip on the "new car" project.
Not long ago, on January 17, Huaren Express also signed a cooperation agreement with Qingdao City to set up a Chinese headquarters in Qingdao and establish Gaohe Automobile Sales and Service Corporation.
Even so, Huaren Express is also stepping up its financial operations, and in November 2021, Huaren Express reached a strategic cooperation with the Shanghai Branch of the Bank of Communications, which will provide 5 billion yuan of comprehensive credit support to Huaren Express Shanghai and its affiliates within the group.
In terms of sales, hiPhi X, the first model of Gaohe Automobile, which was established in August 2017, was launched in September 2020 and priced at a price of up to 800,000 yuan, because founder Ding Lei had co-founded with Jia Yueting, Gaohe HiPhi X and FF 91 were highly similar in appearance.
In the case of the outside world's unfavorable prospects, the 2021 Gaohe HiPhi X model delivered 919 vehicles in December, and the production exceeded 1,000 units. For this achievement, Ding Lei is very satisfied, "1,000 units is 700 million yuan in sales, which is equivalent to 7,000 cars sold for 100,000 yuan." ”
However, in today's new car brands, the monthly sales performance of thousands of vehicles can hardly be called a foothold. In the eyes of industry insiders, Gaohe needs to launch more volume products.
Just when the outside world believes that Gaohe Automobile needs to be grounded, on January 20, Gaohe Automobile issued a "Statement on Trademark Protection" through its official platform, saying that the two figurative trademarks applied by Renault Automobile in the European Union and some countries are highly similar to the graphic trademarks of Gaohe Automobile that have obtained design patents in major markets around the world.
(Source: Screenshot of Gaohe's Statement on Trademark Protection)
Gaohe Automobile said that the Reynolds icon is similar to the HiPhi icon, which may affect the brand development of Gaohe Automobile and bring some uncertainty to the ongoing Business Expansion Plan in Europe.
After sending a lawyer's letter to the unsuccessful notice, In October 2021, Huaren Express applied to obtain a provisional injunction from a German court, and Renault Deutschland AG was asked to suspend the use of the Renault icon in Germany.
"We safeguard our own rights and interests, and our actions are decisive and our attitude is resolute." Guo Tiefu, senior director of brand development and market communication of Gaohe Automobile, said.
In this regard, some industry insiders believe that in the past, foreign brands sued for local trademark infringement, and this time the situation has reversed.
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