The boots finally landed.
On the first working day of the Year of the Tiger in the Lunar Calendar, the "breakup drama" of Dongfeng Yueda Kia, which had been tossed for more than half a year, finally had the news of the real hammer. Kia Co., Ltd. of South Korea signed an expansion investment agreement with Yancheng People's Government and Jiangsu Yueda Group. Kia and Yueda plan to form a new joint venture with a planned capital increase of $900 million, and are expected to release a new company name in April this year.
Combing the financial reports of Yueda Investment (600805.SH) over the years, it is not difficult to find that since 2017, the operating income of Dongfeng Yueda Kia has declined continuously, and in less than 5 years, a total loss of 9.035 billion yuan has been lost, and the net assets have also plunged sharply.
The capital increase of 900 million US dollars is equivalent to 5.722 billion yuan according to the latest exchange rate. According to kia's performance report released on January 26, its operating profit in 2021 was 5.0657 trillion won (about 26.72 billion yuan), that is, 21.4% of the revenue profit was taken out to increase the capital of the Chinese joint venture, which shows that Kia also wants to give it a go in the Chinese market.
Give it a try, it is possible for a bicycle to become a motorcycle, but it is also possible for Audi to become Anto. Kia has set its sights on the vast market and growth potential of the Chinese market, and although opportunities and risks coexist, it cannot resist the temptation of the Chinese auto market.
To put it bluntly, the Chinese auto market has become Noah's Ark in the era of the epidemic and will play the role of the engine of the global auto market in the future.
Data doesn't lie. According to data from the China Passenger Car Market Information Association (CIE), China sold about 20 million new cars in 2021, an increase of 4.4% year-on-year, and China's share of the world's automobiles has reached nearly 33%, more than the market share of the United States, Japan, Germany and France combined.
The image is from the Multiplication Association
Especially in the new energy sector, China's new energy passenger vehicles account for 53% of the world market share in 2021, and the penetration rate has increased to 12%. There is a saying that this is the data of how many CEOs are drooling in their dreams, as the world's top five Hyundai Kia Group, how can it not eat such a big cake?
The question is, after the establishment of the new joint venture company, is it a bicycle to a motorcycle? Or did Audi become Alto? Although the final answer will take time to verify, perhaps in a year or two, but in terms of Yueda Kia's recent moves, we can also see some clues.
First, Kia has established a high-end route and abandoned the previous cost-effective label, which is the strategy and play announced by Liu Changsheng, the new general manager of Dongfeng Yueda Kia.
Frankly speaking, this is in line with the general trend of consumption upgrading in China's auto market, and Liu's thinking is not wrong. Because throughout 2021, China's car ownership will exceed 300 million, which means that the first round of car popularization has been basically completed. Coupled with the fact that the post-95/00 generation has gradually become the main force of automobile consumption, two factors indicate that China's automobile consumer market will enter a new stage, that is, a new era of personalized automobile consumption upgrade.
The problem is that Kia's cost-effective label in the minds of the Chinese people has been imprinted in the bones, and it is difficult to change in a short period of time, which means how difficult Kia's high-end road is. Take the Car of Jiahua as an example, although it has continuously dominated the MPV market in North America, it is still cold after coming to China as a global car.
The time of Jiahua's domestic listing is September 13, 2021, but from the perspective of new car traffic insurance data, its insurance volume in 2021 is only a pitiful 2204 vehicles. Why is it performing so poorly? Is the product weak? In fact, it is not, compared with GL8, Xena, Odyssey it is not bad anywhere, but it is the price of 28.89-33.99 million yuan to dissuade many consumers, everyone has the same idea in mind, who still buys Kia with this budget, although the whole can not be Xena, but buy GL8, Odyssey It is not fragrant?
The brand that used to play with cost performance is now transforming to high-end, which is a difficult road in itself, and it takes time to precipitate to change the stereotype of users. But the question is, how much time is left for Yueda Kia to play? One year, two years, or three years?
Second, Kia wants to make efforts to electrify and sell sales in the field of new energy vehicles, which was seen by everyone at yesterday's press conference. According to Liu Changsheng, Kia will take hybrid as a stepping stone to enter the Chinese market, accelerate the research and development of hybrid and pure electricity, and in late 2022 or early 2023, Yueda Kia will invest a new electric vehicle in the Chinese market every year.
No blowing, no black, Hyundai Kia Group does have a set at the R & D level, and the technology in the field of electrification is not bad. According to public information, Kia is one of the few car companies in the world that has a comprehensive layout of multi-power energy, with accumulation in the four major technical fields of hybrid, pure electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cells, and has mastered core technologies such as E-GMP, a global modular platform for electric vehicles, and pure electric vehicles such as EV6 have also been recognized by users in mature automobile markets such as Europe.
But the reality is already in front of our eyes, and none of the participants in China's new energy industry who are developing thousands of miles are vegetarians. Whether it is bydir, the light of domestic goods that has mastered the core technology of the whole industry chain of new energy vehicles, blade batteries and DM-i super hybrids are invincible all over the world; or the new Chinese car-making forces such as Weilai, Ideal, Xiaopeng and Extreme Krypton, whose products and technologies have amazed the world; or the electrification transformation of Tesla and traditional automobile giants, they are all opponents of Kia's headache.
To put it bluntly, the public has only seen a beautiful electrification blueprint depicted by Kia, as for how much acceptance of its landing? Will it be applauded or not? All of this will have to stand the test of time.
Kia in the post-Dongfeng era holds 75% of the equity, and in the case of absolute discourse, if it fails again, there will be no excuse and it will be able to return to the mainstream track, we will wait and see.