According to the data of the China Automobile Association, the sales volume of major new car-making enterprises will reach 947,000 units in 2021, an increase of 215% year-on-year. Entering 2022, the new energy market will continue to be hot, competition is bound to be more intense, and whether new forces can continue the growth momentum is particularly important.
In the first month of the new year, the new forces handed over their report cards one after another, but it is not difficult to find that the previous pattern has changed. Xiaopeng Automobile delivered 12,922 units in January, an increase of 115% year-on-year; Ideal Automobile (hereinafter referred to as "Ideal") delivered 12,268 units, an increase of 128.1% year-on-year. Nezha Automobile delivered 11,009 vehicles, an increase of 402% year-on-year, and Weilai Automobile delivered a total of 9652 vehicles, an increase of 33.6% year-on-year. Weilai Automobile, which previously ranked first, is no longer in the top three seats, and for the ideal of ranking second, it is a challenge to maintain this achievement by relying on only one model.
Multi-party layout is conducive to increasing the value of the company
Delivery data shows that Ideal ONE has delivered more than 10,000 units for 3 consecutive months, and since the first new car was delivered, the cumulative delivery volume of Ideal ONE has reached 136356 units. Such a performance is inseparable from the frequent ideal actions of last year.
In terms of products, Ideal launched the new Ideal ONE in May 2021, and in terms of capital operation, Ideal was officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in August 2021. Zhang Junyi, managing partner of Oliver Twist Consulting, pointed out in an interview with the reporter of China Times: "The thirst for funds is definitely one of the important reasons for the ideal secondary listing in Hong Kong. Financing start-ups is an ongoing act that provides ample food and grass for long-term 'combat'. Choosing to go to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for secondary listing is also to consider opening up more diversified financing channels, equity financing is the most expensive way, and there will be a variety of methods such as debt financing and bank transition in the future. ”
The second is the increase in production capacity. In October 2021, the ideal Beijing green intelligent factory officially started construction in Shunyi District, Beijing, and after it is put into operation, the first phase will achieve an annual output of 100,000 pure electric vehicles. According to the plan, Beijing Ideal Automobile Co., Ltd. used the original Beijing Hyundai No. 1 factory to build a pure electric passenger car intelligent manufacturing factory, with a total area of 270,000 square meters and a utilization rate of 60%, maximizing the revitalization of existing existing plant resources. In addition, a new industrial innovation center and a supercharger station will be built to showcase the ideal latest models and product technologies to the public and provide ultra-fast charging services. In terms of channel expansion, as of the end of January 2022, Ideal has established 220 retail centers nationwide, covering 105 cities.
According to the financial report, in the third quarter of 2021, the total ideal revenue was 7.78 billion yuan, an increase of 209.7% year-on-year; the net loss was 21.5 million yuan, a decrease of 79.9% compared with 107 million yuan in the same period last year. At the gross profit margin level, the ideal gross profit margin in the third quarter was 23.3%, exceeding 20% for the first time, an increase of 17.7% year-on-year, compared with Xiaopeng Automobile Weilai Automobile, the ideal loss margin was the smallest.
Industry insiders told the "China Times" reporter: "The gross profit margin represents the efficiency of the use of funds by car companies, and further reflects the earning power of car companies." The positive gross profit margin means that the company's cost control ability and hematopoietic ability have improved. For the new forces of car manufacturing, the positive trend of gross profit margin means that it is one step closer to achieving large-scale production, after all, only by realizing large-scale standardized industrial production and batch delivery can we achieve substantial profitability. Conversely, the decline in gross profit margin means that the speed at which companies burn money is still faster than the rate of revenue increase, and the goal of achieving economies of scale is even more distant. And ideal, as the first enterprise to achieve a positive gross profit margin among the new forces of car manufacturing, can basically be said to have got rid of the situation of "selling one car and losing one".
However, it should be pointed out that this is also inseparable from the ideal business model of "one model to fight the world". Because the ideal ONE is the only model on sale of the ideal car, the large verification and testing costs generated by the ideal car at the beginning of the model development can be greatly reduced in the design and research and development expenditure required for the update iteration, and the cost is more controllable, and the revenue growth brought by the model in the later period is very stable. But at the same time, there are drawbacks, the dividend ideal of a model has been eaten for three years, if there is no more dimensional layout of the front, the lack of kinetic energy is inevitable.
The future race point will be a pure electric track
Zhang Junyi pointed out: "For the ideal, the success of a model does not mean anything, the future needs more funds to continue to invest, especially the ideal is also in the layout of pure electric vehicles, the future research and development costs will only increase." ”
Especially at the technical level, the ideal range extender technology is also relatively niche. Wang Xianbin, a senior analyst at the Gaz Automotive Research Institute, said frankly to the "China Times" reporter: "Compared with PHEV (plug-in hybrid vehicles) and BEV (pure electric vehicles) in the Chinese market, on the one hand, it can become an effective supplement to other routes, and to a certain extent, solve the mileage anxiety and charging problems; but on the other hand, due to the small number of market players, the market supply products are not abundant, it is difficult to cultivate the supply chain system on a large scale, and the future industrial costs are also facing certain challenges." ”
At the same time, the tilt of policy dividends and the broad industry prospects have made the field of new energy vehicles continue to be hot, and more and more technology giants have poured into the car-making track, which will face a more severe situation in the future for the ideal of only taking the extended range route. For example, Weilai Automobile, which has been dominant for a long time, also does not maintain its consistent advantage in the fierce competition, and ideal nature knows the importance of expanding competitive advantage, so it is also its top priority in the future to start accelerating the layout of pure electric technology tracks.
Ideal clearly stated in the prospectus that the company intends to use the net proceeds from the global offering to develop high-voltage pure electric vehicle technology, platform and future models, intelligent vehicle and autonomous driving technology, future program electric vehicle models; expand production capacity, expand retail stores and delivery and service centers, launch high-power charging networks, marketing and promotion; operating funds and other general corporate purposes.
The prospectus also shows that Ideal plans to launch a full-size luxury smart range extender electric SUV in 2022 and two other SUV models in 2023. Ideal Is also developing platforms for its future high-voltage pure electric vehicles, Whale and Shark, and plans to launch at least two high-voltage pure electric models per year from 2023.
Zhang Junyi told reporters: "The ideal choice of range extender route development before is also from the perspective of the actual needs of consumers and the previous slow construction of charging networks. And now the entire charging network is developing rapidly, the country is also vigorously supporting the development of the new energy industry, the ideal car naturally does not want to lose this opportunity, and more and more car companies have clearly announced the time to stop selling fuel vehicles, the future 2025-2035 single fuel vehicles are likely to withdraw from the mainstream stage, only the development of the range increase route will certainly not be feasible. ”
It can be said that the competition in the new energy vehicle market has become white-hot, and it is not easy for the ideal to keep the head camp from falling behind, and in order to cope with the continuous high investment in the future, the ideal has completed the increase of cash reserves and begun to find external financing channels. Whether it is the model layout or channel expansion, the ideal has a more long-term plan. The profit pressure caused by the research and development investment in new pure electric products and high-power charging stations and other businesses is also conducive to the company's long-term value growth. But after all, the launch of new models still needs a certain amount of time, and it is foreseeable that if you want to not be overtaken by the "rising stars", the ideal future will still face huge pressure.
Responsible Editor: Li Yan'an Editor-in-Chief: Yu Jianping
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