New energy vehicles seem to be becoming the choice of more and more people, especially in the current situation where oil prices are constantly rising, the cost of fuel vehicles is increasing, and it is more cost-effective to buy new energy vehicles.
On March 17, zhejiang zero-running technology co., LTD. ("zero-running automobile"), a smart electric vehicle company, submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and the joint sponsors were CICC, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and CCB International.
The delivery volume is about half of "Wei Xiaoli"
Founded in 2015, zero-run cars stated in its prospectus that "we were founded in 2015 by a world-class engineer and visionary entrepreneur with nearly 30 years of experience in electronics and artificial intelligence technologies."
According to the prospectus disclosure, Zhu Jiangming, co-founder of UOB Technology (i.e. UOB Shares, 002236.SZ), is the "world-class engineer" and "visionary entrepreneur" who founded zero-run cars. In December 2021, Zhu Jiangming stepped down as a director of Dahua Technology and currently serves as the chairman, executive director and chief executive officer of Zero Company, responsible for the overall business strategy and operations. At the same time, Zhu Jiangming, Fu Liquan (the controlling shareholder of Dahua Technology) and their respective spouses have a total of 31.01% of the interest in zero-run cars according to the concerted action arrangement.
Zero-run cars focus on the high-end domestic new energy vehicle market with a price of 150,000 to 300,000 yuan. At present, the company has released four models, namely the first production model to be delivered in July 2019, the smart pure electric coupe S01, the smart pure electric mini car T03 that will be delivered in May 2020, the medium-sized smart pure electric SUV C11 that will be delivered in October 2021, and the C01, a smart pure electric medium and large sedan that will be launched in the second quarter of 2022 and begin delivery in the third quarter. It is reported that the C01 body is more than 5 meters long, equipped with Leapmotor Power and 90 kWh of batteries, NEDC cruising range of about 700 km, 100 km acceleration time in less than four seconds. In the future, ZeroCar plans to launch eight new models by the end of 2025 at a rate of one to three models per year.
In 2019, zero-run cars delivered a total of 1,037 smart electric vehicles to customers, and in 2020, a total of 8,050 vehicles were delivered. In 2021, the company's intelligent electric vehicle delivery volume ushered in a substantial increase, with a total of 43,748 electric vehicles delivered throughout the year, an increase of 443.5% year-on-year. According to Frost & Sullivan, zero-run cars are the fastest growing of emerging electric vehicle companies in China in terms of delivery.
However, compared with the delivery of electric vehicles in the same period of 2021, Weilai, Xiaopeng and Ideal, which ranked first in the echelon, have all crossed the order of 90,000, and the annual delivery of zero-run cars is less than half of the above three, and it is still a long way to go to improve delivery.
It is worth mentioning that Zero Run Auto emphasized its global self-research and vertical integration capabilities in the prospectus. The company has developed all the key software and hardware in the core system and electronic components of the self-made intelligent electric vehicle, realizing the unification of the underlying interface, algorithm and data communication protocol. Zero-run auto said that the global self-research capability and vertical integration have made it different from other emerging domestic electric vehicle companies, and has brought itself three competitive advantages: excellent intelligent travel experience, industry-leading R&D efficiency, and significant cost advantages.
Strategic positioning and actual delivery volumes?
At the operational level, similar to many new energy vehicle companies, zero-run cars have not yet made a profit. The total adjusted net loss for three years was $4,374 million.
From 2019 to 2021, Zero Run Automobile recorded operating income of 117 million yuan, 631 million yuan and 3.132 billion yuan respectively, the company's equity holders attributable losses for the year were 901 million yuan, 1.1 billion yuan and 2.846 billion yuan, adjusted net losses were 810 million yuan, 935 million yuan and 2.629 billion yuan, and the gross profit margin was -95.7%, -50.6% and -44.3%, respectively.
During the period, the gross margin of zero-running vehicles improved, mainly due to the increase in the delivery of smart electric vehicles with higher margins and the reduction of unit costs due to economies of scale. Zero-Run Also said, "We expect gross margin to continue to improve as we scale up and continue to control costs and improve operational efficiency. ”
It is worth noting that although Zero Trotting Automobile said in the prospectus that it focuses on the mid-to-high-end domestic new energy vehicle market with a price range of 150,000 yuan to 300,000 yuan, the largest delivery volume of the company is the T03 model with a price of between 68,900 yuan and 84,900 yuan after subsidies.
Zero-run car intelligent electric vehicle delivery source: prospectus
As can be seen in the chart above, the T03 model occupies an absolute main position among the three models that have been delivered so far. Zero-run cars also said in the prospectus, "In 2021, our business mainly relies on the successful sales of T03. The financial reporter of Yin persimmon can't help but ask, the company focuses on the high-end market in the price range of 150,000 to 300,000 yuan, but the best selling is the low-priceD T03 model, is there a contradiction between strategic positioning and actual sales?
Secondly, zero-run cars in the prospectus to the global independent research and development capabilities as one of the company's strengths, "according to Frost & Sullivan data, we are currently the only emerging electric vehicle company in China to achieve global self-development of core systems and electronic components." "From 2019 to 2021, the R&D expenditure of zero-run vehicles will be 358 million yuan, 289 million yuan and 740 million yuan respectively, for a total of 1.387 billion yuan in three years.
However, the reporter inquired through iFinD, and the research and development expenses of NIO (NIO.N) from 2018 to September 30, 2021 were 636 million US dollars, 381 million US dollars and 429 million US dollars, respectively. There is still a big gap between zero-run cars and head Weilai compared with R&D investment.
In this application for Hong Kong stock listing, Zero Pao Motors plans to use 40% of the net proceeds for research and development, 25% for production capacity, 25% for business expansion and brand awareness, and 10% for working capital.
If it can be successfully listed, whether the zero-run cars in the second echelon of domestic new energy vehicle manufacturers can catch up with the first echelon with the help of capital is worth continuing to pay attention to.