After a long period of chasing deer, the competitive pattern of China's electric two-wheeler industry is moving from "Spring and Autumn" to "Warring States", and the market share continues to concentrate on the head enterprises. In 2020, Yadi Holdings (01585) became the first electric two-wheeler company in China to sell more than 10 million units a year, and this is just the beginning.
In 2021, Yadi's "Dan position" will go to a higher level, and hand over a business answer sheet with a substantial increase in product sales, continuous improvement in operating quality, and further consolidation of the leading position.
The volume and price have risen together, and the high-end results have been remarkable
According to Yadi's 2021 performance announcement, the company achieved sales revenue of about 26.968 billion yuan (RMB, the same below) in 2021, an increase of about 39.3% year-on-year; Gross profit increased by approximately 33.5% to approximately $4,102 million; profit attributable to owners of the Company increased by approximately 43% year-on-year to $1.37 billion, representing a basic earnings of 47.8 cents per share. Cash generated from operating activities reached $3,693 million, a significant increase of 66.5% from $2,218 million for the same period in 2020. The Company proposes to pay a 2021 year-end dividend of HK28.0 cents per ordinary share.
Zhitong Finance APP noted that Yadi's sales revenue growth in 2021 mainly benefited from the company's electric two-wheeler sales "volume and price rise". During the period, the company sold a total of approximately 13.86 million electric two-wheelers, an increase of 28% year-on-year. Among them, the sales revenue of electric scooters increased by about 17.9% to 10.209 billion yuan, and the sales revenue of electric bicycles increased by about 67.2% to 9.768 billion yuan. In terms of selling price, the average selling price of electric scooters and electric bicycles reached 1662 yuan and 1265 yuan respectively.
The average selling price of Yadi products increased, mainly due to the optimization of the product structure of electric two-wheelers. The company's Guanneng series of electric two-wheelers has sold about 3.9 million units in 2021, a significant increase of more than 35 times year-on-year. Guanneng series sales accounted for 31%. In addition, in July 2021, Yadi also launched its urban high-end brand VFLY. VFLY series products are jointly created by Yadi in collaboration with Porsche Design Studio and top design teams, and are committed to the ultimate experience of electric two-wheeler products from exterior design and driving performance to intelligent applications.
The operating environment has improved, and the siphon effect of the dragon head has become prominent
Zhitong Finance APP learned that Yadi's performance has continued to refresh the record high with a high growth attitude in recent years, which is caused by multiple factors. Externally, there are two main factors. First, due to the impact of the epidemic, users' travel preferences have changed, and the demand for electric two-wheelers that can effectively control social distancing has increased significantly.
On the other hand, in 2019, the new national standard landed, and the regulatory authorities clarified the relevant standards for two-wheeled electric vehicles. It is reported that the new national standard classifies electric two-wheeled vehicles as electric bicycles, electric mopeds and electric motorcycles, and all three models require 3C certification. The 3C certification process is complex and requires annual verification. Not only that, the production of two types of models other than electric bicycles requires the production qualification of electric motorcycles and the announcement of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
After the introduction of the new national standard, the market accelerated the elimination of small and medium-sized enterprises with insufficient qualifications and weak operational capabilities, raising the market access threshold for electric two-wheelers, while also leaving a market gap and bringing new replacement needs.
According to the data, there are about 250 million to 300 million electric two-wheelers in China, of which about 100 million are over-standard vehicles with new national standard replacement needs. Tianfeng Securities expects that in the three years from 2021 to 2023, the increase in the number of electric two-wheelers driven by the new national standard will be 15 million units, 25 million units and 30 million units, with an average annual compound growth rate of more than 40%.
According to CITIC Securities Research Report, between 2016 and 2020, the CR4 of China's electric two-wheeler industry has increased from 29% to 69%, and it is expected that CR2/CR4 will reach 51%/76% in 2021. This means that the "siphon effect" of head electric two-wheeler companies is gradually highlighted.
R&D, brand, ecological synergy resonates
According to the observation of Zhitong Finance APP, a major "internal factor" of Yadi's emergence in the electric two-wheeler market is that the company takes research and development as the core driving force of the value chain and continues to promote the brand upwards.
As early as 2015, Yadi established a first-mover advantage in the industry with a "higher-end" differentiation strategy, proposing better quality, better design, more refined manufacturing, more high-tech, better service and more exports, and establishing unique competitive barriers. According to the 2021 Ipsos survey data, the Yadi brand market performance is 36.46 points; the brand recommendation index is 37 points, ranking first in the industry. According to PR Newswire data, Yadi has the first brand recognition in overseas markets such as Germany, France, Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Spain.
With the continuous increase in product sales, to ensure the global market demand, Yadi's global production capacity layout and vigorous investment in scientific research cannot be ignored. At present, Yadi has a total of 8 production bases in Tianjin, Chongqing, Anhui, Wuxi, Ningbo, Qingyuan, Xuzhou and Vietnam, with a production capacity of 17 million vehicles in 2021 and an estimated production capacity of 25 million vehicles in 2025.
On the R&D side, Yadi's R&D expenses increased from 134 million yuan in 2015 to 605 million yuan in 2020, with an average annual compound growth rate of more than 30% during the period. In 2021, Yadi's R&D expenses increased by 39.4% year-on-year. Under the high R&D investment, Yadi has become the only enterprise in the industry with two national enterprise laboratories (CNAS laboratories) and six major technology research and development centers, and has become the first enterprise in the industry to invest in R&D, and has made breakthroughs in the industry in independent research and development of batteries, motors, electronic controls and other technologies.
In 2021, Yadi will continue to take the six platform technologies of power supply, power, vehicle, intelligence, ecology and big data as the base, and achieve breakthroughs in a number of core technologies represented by graphene battery technology, display product strength from multiple angles, and guide the development direction of the industry.
Take Yadi's second-generation electric vehicle, which will be listed in early 2021 and is very popular in the market, as an example. This series of products is equipped with the new version of the main development of the TNFAR2.0 range extended range system, TTFAR graphene three generation battery in addition to large capacity and strong conductivity, more hydraulic control cold-resistant black technology blessing, cycle life up to 800-1000 times, can also use TTFAR fast charger charger charging, the fastest in 3 hours full charge, support 1 hour fast charge 80% of the power.
In addition to the upgrading of electric vehicle products to high-end innovation, Yadi is also actively carrying out the ecological layout of charging and replacing. In 2021, the company released an intelligent power exchange solution for the domestic electric two-wheeler market. The solution adopts the world's advanced gogoro network battery exchange technology, integrates new energy power battery research and development, energy storage system, intelligent substation, charge and discharge management and safety monitoring platform, and is committed to building a new generation of smart energy ecosystem to bring more efficient, convenient and sustainable travel solutions for urban residents.
Zhitong Finance APP noted that in October 2021, Yadi officially launched the intelligent power exchange platform and continued to land power exchange products. In March 2022, it continued to land, and new stores in Hangzhou, Wuxi and Kunming opened in 3 cities, and launched the 02 electric beast.
Practice social responsibility and give play to the "soft power" of enterprise management
If it is said that product strength and brand power drive performance growth is Yadi's "hard power", then taking into account social benefits and environmental benefits is Yadi's "soft power".
In July 2021, when a particularly heavy rainstorm disaster occurred in Zhengzhou, Yadi donated 1,000 new national standard electric vehicles in the first batch, providing relief materials such as water and food worth more than 2 million yuan, and also provided road rescue and a number of free overhaul of electric vehicles to the disaster areas. Since then, Yadi has also allocated anti-epidemic materials for the prevention and control of the new crown epidemic in Zhejiang, Fujian and other places, donating more than 4 million yuan.
Zhitong Finance APP learned that since 2020, Yadi has carried out and participated in various forms of public welfare activities, including the establishment of a special public welfare fund of 30 million yuan, the donation of new national standard electric vehicles to help "fight the epidemic", and the holding of nearly a thousand activities for the Ministry of Public Security's "one helmet, one belt, safe travel" public welfare activities.
In terms of environmental benefits, as an advocate and practitioner of "low-carbon travel and green environmental protection", Yadi actively responds to the national "carbon neutrality" and creates green and environmentally friendly electric two-wheeler products that resonate with the times. According to the Zhitong Finance APP, as of 10:31 on March 29, 2022, the cumulative cycling mileage of Yadi products in the world reached 243.5 billion kilometers, reducing carbon emissions by 42.2 billion kilograms, equivalent to planting 2.1 billion environmental protection trees.
Yadi said in the financial report that in the future, it will actively seize development opportunities, focus on enhancing brand influence, expanding production capacity, expanding domestic and foreign distribution networks, expanding overseas markets and enhancing research and development strength, so as to provide customers with safer, smarter, more convenient, environmentally friendly and higher value-added electric two-wheeler products. With its leadership and solid foundation in the industry, it is confident in its overall business prospects in the future.
In the view of Zhitong Finance APP, with scientific and technological innovation to step on the pulse of the new green revolution era of travel, the "big era" belonging to Yadi has arrived, and the strong cycle of the company's development is expected to continue.