As the only sector driving the growth of Beijing Automobile's sales and profits, the sales change of Beijing Benz directly affected the performance of the entire Beijing Automobile. For Beijing Motor, 2021 can be described as a year of tragedy and joy.
The 2021 financial report released by BAIC Motor recently shows the difficulty of its business restructuring. According to the financial report data, BAIC Motor's operating income in 2021 was 175.916 billion yuan, a slight decrease of 0.6% year-on-year, and the gross profit was 37.643 billion yuan, down 10.67% year-on-year. However, BAIC Motor's annual net profit reached 15.151 billion yuan, an increase of 16.95% year-on-year, and the net profit attributable to the company's equity holders was 3.858 billion yuan, an increase of 90.17% year-on-year.
Through calculations, it can be seen that the dependence of BAIC Motor's overall revenue on Beijing Benz has further increased to 95.48%. Beijing Motor, which has been pulled by Mercedes-Benz, has achieved growth in net profit in the face of a decline in sales, revenue and gross profit. What's going on behind this? Profits all depend on Beijing Benz?
Beijing Benz is still the "thigh" of Beijing Automobile
According to public information, BAIC Motor is one of the five major automobile groups in China, including the four major passenger car businesses of Beijing brand, Beijing Benz, Beijing Hyundai and Fujian Benz. Its revenue in 2021 will still mainly come from the contribution of Beijing Benz. According to the financial report, the revenue of Beijing Benz in 2021 was 167.966 billion yuan, accounting for 95.48% of the total revenue of Beijing Automobile.
However, due to the repeated epidemic and chip shortage, Beijing Benz sold 561,000 vehicles in 2021, down 8.18% year-on-year, and even if sales fell, it still contributed more than 50% of BEIJING Motor's sales. Among them, the three main models of Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan, C-class sedan and GLC SUV achieved average monthly sales of more than 10,000 yuan. It is worth mentioning that Beijing Benz has become the world's highest-output Mercedes-Benz passenger car production and manufacturing base.
Because of the decline in sales, the revenue and gross profit of Beijing Benz have also declined. Among them, the gross profit of Beijing Benz fell by 8.1% year-on-year to 42.255 billion yuan, and the gross profit margin also fell from 27.1% in 2021 to 25.2%. This is also the main reason for the decline in Beijing's automobile sales, revenue and gross profit. It is worth mentioning that the gross profit of Beijing Benz's bicycles has risen from 75,200 yuan in 2020 to 75,300 yuan in 2021. Beijing Benz's strong premium ability helped BAIC achieve a net profit of 3.858 billion yuan.
From the above, it can be seen that Beijing Benz continues to become the "profit cow" of Beijing Benz without suspense. However, since bmw group's shareholding ratio in BMW Brilliance has increased to 75%, Mercedes-Benz is also "ready to move", and there is often news that German Mercedes-Benz wants to increase its stake in Beijing Benz, but there is no finalized news so far.
Do not give up the north present, independent and active self-help
In addition to Beijing Benz, THE PERFORMANCE OF OTHER PASSENGER CAR BUSINESS OF BEIJING MOTOR IS DIFFICULT TO DESCRIBE. Although BAIC Motor has always taken its own brand as the focus of development in recent years, the contribution of sales volume and revenue to the group's revenue is still limited. It is reported that BAIC Motor's own brand puts its hopes in the Rubik's Cube car, which is equipped with Huawei's intelligent cockpit - Hongmeng car machine, which is the first SUV defined by Baicca Motor in all scenarios. If this car still maintains the embarrassing state of applause and no seats in the future, it will undoubtedly make the autonomous plate of Beijing Automobile worse.
In terms of Beijing Hyundai, it achieved wholesale sales of 361,000 vehicles in 2021, down 19.06% year-on-year; terminal sales of 384,000 units, accounting for 35.01% of sales.
In order to rise again, Beijing Hyundai's two major shareholders, Hyundai Motor Group and BAIC Group, recently announced that they will provide financial support to Beijing Hyundai and jointly increase their capital by about US$942 million (about 6 billion yuan) according to their respective shareholding ratios, ensuring Beijing Hyundai's cash flow and helping it "return to the track". The funds are focused on the layout of electrification, and the position of China's automobile market is continuously improved through the layout of electrification. As for how much of a splash the 6 billion yuan capital increase will be, I believe that many people will be curious.
Behind the brilliance of Beijing Automobile is the full support of Beijing Benz, if there is no support of Beijing Benz, then the profitability of Beijing Automobile is even inferior to that of third-tier car companies such as Haima Automobile. Even if Beijing Benz contributes to the huge profits, it cannot bear the drag of other burdens. In the context of the liberalization of the joint venture share ratio, if BAIC Motor does not think about the pain and prepare for the rain, the consequences are not difficult to guess. Of course, BAIC Motor is also revitalizing its independent business through a series of reform measures, and whether it can succeed still needs time to test.