Futian has come, Lu Zhengyao has come, but this brand still has not been able to go to the end.
The Borgward factory in Miyun, Beijing, has become a "quality pasture" for shepherds. Looking around the factory, few people walk around, and the parking lot is even more idle and quiet.
Even with a century-long history and luxurious endorsement by Ashkenazi, Borgward was ultimately unable to escape the fate of annihilation.
On April 8, Beijing Borgward held an extraordinary shareholders' meeting, due to financial exhaustion, it was indeed unable to pay off the debts due, and the assets were not enough to pay off all the debts, and decided to apply for bankruptcy liquidation according to law.
Beijing Borgward, which once called it a brother to the BBA, is now going bankrupt, and in the torrent of development of the automotive industry, this ending is really regrettable.
Image source: Borgward official website
Now open Borgward's official website, only an open letter remains, revealing a little helplessness between the lines. The letter bluntly described the current situation of Borgward's insolvency and facing bankruptcy, and said that the follow-up after-sales protection would continue to be provided with government support.
A hundred years of Borgward is considered to be the "end of life".
In recent years, Borgward is very low-key, more accurately should be depressed, downturn to the point of almost ignoring its existence, until the recent insolvent "scandal" was on the top of the hot search, people found that once "Ashkenazi luxury four brothers" - one of the BBBA Borgward has lived into a lamentable look.
A hundred years of ups and downs
From its birth to its "instant hit" to its "imminent antiquity", Borgward's brand career has gone through ups and downs for a hundred years.
Borgward was founded in Germany in 1919, when with good product performance and luxury attributes, it once accounted for more than 60% of Germany's exports that year, and once sat on an equal footing with Mercedes-Benz BMW, becoming the third largest automobile manufacturer in Germany. Unfortunately, due to a variety of factors such as declining product strength and poor management, Borgward declared bankruptcy in 1961.
After half a century of silence, in 2014, Foton Motors, which has always wanted to enter the passenger car market, set its sights on this long-buried Ashkenazi brand. Foton Acquired and revived it for 5 million euros, and the following year it established Beijing Borgward Automobile Co., Ltd. to launch its first SUV model, the BX7. At the beginning of the listing, Beijing Borgward played the slogan of "Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Borgward, Audi, and the four brothers of the German family", intending to impact the high-end market.
It is worth noting that when Futian acquired Borgward, Borgward was already empty, and the advantages of technology and talent had long been derailed with the times. "Ashkenazi luxury" is only an empty shell, Futian can only do is to continue to use the Borgward trademark, the production and research and development of models are completed by Futian. This directly led to a decline in Beijing Borgward's reputation, and sales quickly fell from 43,000 units a year at the beginning to 32,900 units in 2018, a drop of 25.7%. According to Foton's financial report, in just three years from 2016 to 2018, the cumulative loss of Beijing Borgward reached 4.014 billion yuan.
The sharp decline in sales and the loss of financial reports have made Beijing Borgward a burden for Futian, and the sweetness between the two sides is no longer sweet. At this time, Beijing Borgward also ushered in the second "in-laws".
With Foton's development strategy gradually tilting towards the commercial vehicle field, 67% of the equity of Beijing Borgward was transferred to Changsheng Xingye (Xiamen) Enterprise Management Consulting Co., Ltd.
On March 18, 2019, UCAR announced that UCAR spent 4.109 billion yuan to acquire a 67% stake in Borgward Automobile. Lu Zhengyao is the operator of this deal.
Futian has come, Lu Zhengyao has come, why has this brand not been able to go to the end?
Fall victim to the Bureau of Capital
For Borgward's plight, some netizens commented: "Except for Boss Wang, no one really loves it." They all want to use it, can it get better? ”
After several changes of ownership, Borgward eventually fell prey to the Capital Bureau.
When it comes to the history of the rise and fall of Borgward, one of the characters that cannot be avoided is Lu Zhengyao.
When he entered Borgward, Lu Zhengyao's abacus played well. Before the acquisition of Borgward Automobile, the Shenzhou automobile ecosystem has been formed: Shenzhou Chauffeur provides users with travel services; Shenzhou Car Rental vehicles can be used for renting, but also can be leased to Shenzhou Chauffeur; Shenzhou Car Purchase solves the disposal of used cars of Shenzhou Car Rental; Shenzhou Car Flash Loan provides financial loan services for car buyers, the only flaw is the upstream car source of Shenzhou, under this ring set of one ring, the emergence of Borgward has solved an important upstream vehicle source problem for Shenzhou, Lu Zhengyao from automobile manufacturing to e-commerce platform, and then to special cars 3. The complete industrial chain of the car rental platform has been successfully built. In this way, Lu Zhengyao's left hand to his right hand became possible, relying on the purchase order of Shenzhou Car Rental with a mother of UCar, and in 2019, the sales volume of Beijing Borgward was pulled back to 54,500 units.
But the good times are not long, affected by the "thunderstorm" of Luckin Coffee and the suspension of the purchase of new cars by Shenzhou Car Rental, plus the lack of core technology and brand reputation of the old problem has not been solved, quality problems are frequent, Beijing Borgward's growth momentum is fleeting, once again into a dying state, in 2020 sales fell to a pitiful 8740 vehicles, a straight line plunge of 84%.
The follow-up story circle is familiar to everyone - UCAR itself is difficult to protect, not only can not continue to deliver orders to Beijing Borgward, and even can no longer pay the equity transfer payment and shareholder loan to Foton Motor on schedule.
In the end, the cooperation between Lu Zhengyao and Borgward became a lose-lose situation.
Lu Zhengyao only cares about his own Shenzhou ecosystem, has no intention of building cars, and does not care about the long-term planning and development of Borgward. After Shenzhou acquired Borgward, it did not launch a new car, research and development stagnated, and when Borgward could not bring benefits to Lu Zhengyao, it became an outcast. At present, Lu Zhengyao has almost abandoned the market side of Borgward, and the originally agreed purchase installment has not been followed.
Image source: Sky Eye Check
The eclipse may not be unique
In recent years, the "car-making" track has attracted countless capital, but how many of them really make cars?
In the Chinese auto market, Borgward's exit may not be unique.
At the recent 2022 China Electric Vehicle 100 Forum, Zhu Huarong, chairman of Changan Automobile, said: "In the future, 80% of independent brands will be closed, stopped, merged and turned, and 90% of the new car-making forces will be finished." In the entire automotive market, the top two companies will face huge survival and development problems, and may not survive. ”
And Zhu Huarong's prejudgment is not alarmist.
The fierce knockout race has begun in the Chinese market, whether it is Zotye, which has been auctioned, Brilliance Auto, which has been bankrupt and reorganized, or Skoda, whose sales have plummeted in the Chinese market, and Acura, which is about to withdraw from the Chinese auto market, none of them reflect that the competition in China's auto market has entered a white-hot situation.
In the context of the great shock of the automobile industry, the survival of car companies is related to hard power, and it is no longer the depth of seniority that can be influenced.
There are many new entrants, but consumers are becoming more rational in buying cars. China's own brands - Great Wall, BYD, Geely, etc., with the advantages of technology research, brand planning and electrification transformation, overtake in curves, compared with the original technical advantages of the joint venture gradually lost.
Weak brands that lack core technology and no star products will eventually hover on the verge of collapse.
Even with a century-long history and the endorsement of Ashkenazi luxury, Borgward still cannot escape the fate of annihilation in the Chinese auto market. Car brands that cannot learn from the Borgward case and do not think of making progress, no matter what the current situation is, will inevitably face the end of being eliminated in the future.
Yunzhao Financial References:
Cheshi Story: "Borgward's Funeral, No One Mourns"
Automotive Observation: "100 Years of Borgward Insolvent, Who Will Follow In Its Footsteps?" 》