作者 | 王颖萍编辑 | 范强龙出品 | 网通社
Wave goodbye to the rabbit shadow, welcome the dragon dance, and open a new chapter in the turn of the years. In 2023, China's auto industry has shown extraordinary resilience in the face of difficulties and obstacles, setting a number of record highs. In the first year after the epidemic, independent brands sprung up, and the market share of new energy vehicles soared. At the same time, the export volume of automobiles also hit a new high, demonstrating the international competitiveness of China's automotive industry. However, China's auto industry is also facing unprecedented pressure. The European and American markets have built high barriers to China's new energy vehicles, which has brought huge challenges to car companies going overseas. The competition in the domestic market is becoming increasingly fierce, and the laggards may be out at any time, and there is no winner under the price war...... Despite the pressure, we believe that China's auto industry will take a new leap forward and achieve new ambitions. On the occasion of the Spring Festival, Netcom has summarized the 12 major automobile events in the Year of the Rabbit, which are divided into three articles for readers. Let's take a look back at what has been an extraordinary year.
The 20 million new energy vehicles in China rolled off the assembly line
On July 3, 2023, the 2023 special action for the upward development of China's auto brands - the 20 million new energy vehicles rolling off the assembly line was held at the GAC Aion First Intelligent Manufacturing Center in Guangzhou, which is another major milestone in the history of China's new energy vehicle development. From the first car rolling off the assembly line in 1995 to the new milestone of 20 million units, it took only 28 years for China's new energy vehicles. From the cumulative production exceeding 5 million units in September 2020, to exceeding 10 million units in February 2022, and then to exceeding 20 million units in July 2023, China's new energy vehicle industry has developed rapidly with high quality.
The launch of the 20 million new energy vehicles marks that China's new energy vehicles have entered a new stage of large-scale and globalized high-quality development on the basis of industrialization and marketization. At the same time, this milestone event has further consolidated China's position as the world's largest producer, seller and exporter of new energy vehicles, and strengthened the first-mover advantage of China's auto industry in the new round of global scientific and technological revolution. Thanks to a series of new energy vehicle support policies such as finance, points management, and road traffic, new energy vehicles in mainland China have developed rapidly in terms of industrial chain and technology. According to the 2023 national motor vehicle and driver data released by the Ministry of Public Security, by the end of 2023, the number of new energy vehicles in the country reached 20.41 million, accounting for 6.07% of the total number of vehicles, and the number of newly registered new energy vehicles increased from 1.2 million in 2019 to 7.43 million in 2023, showing a rapid growth trend. With the vigorous development of China's new energy vehicle industry, domestic independent brands have seized the opportunity of transformation and launched new technologies and products to meet market demand. Under the digital and intelligent transformation, domestic auto companies have risen rapidly, helping China's auto industry to achieve "lane change and overtaking". China's new energy vehicle industry continues to lead the transformation and upgrading of the global automotive industry in the direction of electrification and intelligence.
Pangda Automobile Group was delisted, and a huge financial fraud case surfaced
On the evening of June 21, 2023, *ST announced that the Shanghai Stock Exchange will delist the company's shares on June 30, and the company's shares will be terminated from listing and will not enter the delisting period. Founded in 2003, Pangda Group was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in April 2011, becoming the first domestic auto trade group to land on the A-share market through IPO, known as the "first auto dealer stock". At its peak, Pangda Group had 1,429 distribution outlets and 754 4S stores across the country.
However, such blind expansion has buried hidden dangers, and in the continuous worries of shareholders, Pangda Group has repeatedly issued performance warnings. From 2011 to 2016, Pangda Group's asset-liability ratio exceeded 80%, much higher than the industry average, and from 2020 to 2022, its net profit did not meet the target. Pangda Group's performance has declined frequently, and it has repeatedly touched the delisting warning line. Despite this, as of the end of the first quarter of 2023, *ST still has 253,600 shareholders. After April 21, 2023, *ST's share price fell rapidly, falling by more than 60% in two months, and after its delisting on June 30, Pangda Group's financial problems have not been effectively resolved. After 7 months of investigation, the huge financial fraud case of Pangda Group manipulating a total profit of 2.264 billion yuan in the process of debt restructuring and equity transfer has finally come to light. On December 22, 2023, the Hebei Securities Regulatory Bureau fined Pangda Group and 8 responsible personnel a total of 22.2 million yuan, and imposed a lifetime ban on the securities market and a ten-year ban on the securities market for 2 main responsible personnel. Pangda Group's internal management and governance structure had major problems, such as rapid expansion and poor management, which led to tight liquidity, high debt, and the company's failure to take effective measures to solve the problem in a timely manner, which eventually led to delisting. In the unpredictable stock market, rational investment and risk management are also crucial.
Mercedes-Benz and BMW established a joint venture to deploy a supercharging network in China
On November 30, 2023, Mercedes-Benz (China) Investment Co., Ltd. ("Mercedes-Benz China") and BMW Brilliance Automotive Co., Ltd. ("BMW Brilliance") announced that they have signed a cooperation agreement to establish a 50:50 joint venture in China to operate a supercharging network in the Chinese market. Although the joint venture's charging network will be open to the public, it is planned that customers of the Mercedes-Benz Group and BMW Group will be able to enjoy exclusive and exclusive services, such as plug and charge, online booking and a seamless digital charging experience. On February 4, 2024, the official website of the State Administration for Market Regulation released the list of unconditional approval of concentration cases from January 22 to 28, 2024, showing that the new joint venture between Mercedes-Benz China and BMW Brilliance was approved, and the trial was concluded on January 23.
According to the plan, the first charging stations will start operation in China's key new energy cities in 2024, and by the end of 2026, the joint venture plans to build at least 1,000 high-tech supercharging stations and about 7,000 supercharging piles in China. Both Mercedes-Benz and BMW are not only actively transforming new energy, but also attach great importance to the construction of new energy infrastructure. In August last year, BMW's first supercharging station landed in Chengdu, and plans to build 50 stations by the end of the year, followed by October, Mercedes-Benz's world's first supercharging station was officially put into use in Chengdu. In the Chinese market, the self-owned brand Wei Xiaoli is rapidly promoting the deployment of energy replenishment network, the foreign brand Tesla has achieved 100% coverage of supercharging stations in Chinese mainland provincial capitals and municipalities directly under the central government, and Mercedes-Benz and BMW are consolidating its luxury status. On the one hand, self-built piles and other energy replenishment networks provide users with exclusive charging piles, which improves the experience of using vehicle energy supplements, and on the other hand, provides premium support for brands.
Huawei and Changan Automobile signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on investment cooperation
On November 25, 2023, Huawei and Changan Automobile signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Shenzhen. After the negotiation between the two parties, Huawei plans to establish a new company to integrate the core technologies and resources of the intelligent vehicle solution business into the new company, focusing on the research and development, production, sales and service of intelligent driving systems and incremental components for intelligent and connected vehicles.
In addition, as an open platform to serve the automotive industry, the new company will open up its equity to investors such as existing strategic partner car companies and car companies with strategic value, and become a company with diversified equity. In this transaction, Changan Automobile and its affiliates intend to invest in the acquisition of the equity of the target company, with a proportion of no more than 40%, and the specific equity ratio, capital contribution amount and term will be discussed separately by the two parties.
In addition to Chang'an, Huawei has also issued invitations to open shares to Cialis, Chery, JAC, BAIC and others. Since the second half of 2023, from Deep Blue to AVATR to the Group, the cooperation between Changan and Huawei has deepened step by step. At present, there are three main types of cooperation between Huawei and OEMs: parts supply mode, HI mode, and smart car mode. At the 2024 Global Partner Conference, Zhu Huarong said that the HI model allows Changan and Huawei to join forces, complement each other's advantages, maximize their respective advantages, and form the best bundle of interests. Huawei's 2023 semi-annual financial report shows that the revenue of the car BU segment in the first half of the year is only 1 billion yuan, and the memorandum signed with Changan is a new exploration of Huawei's car BU business to seek profitability. The establishment of Huawei's new company will enable the integrated development of automotive intelligent technology, and at the same time, expanding the scope of cooperation will reduce the concerns of OEMs about Huawei, and will also help Huawei reduce capital losses in the automotive BU sector.