Recently, a communication letter on the resumption of the Qoros 7 model has been circulated on the Internet, which shows that Baoneng Group will resurrect the Qoros 7 model, and plans to launch pure electric models and extended-range electric models, which are expected to be produced in the next 1~2 years. At the same time, there is another news circulating that Chery will invest 3 billion yuan to acquire a 30% stake in Qoros Automobile and regain the right to speak in Qoros Automobile. From the high-profile birth to the ups and downs since then, Qoros has returned after a few years of silence, and industry insiders believe that if Qoros can really return to its "mother's home" - Chery Automobile, it may really have a different and better future.
01
Two rumors of a "resurrection" are expected
In recent times, the "resurrection" of car brands seems to have become a new trend. Following Zhidou, Qoros, which had been in the vortex of "being executed", also reported that it was going to return.
Recently, a red-headed document titled "Communication Letter on Coordinating with the Restart of Qoros 7 Models" has been circulating on the Internet, which shows that last year, Baoneng Group invested more resources in Qoros Automobile as its core business, and introduced new strategic partners, taking overseas export markets as a breakthrough to start preparations for the resumption of work and production of Qoros Automobile, and is currently actively docking overseas orders. In terms of specific products, the company will take the lead in promoting the resumption of work and production of Qoros 7, and use this as a breakthrough point to quickly open up overseas markets such as Russia, Central Asia, and the Middle East, and strive to achieve the goal of mass production of 200,000 units in the shortest possible time after the resumption of production. At the same time, Baoneng Group also plans to launch pure electric vehicles and extended-range electric models of the Qoros platform, and a series of new products will be mass-produced in the next 1~2 years.
At the same time, some media reported that the Changshu municipal government is negotiating with Chery and Baoneng to join forces with Chery to purchase the equity of Qoros Automobile. The report also said that Chery may also invest in the acquisition of a 30% stake in Qoros Automobile, and with the existing equity, Chery is expected to regain the right to speak in Qoros Automobile.
Some analysts pointed out that the communication letter not only mentioned the resumption of production of Qoros 7, but also specifically mentioned "quickly opening up overseas markets such as Russia, Central Asia and the Middle East", and the three main sales areas in this are Chery's current traditional sales areas. In addition, with the current Baoneng alone, there will be no overseas dealers to consider cooperating with Qoros, and only Chery can quickly export to these markets if it is in the middle. These all show from the side that the rumors of Chery's regaining control of Qoros do have a certain degree of credibility. From Chery's point of view, although Chery's overall performance in the past two years has been good, the market pressure is not small. In addition to Chery's main brand Chery and the more people-friendly Jietu, Xingtu and iCAR are still in their infancy, and it is difficult to gain too much market share in the market. In contrast, Qoros Automobile has been in the market for many years and has a relatively deep brand accumulation, which also helps Chery Automobile to better exert its strength in the market.
However, in the eyes of industry insiders, even if Chery regains the controlling stake in Qoros, it is more for the layout of overseas markets, after all, there is still Xingtu as a "pro-son" in the domestic high-end market. Last year, Xingtu also released a new high-end product series of the Star Era, which will focus on carrying the important task of "breaking through" of the Chery brand.
02
"Born at the wrong time" to "down"
Once a major work of Chery Automobile's brand, Qoros was born in 2007, filed 1,000 trademark applications and obtained 300 patents. In 2013, Qoros 3 participated in the European ENCAP crash test, and became the "safest model" of the year with the first place. However, Qoros, which was "born at the wrong time", has been in a state of "applause but not popularity" since its listing, with poor sales and losses year after year. At the end of 2017, Qoros issued an official announcement, announcing the official ushering of the strategic investor - Baoneng Group. Unfortunately, the worries of the outside world were fulfilled, and after Baoneng became the owner, Qoros only sold 63,200 vehicles in 2018. After a flash in the pan, Qoros fell to the bottom again. In 2019, sales of only 22,900 units were carried out, and problems at all levels such as products, services and channels were also concentrated, and many new cars launched since then have not been able to make a splash in the market. Gradually, with the failure of Baoneng's car-making, Qoros also faded out of the "rivers and lakes".
What is regrettable is that when Qoros appeared in the report again, it added the label of "information of the person subject to execution". According to the company's investigation information, Qoros currently has 25 pieces of information on dishonest persons subject to execution, with a total amount of 97.1482 million yuan, 33 pieces of information on persons subject to enforcement, with a total amount of 566 million yuan, and 231 cases in which Qoros is a defendant, with a total amount of 631 million yuan. According to a previously released ruling titled "Enforcement Ruling of the People's Court of Changshu City, Jiangsu Province", after analyzing the feedback from the property inquiry, it was found that the deposit in the name of Qoros Automobile was only 2,651.30 yuan. At the end of March last year, a number of media reported that the Qoros automobile production base was closed, and there were no Qoros automobile sales points in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Anhui and other places.
In fact, the failure to gain market recognition in the early days may have doomed Qoros to failure, and then "selling" Baoneng is just delaying the fate of being eliminated by the market. Baoneng is subjective, of course, not necessarily fooling or speculating, but as a real estate developer, Baoneng Group lacks professional knowledge of the automotive industry and market, and in 2018, it also triggered a large number of Qoros dealer rights protection incidents. In addition, these real estate companies generally do not respect the laws of the industry and the market, underestimate the difficulty of building a car, and lack respect and awe.
03
The future is difficult to see
Today, Qoros can be said to be heavily in debt and exists in name only, so what value is it still worth investing in?
In terms of products and technology, Qoros was indeed a leader in the industry back then, but today it is no longer competitive, and if you want to regain a foothold in the market, it is very likely to rely on the "blood transfusion" of Chery's latest technology; In terms of brand influence, Qoros has never become popular in China, and most of the people who are familiar with it are people in the automotive industry, and consumers do not know much.
Based on this, it has been reported that the biggest advantage of Qoros is in the overseas market, especially the early Qoros 3, Qoros 5 and other models, which have won the love of many consumers with their excellent quality and design, and still have a certain popularity and influence. For Chery, it may be a wise choice to take back the controlling stake of Qoros from Baoneng and build it into the main force of overseas exports. For Baoneng, although it is really a loss to sell Qoros' shares now compared with the purchase back then, after all, it can be regarded as seeking benevolence and benevolence if it can achieve "blood return".
In the eyes of industry insiders, if Chery is really willing to "take over" Qoros from Baoneng, it is more for two reasons. First, as one of the few vehicle companies in Changshu, Qoros still has two production qualifications for fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles, and the local government is naturally unwilling to lose a valuable automobile "birth permit" because of Qoros' bankruptcy and bankruptcy. In fact, this can also be seen in the rumors, the Changshu municipal government not only matched Chery and Baoneng to negotiate, but also planned to "join forces" to invest. Second, as the "old owner" of Qoros, even after losing its controlling stake, Chery did not completely sell the shares of Qoros, which shows that the feelings are deep. According to the Qichacha website, Qoros Automobile Co., Ltd. currently has three major shareholders, namely Hangzhou Chengmao Investment Co., Ltd. (63%), Wuhu Chery Automobile Investment Co., Ltd. (25%) and Quantum (2007) LLC (12%).
Some people say that after BYD took back control of DENZA Automobile, DENZA Auto successfully returned to the public eye, and its DENZA D9 has also become a representative of the high-end MPV market, perhaps Qoros can also. But Chery is not BYD, and Qoros' failure is not the same as the reason for Denza's previous disappointment. After DENZA completely returned to BYD's "embrace", it was really gaining attention, relying on BYD's "big tree" and the opportunities of the times, it naturally achieved success. But Qoros is different, Qoros has been cultivated with all its heart and soul from the beginning, but it is "born at the wrong time", and now it may not be able to keep up with the times, even if Chery inputs technology and funds to Qoros, it may not be able to achieve the same success.
Dong Yang, chairman of the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance, once gave Qoros a high evaluation: "This is a brave attempt by a Chinese brand, and it is worthy of respect whether it succeeds or not." In this case, why not "dust to dust, dust to earth", focus on the existing brand, avoid the dispersion of resources, so as to achieve greater breakthroughs?
Text: Shi Yunyun Editor: Sun Huanyu Layout: Wang Kun
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