In March, the auto capital market was picking up significantly.
According to incomplete statistics from Gasgoo, in March 2024, about 29 financings were disclosed in the automotive field, with a cumulative amount of more than 19.9 billion yuan (RMB, the same below). Compared with February, not only did the number of financings increase by 81% month-on-month, but the total amount of financing increased by about 140% month-on-month, indicating that the capital environment of the automobile industry chain began to warm up again after the "cooling" in February.
In addition, as of March 31, 2024, a total of about 77 financing events have been disclosed in the automotive field in the first quarter, with a public financing amount of more than 33.6 billion yuan, of which about 25 are related to intelligent driving.
The three car companies attracted nearly 16 billion yuan in March, and the Q1 vehicle attracted more than 24 billion yuan
It can be said that the ability of OEMs to absorb gold has always been at the top of the pyramid of the entire automotive industry chain. In March this year, the three car companies of Zhiji Automobile, Nezha Automobile and Volkswagen Anhui alone accounted for nearly 8% of the total financing volume of the month, which directly increased the performance of the auto capital market in March. Moreover, based on the attributes of their respective establishments, the "backers" brought by these three car companies this time are all from different backgrounds.
Specifically, Zhiji Auto's Series B financing of more than 8 billion yuan in March is the largest financing in a car company so far in 2024. For a long time, Zhiji Automobile, which was born with a "golden spoon", has a very strong financing ability, which is obviously different from the new car-making forces that are often short of funds.
Backed by SAIC, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech and Alibaba, in the year of its establishment in 2020, Zhiji Auto's founding round investment reached 10 billion yuan, in 2022, it completed the first round of market-oriented financing with a valuation of nearly 30 billion yuan, in 2023, it signed a syndicated loan of 5 billion yuan from 9 major financial institutions, and now, it has pocketed more than 8 billion yuan, continuing to write the "myth" of "the national team of the new generation of big manufacturers".
Behind this financing, Zhiji Auto still has the support of many "national teams" - in addition to investors such as Bank of China Assets, ABC Investment, Lingang Group, ICBC Investment, Bank of Communications Investment, SAIC Group, etc., as well as leading technology companies such as CATL, Momenta, and Qingtao Energy, the investor lineup can be called luxurious.
A few days ago, Zhiji Automobile, which was caught in the traffic turmoil with Xiaomi, can it achieve the dual goal of occupying the "high position" of topics and sales with sufficient funds and excellent technology?
Image source: Zhiji Automotive
At the same time, Nezha Automobile received a $200 million cornerstone round of financing, behind which there is a "platform" of the Hong Kong SAR government.
It is worth noting that on the evening of April 15, Hezhong Automobile, the parent company of Nezha Automobile, announced that it had received an investment of no less than 5 billion yuan, which will accelerate the IPO process of Nezha Automobile and expand R&D investment. The three investors all have state-owned backgrounds, respectively from Tongxiang State-owned Capital Investment and Operation Co., Ltd., Yichun Jinhe Equity Investment Co., Ltd., and Nanning Minsheng New Energy Industry Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership), which is where Nezha Automobile's three factories are located.
The qualification of Nezha Automobile's Yichun plant can be said to be one of the biggest obstacles on the road to its IPO, so it has won the support of three local industrial funds, and Nezha Automobile is expected to speed up its listing process. Moreover, two large sums of money have been stationed in two months in a row, which is tantamount to drinking sweet rain for Nezha Automobile, which is obviously lagging behind in the sales ranking of new forces and is eager to go public.
Image source: Nezha Automobile
Volkswagen Anhui's strategic investment of 6.5 billion yuan comes from the continuous capital increase of its old shareholders - JAC and Volkswagen China. Among them, according to the same proportion of capital increase, JAC and Volkswagen China plan to subscribe for 1.625 billion yuan and 4.875 billion yuan of registered capital respectively.
Similarly, in the face of increasingly fierce competition in the new energy vehicle market, as well as its determination to seize the new energy vehicle market in China, Volkswagen's recent investment layout has not stopped there. Less than a month after increasing its investment in Volkswagen Anhui, Volkswagen once again announced an additional investment in the Hefei plant.
On April 11, Volkswagen announced that it will invest an additional EUR 2.5 billion in its production and innovation center in Hefei to further strengthen its local R&D capabilities. It is reported that the investment will also be used to accelerate the development and production of two Volkswagen-branded smart electric models jointly developed by Volkswagen and Xpeng Motors. On November 17, Volkswagen and Xpeng also reached a third cooperation agreement to jointly develop CEA, an electronic and electrical architecture based on zone control and quasi-central computing.
According to industry analysis, from the point of view of the time when local electrification products will be rolled off the assembly line in batches in 2026, it is expected that the next two years will still be the peak period for Volkswagen's investment in China.
Image source: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology website
When we focus on the entire auto market, it is not difficult to find that since 2024, the industry is still staging a song of "ice and fire".
The financial dilemma is the biggest nightmare for new car-making forces. On the one hand, the four car companies of Polestar, Zhiji, Nezha and Volkswagen Anhui have successively reported good news and received external funds. According to the statistics of Gasgoo, in the first quarter of this year, the amount of financing received by the automakers exceeded 24 billion yuan; on the other hand, the lack of "backing" Gaohe Automobile fell into a shutdown storm and became the first "endangered" car company in 2024.
As the offensive of technology companies such as Xiaomi and Huawei becomes stronger and stronger, such a phenomenon of "ice and fire" will inevitably continue to be staged.
Flying cars and solid-state batteries are soaring in popularity
Since the beginning of this year, flying cars (eVTOLs) and solid-state batteries are undoubtedly one of the hottest outlets. Whether it is considered from the perspective of investment and financing heat, industrial chain layout, policies and other aspects, the two tracks are "real fire".
Let's start with flying cars. At this year's National People's Congress and the National People's Congress, the "low-altitude economy" was written into the government work report for the first time, and it has become an important area for cultivating and developing new quality productive forces. As one of the most important carriers of the low-altitude economy, flying cars have become a new outlet for capital to chase.
In the primary market, two eVTOL companies received financing in March alone, namely the exclusive strategic financing of $20 million in the A round of Vorant completed by Shishi Technology, and the 100 million yuan A round of financing completed by Volant. According to Huang Xiaofei, senior vice president and partner of Volant, the company will have a new round of financing in April.
It is also worth mentioning that on April 19, industry pioneer Xiaopeng Huitian also revealed that it plans to launch a B round of financing in 2024, and the senior management is currently negotiating with interested local production and investment to further increase investment in the research and development and manufacturing of flying cars, high-end talent reserves and airworthiness certification.
According to relevant statistics, there will be 33 investment and financing events in the domestic low-altitude economic industry in 2022 and 30 in 2023, with a total financing amount of more than 4 billion yuan. Focusing on the subdivision of flying cars, since the second half of 2023, a total of 5 financings have occurred, and the financing rounds are mainly distributed in Series A and strategic investment rounds, mostly at the level of 100 million yuan.
The acceleration of these financing actions will mean a significant acceleration of the technological breakthrough and industrialization process of flying cars. The Morgan Stanley report predicts that the global flying car industry will reach $1.5 trillion by 2040. "We believe that the tipping point for eVTOLs has now arrived, and we expect to be able to truly fly into the homes of ordinary people in 2028-2030. Huang Xiaofei said.
Image source: Time Technology
Let's look at the solid-state batteries that are growing in popularity. In March, capital markets such as Ronggu New Materials and Yihua New Energy successively completed angel rounds of financing. The former focuses on key materials for solid-state batteries, while the latter's core products are bipolar sodium-ion batteries and key solid-state electrolyte materials designed based on low-cost solid-state electrolyte materials.
As we all know, solid-state batteries are considered to be an important representative of the next generation of high-performance lithium batteries due to their high energy density, small size, wide temperature zone operation, especially high safety and many other advantages. However, due to the difficulty of the production process, the real solid-state battery has not yet been really put on the car. Of course, the mass production process is accelerating.
At present, as a transitional stage of solid-state batteries, semi-solid-state batteries will usher in the first year of the car in 2024. In addition, many car companies such as Cialis, Gaohe, Nezha, and more than a dozen power battery companies at home and abroad have officially announced their own semi-solid-state battery mass production or car plans.
According to the statistics of relevant institutions, by the end of 2023, the domestic semi-solid-state battery production capacity plan will exceed 298GWh, and the landed production capacity will be 15GWh. 2024 will be an important node for the development of the solid-state battery industry, and it is expected that the large-scale loading and application of (semi-)solid-state batteries will be realized within the year, and the total installed capacity of the whole year is expected to historically exceed the 5GWh mark.
In addition to solid-state batteries, sodium-ion batteries and related materials, lithium battery materials, and lithium battery recycling have also been continuously concerned by capital. According to incomplete statistics from Gasgoo, in March, at least 8 financings occurred in the entire battery track, accounting for nearly 3% of the total financing in that month.
Among them, with the continuous growth of the production and sales of new energy vehicles and the wave of power battery retirement, the potential space of the lithium battery recycling market is constantly expanding. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology pointed out that the comprehensive utilization of waste power batteries for new energy vehicles in 2023 has reached 225,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 121%. In order to further promote the recycling of waste power batteries, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology expects that the comprehensive utilization of waste power batteries will be more than 260,000 tons in 2024.
Of course, behind this, how to solve the recycling problem of waste power batteries is also imminent. At this stage, in addition to the layout of lithium battery recycling business by leading companies such as GEM and CATL, many new companies are also emerging.
Image source: Zhiji Automotive
The intelligent driving track maintains the previous rhythm trend
In the era of new energy vehicles, intelligent driving ability is becoming an important factor affecting consumers' car purchase decisions. At this stage, the loading rate of L2 assisted driving of new energy passenger vehicles is also increasing rapidly.
According to the latest data released by the Passenger Association, from January to February this year, the loading rate of L2 and above assisted driving functions of new energy passenger vehicles has reached 62.5%. In addition, benefiting from the relaxation of policies, L3 level assisted driving functions are accelerating, and some L2+ models have been equipped with L3 related functions.
Focusing on the capital market, from fanaticism to returning to rationality, the capital's investment in the intelligent driving track in March this year has relatively maintained the previous rhythm trend, and the focus in recent years has also been mainly focused on commercial vehicle autonomous driving, wire-controlled chassis, domain control, intelligent cockpit and other subdivisions.
For example, in the field of L4 level autonomous driving, Leike Zhitu has completed 100 million yuan in Series A financing, Yikong Intelligent Driving has obtained more than 300 million yuan in C++ round financing, and Neolithic unmanned vehicles have completed 600 million yuan in Series C financing. Among them, superimposed on this financing, Yikong Intelligent Driving has completed a total of more than 700 million yuan in equity financing within half a year. In the first quarter of 2024, at least 7 rounds of financing will be completed in the field of L4 autonomous driving, and the frequency of financing ranks high among all segments.
According to the autonomous driving scenario, the mining area is still a "high-frequency area" where financing events occur, including Leike Zhitu and Yikong Zhijia, which are all deploying unmanned driving in the mining area. It is understood that around commercial vehicles, Leike Zhitu has completed product and technological breakthroughs in underground mining application scenarios and delivered a number of benchmark projects, while the new energy unmanned drive-by-wire platform "Yushi" developed by Yikong Zhijia has been applied to 4 models, a total of nearly 300 wire-controlled mining trucks, and the cumulative unmanned mileage has reached 4.2 million kilometers.
Image source: Easy Control Intelligent Driving
In the evolution of automotive intelligence, chassis-by-wire is considered to be the foundation of autonomous driving, and is becoming the direction of many traditional Tier 1 efforts. In March, the wire-controlled chassis cross-domain fusion system solution manufacturer Coordinate System Intelligent completed the Pre-A round of financing, according to its founder and CEO Yan Shifu, the coordinate system will launch a new round of financing this year to better support the mass production of the first EMB product.
In addition, according to incomplete statistics from Gasgoo, from 2023 to the present, a total of 24 financings have been disclosed in the field related to intelligent chassis, doubling the year-on-year growth rate. Among them, a total of 3 transactions were completed in the first quarter of this year. In addition, as a blue ocean market, the automotive wire-controlled chassis market has broad prospects, and the Gasgoo Automotive Research Institute predicts that by 2026, the market size of the core system of the domestic passenger car wire-controlled chassis will reach 65 billion yuan, with an average annual compound growth rate of 35.4% from 2022 to 2026.
The accelerated implementation of urban NOA has prompted the autonomous driving industry to gradually mature. As one of the core components of intelligent driving decision-making, the intelligent driving domain controller is in a dividend period of rapid expansion of the industry under the influence of factors such as the transformation of automotive E/E architecture, the reduction of the cost of key component SoCs, and the continuous penetration of intelligent driving functions from mid-to-high-end models. In March, PATEO received about 1.5 billion yuan in equity financing to build a new generation of automotive intelligent integrated domain control products.
Write at the end
In other automotive segments, including electric drive, rare earth-free permanent magnet motors and electronic control, the track is also optimistic about the primary market.
Among them, for example, Xingqi Technology, which completed hundreds of millions of yuan in Series A financing in March, with the help of Geely's identity, the investors behind it are all state-owned backgrounds. It is also understood that Xingxing Technology has also signed a total of hundreds of millions of yuan (A+ round) of intent financing agreements with Wuxi Innovation Investment Group, China Merchants Venture Capital, Sino-US Green Fund and other investment institutions, and industrial investors such as Silan Microelectronics and Xinlian Capital intend to follow. It can be seen that Geely's new energy vehicle industry chain and supply chain layout is still further expanding.
At present, Stardrive Technology has self-developed and mass-produced compact 400V electric drive, high-performance 800V electric drive, hybrid generator/drive motor, dual-motor controller, reducer and other products, and has successively supplied Geely's Lynk & Co, Galaxy and Leishen Power, with an estimated annual output value of nearly 3 billion yuan this year.
Image source: Stardrive Technology
In the impact of round after round of price wars, the involution of new energy vehicles has intensified, and car companies are also suffering from heavy pressure from technology, cost, marketing and other aspects. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from January to March 2024, the cumulative production and sales of new energy vehicles will be 2.115 million and 2.09 million respectively, an increase of 28.2% and 31.8% year-on-year, respectively, and the cumulative market share will reach 31.1%, with a good development momentum.
However, it should also be noted that in the first quarter, the growth rate of the mainland new energy vehicle market did not achieve a year-on-year increase, and the growth rate of pure electric vehicles slowed down significantly, and the same is true of the new energy vehicle market in Europe and the United States, and the global new energy terminal demand is less than expected.
In such an unpredictable and extremely competitive situation, it is worth paying attention to how the entire automotive industry chain will balance the balance of technology, cost and profit, and how these actions will be reflected in the primary market. Overall, compared with the previous two months, March, which has gone through the regular off-season, has seen a significant recovery in the capital market.