Author | Caijing New Media Writer: Wang Jingya/Wen Gao Suying/Editor
On April 29, Cialis (601127. SH) released its annual report for the full year of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, with revenue of 26.561 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 421.76%, and net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies of 220 million yuan, with gross profit margin increasing to 21.5% in the first quarter. For the whole year of 2023, Sailis will achieve revenue of 35.842 billion yuan, of which the revenue of new energy vehicles will reach 28.948 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.10%.
The significant increase in revenue is not unrelated to the rapid launch of new models and the surge in market sales. Since the second half of last year, Sailis has successively released AITO Wenjie new M7, AITO Wenjie M9 and other models, which have become hot selling models in the industry as soon as they are listed. In the first quarter of this year, the cumulative sales volume of AITO reached 85,842 units, a year-on-year increase of 635.33%, and the development potential continued to rise.
While sales have skyrocketed, Cialis is still increasing R&D investment to accelerate technology iteration. At the Beijing Auto Show, the Rubik's Cube platform independently developed by Cialis made its debut, which has the four characteristics of "panoramic safety, multiple power, changeable space, and intelligent leadership", and integrates safety, power, chassis, software and other technologies to bring users a "good to drive, easy to use, and safer" car experience. It is one of the few platforms in the industry that can be compatible with the three power forms of super-increase, pure electric and super-hybrid at the same time. At present, with advanced range extension technology and years of accumulated intelligent manufacturing, Sailis has grown into one of the representatives of new quality productivity, and has accelerated the construction of a high-quality intelligent networked new energy vehicle ecosystem with Huawei, CATL and other industrial chain enterprises.
New product iteration is selling well, and the capital market continues to be optimistic
For the new energy vehicle market, 2023 is a year full of challenges and opportunities. Relevant statistics show that from 2018 to 2023, the number of companies and brands in China's new energy vehicle industry has undergone a drastic reshuffle, from more than 400 to more than 100. In this big wave of the industry, which companies can stand out has become a hot spot in the industry and the market.
Since the release of the first AITO model at the end of 2021, with the rapid iteration of technology, in less than three years, Sailis has successively released AITO M5, AITO M5 EV, AITO M7, AITO M7, AITO M9, AITO M5 Intelligent Driving Edition, and AITO M5 M5 models. In particular, the AITO M7 and AITO M9, which were launched in the second half of last year, have countless fans with their intelligent technology as soon as they were released.
What is particularly critical is that the AITO M9 has only been on the market for three months as a high-end car priced at more than 500,000 yuan, and the cumulative number of Dading has exceeded 70,000 units. In the seven months since its launch, the total number of AITO M7 M7 has exceeded 174,000 units, and the delivery volume reached 24,600 units in March this year, accounting for nearly eighty percent of the brand's total sales, continuing to show the industry the speed of Celis. Driven by a number of hot-selling models, in December last year, AITO Wenjie went from the bottom of the sales ranking all the way back to the top three.
Not only that, on the eve of the Beijing Auto Show, AITO Wenjie took the lead in releasing the new M5 model, which supports forward active safety (AEB) functions with a maximum speed of 120km/h in terms of intelligence, and urban intelligent driving technology covers more than 40,000+ urban and rural areas. At present, the number of reservations for AITO's new M5 has exceeded 10,000 units. Since the beginning of this year, the sales volume of the AITO series has shown a strong growth momentum, ranking among the top five luxury brands in the Chinese market.
The hot sales of the products directly promoted the revenue of Cialis to climb and achieve a positive net profit. According to the financial report, in the first quarter of 2024, the revenue of Cialis was 26.561 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 421.76%, the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 220 million yuan, the gross profit margin in the first quarter increased to 21.5%, and the net cash flow from operating activities was 1.187 billion yuan.
Under the combined effect of multiple factors such as cost control, gross profit margin and unit price increase, Cialis has attracted the attention of the capital market. In the secondary market, the performance of Cialis is also eye-catching, with its share price once breaking through the 100 yuan mark, hitting a record high, with a total market value of more than 150 billion yuan, ranking among the top three in the market value of China's new energy vehicle companies.
In view of the future development, many institutions have expressed optimism about the future growth of Cialis. According to the analysis of Founder Securities, the M9 has opened large-scale delivery to drive the price and volume of Cialis to rise, and the brand sales are expected to continue to climb from March to June, and the proportion of sales volume will continue to increase, and it is expected to turn losses into profits in June 2024 at the earliest, and the third quarter of 2024 may start a profit cycle.
Technological innovation breakthrough Rubik's Cube platform was unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show
At the Beijing Auto Show, AITO attracted a large number of onlookers. Behind the explosion of products, it is inseparable from the support of technology. The market generally believes that as the competition in the new energy vehicle industry continues to intensify, in addition to the "volume" price, the "volume" technology and "volume" value are the foundation for car companies to survive in the cruel market competition.
In recent years, Cialis has continuously increased R&D investment. According to the data, in 2021, 2022 and 2023, the R&D investment of Cialis will be 1.949 billion, 3.106 billion and 4.438 billion yuan respectively. As of the end of 2023, Sailis has more than 4,955 researchers, a year-on-year increase of 18.6%.
Thanks to continuous investment, Sailis has established a technical moat in the aspects of three electrics, extended range, electronic and electrical architecture, and super electric drive intelligent platform. At the Beijing Auto Show, in addition to displaying a new generation of all-in-one super range extender assembly, highly integrated electric drive seven-in-one assembly, AITO M9 integrated die-casting body and other core technologies, Cialis also shared the self-developed Cialis Rubik's Cube platform.
In Cialis's view, wisdom can reshape luxury. Therefore, on the basis of inheriting traditional luxury, Sailis integrates smart technology into the whole value chain of products, safety and services.
It is reported that based on the concept of "software-defined vehicles", the Cialis Rubik's Cube platform has the four characteristics of "panoramic safety, multiple power, changeable space, and intelligent leadership", and integrates the industry's advanced safety, power, chassis, software and other technologies across domains to bring users a "easy to drive, easy to use, and safer" car experience. It is one of the few automotive platforms in the industry that can be compatible with the three power forms of super-increase, pure electric and super-hybrid, and has developed more than 200 safety functions based on more than 150 vehicle use scenarios by applying the "panoramic safety" system. In addition, the range extender has reached cooperation with 12 industry partners.
It cannot be ignored that the development of new energy vehicles, manufacturing is fundamental. Throughout the development of the automotive industry, the leading car companies are all because of the establishment of self-research and manufacturing systems and capabilities. At the beginning of its business in 2016, Sailis set the goal of digital and intelligent transformation, began to build a smart factory, and comprehensively applied intelligent technology in the factory to realize the interconnection of equipment and data in the production process.
The Celis Automobile Super Factory has more than 3,000 robots, 100% automation of key processes, and can achieve a new car off the assembly line in up to 30 seconds, and at the same time, it also has a 9000T integrated die-casting process, which effectively realizes efficient production, lightweight, and high safety.
Through digital transformation, technological innovation, and improving product quality and service experience, Sailis has grown from an automobile factory to a technology-based automobile company. A number of mainstream media have said that Cialis Automobile meets the three main characteristics of "high-tech, high-quality, and high-efficiency" of new quality productivity.
Increase openness and cooperation to jointly build an automotive ecosystem
In the wave of change in the automotive industry, cross-border cooperation is becoming a key factor to promote the innovation and development of the industry. Zhang Xinghai, chairman of Celis Group, once said: "In the era of software-defined vehicles, professional people must do professional things. Only companies that are good at software and hardware can truly create high-quality automotive products that meet the needs of users. ”
As an early partner of Huawei's smart car business, Sailis is an active participant and beneficiary of the transformation of car companies into external development. Ceris Automotive and Huawei provide a vivid example of cross-border integration between vehicle enterprises and ICT enterprises.
Thanks to the technical cooperation between Sailis Automobile and Huawei in the fields of intelligent driving, intelligent networking, and intelligent electric vehicles. The intelligent driving system jointly developed by the two parties provides users with a safer and more convenient driving experience. At the same time, with Huawei's experience and technology in the ICT field, the AITO series also has obvious competitive advantages in the Internet of Vehicles and big data analysis.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to Huawei, Sailis Automotive has also cooperated with other industry chain partners to jointly build a fully connected automotive ecosystem. With the opening up of the ecology, Cialis has formed a "system force" in the supply chain, and has reached strategic cooperation with many leading enterprises such as CATL, Tuopu, Wencan, etc., and brought large-scale and systematic supply through the strong alliance and division of labor of the upstream and downstream industrial chains.
Not long ago, Celis signed a cooperation agreement with Huawei Digital Power to cooperate in the fields of intelligent electric components for new energy vehicles, technology development and application of new energy vehicle platforms, construction and operation of new energy vehicle charging networks, and internationalization of new energy vehicles.
By building a supply chain system, Sailis not only improves the efficiency of quality management, reduces communication costs, but also ensures that high-standard and high-quality products can be implemented smoothly. The industry generally believes that the cooperation between car companies and all parties in the industry chain will not only help enhance the competitiveness of their own products, but also promote the innovation and development of the entire automotive industry. With the continuous progress of intelligent driving and intelligent network technology, as well as the continuous growth of consumers' demand for intelligent travel, cross-border cooperation may become the norm for the development of the industry, and an open, shared and collaborative innovation automotive industry ecosystem is gradually being built.