Can Yangrong's immortal car-making dream be reunited by Gaohe? I believe that Ding Lei is more anxious than him at this moment.
Text丨Zhijia.com, Zhang Xin, Li Muyu
Edit|Langlang Mountain and Mingzhi Mountain
Today (May 17), Gaohe once again announced the news of the introduction of a new investment resurrection.
However, this angel is not Changan Automobile AVATR or FAW, but Yangrong, the car-making legend who has disappeared for several years.
In the afternoon of this day, Zhijia.com received a copy of the "Announcement on the Working Group During the Company's Restructuring" issued by the Human Resources Department of Human Horizons from the former resigned Gaohe employees.
Coincidentally, on February 18 this year, Gaohe Automobile announced a 6-month shutdown, and at that time, the founder Ding Lei said that "there is only about a 3-month window to save Gaohe". Now, exactly three months have passed since the announcement of the discontinuation of production.
In the announcement, Human Horizons said that its restructuring process is still moving forward and that two working groups have just been formed today.
One of the working groups is a restructuring working group and the other is a joint operation working group.
The restructuring team is primarily responsible for the restructuring of all operations-related activities, including but not limited to the treatment of all debts, from equity ownership to all operations. Appointed Jack YEUNG and Amy ZHANG as Team Leaders
There are four groups under the working group: shareholders led by Yang Weizi and Huang Boyang, government by AmyZHANG, suppliers by Gong Wei and Huang Boyang, and employees by Zhang Rong and Yu Jiangwu.
The joint operation team is mainly responsible for the company's daily decision-making and operation. Wei Yanqin and Shen Hong were appointed as team leaders, and the company's overall strategic planning, overall budget, and compensation system decisions must be reported to Ding Lei and JackYEUNG.
There are seven more teams under the working group: product planning is led by Shen Honghua and Wu Qifeng; The project & design & engineering was led by Wei Yanqin and Shen Honghua, and the four core members Liu Nenghua, Chen Jun, Li Suwen and Li Qian reported to the leader; Production and supply chain led by Gong Wei and Zhang Hong; The person in charge of marketing is to be determined for the time being, and Wei Yanqin will be in charge of it temporarily; Finance is led by Tang Jun and Huang Boyang; Legal counsel was led by Tang Mingyang and Zhao Che (Leon); The manpower and integrated functions are led by Zhang Rong and Yu Jiangwu.
In addition, the announcement stated that matters that need to be deliberated and decided by the special committee, the company's general meeting of shareholders and the board of directors must still be deliberated and decided by the corresponding decision-making bodies.
At the same time as this announcement, some media reported that iAuto Group and Human Horizons officially signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement on May 10, 2024, which covers a series of cooperation covering the vehicle business sector, such as production cooperation to be resumed for the fulfillment of sales orders, equity restructuring and mergers and acquisitions, technology and R&D and engineering cooperation, brand and marketing integration at home and abroad, supply chain and manufacturing integration, and a series of cooperation covering the vehicle business sector.
According to the report, with the support of a series of resources such as funds, technology and orders from iAuto Group, Human Horizons has begun preparations for the team to resume construction and resume production.
A week ago, Zhijia.com got the news that many of the former employees were recalled to Human Horizons.
According to media reports such as the Financial Associated Press, iAuto has received full support from the institutional investors behind it, and plans to invest more than one billion US dollars in the first round of special funds to fully support the restructuring of Human Horizons Gaohe Automobile. Both parties will make every effort to complete the required compliance transaction process before the release of the 2024 semi-annual report.
So who is this mysterious iAuto?
According to the official information released by iAuto, it is an automotive platform incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware, USA, focusing on enhancing the value of automotive companies with development potential. It has a strong technical reserve and registered international patents in the field of clean and renewable energy vehicle powertrain and motor systems, including: low-temperature controllable fusion variable modules in micro-turbine generators for replacing gasoline and other traditional power fuels; Super drive system (more than 5 times higher performance than traditional drive system); and fintech know-how for the automotive business.
At the moment, iAuto has very little information.
According to the 21st Century Business Herald investigation, the company's contact information is a Hong Kong phone, but it echoes the news at the end of last month that Gaohe Automobile has received a strategic investment from an investment institution in Hong Kong.
In September last year, Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed Right Way Group Limited (1188. HK) issued a voluntary announcement announcing the conclusion of a memorandum of understanding with iAuto. Under the MoU, iAuto intends to grant HK Group exclusive rights in Asia to use a number of iAuto's patented technologies.
In this voluntary announcement of HK Group, it is stated that the ultimate beneficial owner of iAuto is Yang Rong, the chairman of HK Group and the single largest shareholder of the Company, who beneficially owns 2,673,071,189 shares of HK Group as at the date of the announcement.
Zhengdao Group is a brand that Yangrong has re-established after leaving other countries due to the Brilliance Auto incident.
It can be said that the range-extending power mode in China's new car field was the first in Zhengdao Group at that time.
In 2017, HK Group unveiled the H600 electric concept car at the Geneva Motor Show, which is an extended-range electric vehicle that claims to use a graphene battery with an energy density of 300wh/kg and a comprehensive range of more than 1,000 kilometers.
This car was also exhibited at the Beijing Auto Show that year, but during Zhengdao Group's participation in the Beijing Auto Show, although Yang Rong did not return to China, his son appeared at the on-site press conference. However, the right way group has never been able to build a factory and mass production in China. It has been five years since the new car movement in China disappeared.
At this moment, the BMW Brilliance project has become a brand controlled by BMW, and Brilliance Auto has long been on the verge of bankruptcy.
After years of silence, in 2022, HK Group announced that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding with ZTE Automobile to acquire no less than 51% of the equity interest of ZTE Motor.
However, ZTE subsequently rejected the cooperation, saying only that "there was indeed contact".
One of the details that the white knight of Gaohe can confirm as iAuto is that, according to public information, the CEO of iAuto is named Jack Yeung, and this name appears in Gaohe's "Announcement on the Working Group during the Corporate Restructuring" document, and the name of the person who is the leader of the corporate restructuring working group is the same person.
Can Yangrong's immortal car-making dream be reunited by Gaohe?
I believe that Ding Lei is more anxious than him at this moment.