Editor's note: With the end of the semi-annual report of listed companies, the half-year performance of listed companies in the whole vehicle has also been displayed one by one in front of everyone's eyes. In the face of difficulties such as the epidemic, rising raw material prices, and chip shortages, how has the revenue and net profit of each company changed compared with last year? What problems and reflections are reflected behind the changes?
Today, we invited Wu Zhao, a partner at Roland Berger, to listen to him talk about the "secrets" in the automotive financial report.
1. How to interpret the mid-year financial report of "Wei Xiaoli"?
Wu Zhao: With the release of the first half of the financial report of the new force players, the leading edge of the head player represented by "Wei Xiaoli" has been further verified. In terms of delivery volume, "Wei Xiaoli" has exceeded the level of 30,000 units, combined with the delivery performance of 7/8 two months, the annual sales volume is expected to hit the range of 80,000-100,000 units, and this year may become an important milestone to achieve the survival threshold of 100,000 units.
In the context of strong growth in delivery rates, profitability is still the main challenge facing each company, on the basis of the steady growth of gross profit brought about by the improvement of scale effect, net profit pressure still exists, and the ideal with more stringent supply chain management and operating cost control, the loss margin is the smallest, its net profit or will take the lead in returning to the positive; from the perspective of resources, we can see that the cash reserves in the hands of "Wei Xiaoli" are more than 10 billion yuan, compared with most traditional car companies, more abundant cash reserves, It is also an important guarantee for its subsequent upgrading to further strengthen the research and development capabilities of automatic driving, improve the density of charging and replacing the power network, and expand the depth of sales channels, after all, the competition curtain of intelligent electric has just opened.
In 2021, the head of the new force players will be on the basis of smooth "survival", officially enter the traditional brand, the general attack stage of traditional fuel vehicles, the next stage of competition in the intelligent electric market will become more and more exciting.
2, how to look at the current stage of new energy vehicles is difficult to make money
Wu Zhao: The profit pressure of new energy products has become the main challenge of each company at the current stage, and the core reason is inseparable from the fluctuation and pressure of raw material costs and the unfulfilled industrial scale effect. In order to achieve the continuous improvement of profitability, it is necessary to work together in the two aspects of open source and cost reduction.
From the perspective of throttling, the vertical integration of upstream key raw materials, the improvement of the automation rate of the manufacturing link and the optimization of the manufacturing process have become the key, and the improvement of the scale effect is still needed as the main line of traction; the open source perspective, the improvement of product strength and positive word of mouth will ensure the stable increase of sales, and at the same time, through flexible business models such as vehicle and electricity separation, subscription leasing and superimposed intelligent function loading and software service upgrades, enrich and broaden the profitability outside of vehicle sales.
In summary, the appropriate loss at this stage is not entirely negative, and the new power players, as a latecomer, need to invest key resources at a more bold pace, which is conducive to the construction of a long-term competitive advantage base. Of course, the effective use of funds and the stage of break-even still need to be fully grasped by car companies.