As we all know, in just a few months, an epidemic has suddenly changed the entire new energy market and capital environment. For those new forces who are weak in risk resistance and struggling on the "line of life and death", the blow is almost devastating. Therefore, due to a series of factors such as the broken capital chain, serious internal friction and missing the "tuyere", Baiteng collapsed. In the end, all employees are waiting for is a notice of suspension for half a year and continuing to default on wages.
At this moment, let's recall the confident commitment of Dr. Daniel Kirchert, the founder of Baiteng. "With the full cooperation of the global team, Baiteng's first prototype car has been off the assembly line. In the next few months, the factory will carry out a series of verification and optimization work on the quality of products, process equipment, production processes and supporting parts, and concentrate on mass production in 2020. " It has long been an empty talk. Bai Teng, from before dawn to rolling in the deep again, took such a short time that people could not help sighing, and was destined to be given the role of "loser".
However, even if he dies, it must be admitted that Baiteng has let the outside world see some more "amazing" designs and concepts. In contrast, some new forces may only be described as "mediocre" from the day they were born. Subsequently, there are many loopholes in product layout, listing rhythm, company operation and brand marketing. What is even more puzzling is that they can "survive" quietly in this downward market, and Singularity car is the most typical one.
Once, I discussed an interesting topic. What is the biggest sorrow of the new car? My personal answer is: "when you make a mistake, the whole industry seems indifferent, and even the desire to report and make suggestions is not strong." Maybe that's the real failure. "
At this moment, the singularity seems to be in such an awkward position. As for the reason, or because of past prejudice, the outside world has become numb and tired of its news, and may also become the next "worship"?
Who is Shen who is "doing nothing"
To tell the truth, the starting point of discussing the current situation of Singularity Automobile is to see such a news not long ago: Recently, some media reported that the founder and CEO of Singularity Automobile Shen made two friends in succession, but the key words were all blue shark intelligent electric motorcycles. It is inevitable to speculate that the latter should give up building cars and start to enter the two-wheeled electric motorcycle market with low industry threshold.
In this regard, Shen Haijun said in an interview with the media: "Blue Shark is its previous investment project, and together with Singularity Automobile, it constitutes a" 4 rounds +2 rounds "travel strategy." According to public information, in addition to the identity of the founder and CEO of Singularity Automobile, Shen Haijun is also the co-founder and chairman of Shark Bay Technology. The latter company was established in August, 20 18, and it is a startup company that produces intelligent electric motorcycles.
At the same time, the trip map of Singularity automobile includes three combinations of "cart+car, 4 wheels +2 wheels, and riding+business", which are the combination of SUV model iS6, MPV model iM8, mini-car iC3, the combination of 4 wheels +2 wheels of four-wheeled automobile and two-wheeled motorcycle, and the riding of these three vehicles with intelligent electric commercial vehicles. In addition, Shen Haijun also expressed his hope to use the technology of electric vehicles to transform electric two-wheeled vehicles to reduce their size.
Seeing this, I just want to say that Shen's "travel dream" is indeed perfect at the conceptual level, but it is a bit too slow in the specific landing process. Whether it is a pure electric SUV or a two-wheeled electric motorcycle, we have never really seen it. As for whether it can achieve the "dimension reduction blow" mentioned by the former, it is better to prove it with the performance of terminal sales.
In addition, during the epidemic, Anhui Qidian Intelligent New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd. has undergone industrial and commercial changes, and its business scope has increased the research and development, production, sales and import and export trade of thermometers and monitoring systems. In response, Singularity officially responded that "the production of masks is not for profit, mainly to meet the daily protection needs of internal employees and their families. On this basis, it will also supply to the whole country and overseas. " However, according to informed sources, the production and sale of epidemic prevention supplies is actually to solve the wages of some employees in the factory.
In all fairness, from choosing to enter the two-wheeled electric motorcycle market, to producing epidemic prevention supplies and selling "self-protection", at this moment, under the leadership of Shen, each step of development may have its own considerations, but at least it has the taste of "inaction". Starting from the solid goal of building a car, sometimes it feels within reach, but it seems out of reach.
I vaguely remember that three years ago, Hu Wei wrote an article "A Day of Five Middle-aged People Making Cars", which expounded the situation of the heads of five new car companies at that time, including, He,,, Shen. Times have changed. Three years later, some of them have led the company into the head echelon, and some have fallen into the abyss and been eliminated by the industry. On the other hand, Shen and the singular car behind him are still confused, and the future is still unknown.
Five years of "burning" 654.38+07 billion?
Many new forces always like to reply with the slightly contradictory answer of "slow is fast" when faced with the question of when to push new ones. Similarly, for Singularity Automobile, from its establishment in February 20 14 to the delivery of mass production models, it explained the above paradox to us with the most real examples. In more than five years, this new car company * * * "burned"10 billion yuan of financing, but did not get any substantial return.
According to the enterprise survey, since 20 15, Singular Auto * * * has carried out six equity financing. Although the specific financing amount was not disclosed in detail, according to the tender announcement issued by Bo Yongzhidong, the fifth largest shareholder, when he transferred all his shares in 20 19, the total financing at that time exceeded17 billion yuan. At present, investors of Singularity Automobile include Qihoo 360, Lenovo Star, Taoyun Capital and Boyong Fund. The latest round of financing time is 20 1 910/0/0 month 12. The investor is Itochu Corporation, and the financing amount is nearly1100 million US dollars.
What is the purpose of the above financing? According to Shen's plan, it is mainly to promote the research and development, mass production and subsequent marketing of the first model. Therefore, according to the construction plan of Anhui Tongling factory disclosed by Singularity Automobile, the total investment of the industrial park project is 8 billion yuan, and the annual production capacity will reach 200,000 vehicles. The first phase of the project covers an area of 400 mu. The construction of the main workshop started in June 20 17, and the construction of the first phase of the workshop was fully completed at the end of June 20 18.
20/kloc-in March, 2009, Shen once again announced that he would carry out all-round cooperation with Xiangcheng District and High-speed Railway New Town in Suzhou, and invest/kloc-0.5 billion yuan to build Singular Auto Global R&D Center and Singular Auto Suzhou production base in the next five years, and jointly set up/kloc-0.0 billion yuan investment fund for intelligent electric vehicle industry.
However, just as Shen, who seems to be not short of money on the surface, is cooperating with local governments in a big way, the crisis is slowly emerging. On May 28 this year, according to relevant information, the parent company of Singularity Automobile, Zhiche Youxing Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. became the executor, and the equity amount of about 87.03 million yuan was frozen.
In addition, Anhui Qidian Intelligent New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd., a holding subsidiary of Zhicheyouxing Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., has also undergone many changes recently. Among them, Tongling Xinrong Copper-based New Materials Industry Development Fund (Limited Partnership) has withdrawn from the ranks of shareholders.
This may be related to Shen's propaganda two years ago. He has already signed a cooperation contract with Changhe. On June 20 19, he once again stated that the factory of BAIC Changhe in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province could provide 6,543,800+cars for Singularity Motors. In addition, its official said: "The overall focus of the company now is the mass production of the first car. It makes no sense to build a factory too early. " It can be seen that the actual effect of Tongling factory in Anhui Province on singularity may be weakening.
Although its official reply later said that the above changes were normal business changes, the local government's withdrawal from shareholders inevitably made the outside world question the development and support of Singularity in Tongling, Anhui. And according to the field visits of relevant media, it is found that the factory of Singularity Automobile in Tongling, Anhui Province is still a wasteland.
Not long ago, it was reported that Zhiche Youxing Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., the main body of automobile operation, obtained equity financing, and the investors were Zhuhai Aodong Investment Co., Ltd. and Guohou Capital. Subsequently, its founder and CEO Shen said: "The current financing amount is 654.38 billion yuan." As for Zhuhai Aodong and Guohou Capital, which participated in this round of financing, Anhui state-owned assets can still be seen behind them.
Shortly after the news of Singularity Auto's refinancing came out, its official said in an interview with the media: "The above information about Singularity Auto's financing of 654.38 billion yuan and equity financing is not true, and the company's CEO Shen's speech is not true."
The withdrawal of a major shareholder and an "oolong" in financing are enough to show that it is difficult for Singularity Automobile, which once had a smooth ride in the capital market, to avoid the arrival of this "cold winter". At the same time, surprisingly, according to common sense, after five years of "burning" 654.38+07 billion yuan, with reference to Weilai, Tucki and Weimar in the same period, Singularity should be able to gain certain industry recognition and brand discourse right.
The reality is that the latter is more like a "blank sheet of paper" full of loopholes in the context of consuming many resources from all walks of life. Without the support of any mass production models, Shen's dream of building a car seems so illusory.
IS6 frequently "jumps tickets"
In five years, 170 yuan financing, a huge "dream of building a car", finally landed and practiced the Singularity iS6 model. In contrast, Weilai ES8, Tucki G3 and Weimar EX5, which were launched almost at the same time, have all passed the annual change stage. On the other hand, the most impressive thing about Singularity iS6 is its frequent "ticket jumping".
In fact, as early as April 17, 13, the first electric mass production model of Singularity, the preview version of Singularity iS6, was officially unveiled, which caused quite a stir at that time. On the same day, Singularity began to book new cars in the price range of 200,000-300,000 yuan. It is planned to carry out small-batch production at the end of 20 17, and realize mass production delivery on 20 18.
However, after that, the model fell into a strange circle of frequent "jumping tickets". On October 20 18 10, Shen announced that Singularity iS6 would be mass-produced at the end of that year. On 20 18 and 10, Shen once again announced that the listing of Singularity iS6 would be postponed, which is expected to be around the Spring Festival on 20 19.
However, as the New Year passed, the "bounce ticket" happened again. 2065438+In July 2009, Shen said in an interview that iS6 was manufactured by Changhe's factory in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, and will definitely be listed this year. However, perhaps due to the epidemic, the exact timetable of iS6 has not been obtained so far.
Undeniably, if Singularity iS6 can be listed in 20 18 as originally planned, there may still be the power of World War I to seize the opportunity. After all, the terminal competition in the new energy market of 200,000-300,000 yuan at that time was far less intense, and consumers' standards for examining new energy vehicles were not so strict.
Now, with Tesla's domestic models? 3 and the arrival of a series of new car companies trying to "brand upgrade", this track has already become crowded. Singularity iS6 has no advantage in terms of product strength and cost performance without the blessing of brand aura, so the possibility of "breakthrough" is very small.
As for the offline marketing channel construction, which is very important for the new forces, according to the plan of 20 18 1, when the first experience hall of Singularity Automobile was unveiled in Sanlitun, Beijing, it was announced that it would build 200 offline experience stores nationwide within three years. The final status quo is that Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Singularity Automobile are located in the country with only the above three direct experience stores.
Over the weekend, the reporter personally visited its store on the first floor of Century Hui Shopping Mall in Pudong New Area, Shanghai. The first impression can only be described as "very deserted". Because no other customers entered the store for half an hour except the clerk to understand the situation of Singularity iS6. In sharp contrast, the Li Experience Store, which is separated by a wall, is crowded, while in the store directly opposite Singularity Motor, there is another new head force-the second mass production model of ——Xpeng Motors-Tucki P7.
At the same time, the blue singularity iS6 "exhibition car" placed in the store, regardless of the interior and exterior design or the overall modeling language, can not give people a distinct "high sense", and the above viewpoint has also been recognized by peers. In addition, comparing Li ONE and P7, I don't know if it is because of the trial assembly, and the workmanship details of singularity iS6 are quite different. To sum up, whether from the product level or the marketing level, with the blessing of various unfavorable factors, it may also indicate the singularity iS6 with frequent ticket skipping and delay, and the prospect has long been bleak.
In short, if Shen and his singular car are described in one sentence, "getting up early and catching up late" may seem quite appropriate. Back in 20 14, in the new car-making movement "detonated" by the Capital Group and the Internet industry, Shen, an enterprise executive who had already realized wealth freedom, joined the automobile industry.
In the past six years, for whatever reason, 2020 has become a watershed for new forces. After many product jumps and mass production are far away, the industry prospect has begun to become gloomy, and Shen's once-fiery "dream of building a car" is also constantly cooling down.
As for this ill-fated new car company, will it be the next one? Or continue to insist on being a better self? The choice is still in Shen's hand.
Text/Cui
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This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.