At the end of last year, after rumors of salary reduction, lockout and bankruptcy, Cheetah will conduct a self-help operation, including shutting down and transferring to base, raising funds, debt-to-equity swap, and exchanging land resources. The contents include closing Jingmen, Chuzhou and Changsha bases, and only retaining Yongzhou base; The Changsha factory will be acquired by Geely and the Jingmen factory will be managed by the government; Chuzhou factory will be sold.
This also means that the news that Geely, which has received much attention, took over the Changfeng Cheetah Changsha factory was officially announced. Interestingly, because Cheetah is a provincial state-owned enterprise, in order to prevent the loss of state-owned assets, the official news used the word "custody". Geely buys cheetah's factories and workers by leasing or other feasible ways, and transforms them into Geely's new energy manufacturing base, from which cheetahs can get a large sum of money to save themselves.
According to industry analysis, the news from the end of last year or Geely officially intervened in the negotiations of "acquiring" the factory. However, after experiencing the impact of the epidemic in the first quarter of this year, it is difficult for cheetahs to resume production, and the financial pressure is increasing. The Hunan provincial government had to quickly find a "buyer" to recover the funds as soon as possible. In the first quarter of this year, the sales volume of Cheetah cars was 1, 4 1, and the situation was not optimistic.
In fact, in the field of Changsha passenger car manufacturing, at present, only Geely Automobile has advantages in sales volume and market position, while automobile companies such as GAC Mitsubishi, Foton and Zotye are in trouble, which is indeed a good choice for Geely Automobile, which is the first to be independent and has the ability of sustainable development. Prior to this, Hunan construction machinery giants Zoomlion and Sany Heavy Industry both contacted Changfeng Group to discuss the takeover of the factory, including the rumors of the acquisition negotiations between Sany Heavy Industry and Ma Jun Automobile.
Hunan is Geely's base camp in the central automobile market. Geely Automobile has long laid out Hunan Xiangtan manufacturing base, Hunan Geely Automobile Vocational and Technical College, Beijin College of Hunan Technology and Business University and high-end auto parts industrial park. Hot-selling models such as Vision and Geely Yue Bin are all produced in Hunan.
For Geely, this move can be described as killing two birds with one stone. On the one hand, help in difficulties and win corporate reputation. On the other hand, Geely is expected to continue to expand its automobile influence in Hunan and gain more market position and share in the central and western markets in the future. At the same time, directly owning the factory also provides more convenience for Geely's new energy transformation.
But for Geely, the continuous expansion of production capacity will also bring some pressure to its development in the depressed market. Geely's 20 19 annual report shows that Geely's planned production capacity has reached 2 1000000, but Geely's sales volume is 20 1360000, and the target sales volume in 2020 is 14 100000, so the capacity utilization rate is less than 70%.
Changfeng cheetah has a long history. The company was founded in 1950, formerly known as the 73rd19 factory of China People's Liberation Army. 1996 10 was restructured to establish Changfeng (group) co., ltd. September 200 1 year was handed over to Hunan province for management. 1Since June, 1995, the company has introduced the manufacturing technology of Mitsubishi Pajero light off-road vehicles from Japan, developed Cheetah series vehicles, and formed an annual production capacity of 30,000 light off-road vehicles.
In 2005, the production scale of Cheetah reached 800,000 to 6,543.8+million vehicles, making it the largest SUV manufacturer at that time, making it one of the top 654.38+ 00 automobile enterprises in China. In 2009, Guangzhou Automobile Group and Changfeng Group reached a strategic restructuring agreement and changed its name to Guangzhou Automobile Changfeng. Due to the old model and poor sales, Cheetah was delisted on 20 12 without launching a new model. Guangzhou Automobile and Mitsubishi joint venture to get rid of Changfeng Cheetah, Changfeng Cheetah embarked on the road of independence.
What a brilliant cheetah, now it is lonely. During the hot SUV market of 20 17, Cheetah achieved the highest monthly sales of 15000 vehicles with CS 10. However, since then, the sales of Cheetah cars have plummeted. Even after the new product goes on the market, the highest monthly sales can only reach 1000, and the final monthly sales will be less than 100. The data shows that the cumulative sales volume of Cheetah cars in 2065,438+08 was 86,402, and in 2065,438+09 it dropped to 33,200, down 665,438+0.6% year-on-year.
At last year's Shanghai Auto Show, Cheetah also released a brand-new logo, bringing a brand-new strategic model-Cheetah coupe. But since then, cheetahs have been unable to resist the continuous downturn, both in sales volume and sound volume. The crisis of cheetah has already appeared. Since last year, Cheetah has experienced many twists and turns such as quality recall, coaching change and salary reduction.
Last June, 5438+ 10, Cheetah finally recalled140,000 cars due to quality problems. In May last year, Changfeng Group, the parent company of Cheetah Automobile, was in trouble. The group decided to ensure survival and tide over the difficulties through salary adjustment, layoffs and cost reduction. Undoubtedly, the industry competition has entered the deep water area, and the final elimination stage has intensified. Cheetah cars, small in size and uncompetitive, are inevitable.
In addition to the difficulties at the enterprise level, dealers and sales terminals are also deeply involved. According to the news of several car complaint platforms, many Cheetah car users have problems with product quality, but a considerable number of dealers are on the verge of bankruptcy, maintenance parts are not in place for a long time, and after-sales service is almost completely shut down. "The problem car has been stored in the 4S shop for several months, and the accessories have not yet arrived. It can't be opened or repaired. I regret buying this car. " Some consumers are exposed through the media and TV stations in desperation, hoping to help manufacturers solve problems.
Some after-sales maintenance stations said that many accessories were detained because cheetah manufacturers owed money to logistics companies. 20 19 Due to the problem of default in payment for goods, the chances of cheetah standing in the dock in court are gradually increasing. The data from Qixinbao shows that from 20 17 to 20 18, the number of cases involving cheetahs is less than 18. However, in the whole year of 20 19, the number of cheetahs involved in the case surged, exceeding 70 cases, including 37 pieces of information about stock right freezing, and problems such as corporate debt and contract disputes were very obvious.
There is no doubt that market elimination is fair, which is also conducive to the merger and reorganization of China's automobile industry. Car companies without brands, core technologies and capital will fall. The problem of cheetah is not unique in the cold winter of the automobile market. Its shutdown and forced to slim down in order to survive is only a microcosm. In recent years, the automobile industry in China has changed a lot. Suzuki lost, and Changan Suzuki was completely taken over by Changan Automobile. Changan PSA was dissolved, and Changan Automobile and PSA Group both withdrew from the joint venture company. In addition, Beiqi Yinxiang, two-speed automobile, Huatai automobile, Lifan automobile and Qoros automobile all have operational difficulties and their products are stagnant.
The sudden epidemic at the beginning of this year has become a "catalyst" for the elimination of the automobile market. Jianghuai's pre-loss in the first quarter was 356 million yuan; French Renault transferred its 50% stake in Dongfeng Renault to Dongfeng Motor, and Dongfeng Renault suddenly withdrew from the field of fuel vehicles; Zotye Auto was caught in a business crisis, with a loss of over 9 billion on 20 19, and its chairman Jin Zheyong was restricted from spending. There are also a number of new forces building cars, which are caught in the dilemma of layoffs, salary cuts and withdrawal. Especially after the introduction of the new energy subsidy policy, it completely blocked the way out for the new energy transformation of weak brands.
SAIC, which started to decline from 20 19, believes that with the economic downturn, the market increment gradually slows down, and the China automobile market is entering a new stage of stock competition. Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, China's macro-economy and automobile market will face a severe test in stages this year. From the perspective of industry structure, the concentration of the market is constantly improving, and weak brands are facing elimination. According to the data of the Federation, the cumulative sales of the former 15 car companies accounted for 77.7% of the total sales in the first quarter, up 4 percentage points year-on-year. The sales concentration is getting higher and higher, leaving fewer and fewer opportunities for weak brands.
"No eggs left behind", amid the wailing, those powerful car companies can still tide over the difficulties by adjusting their strategies and cutting back on food and clothing, while those marginal car companies are no way back.
Text/Du Xinyu
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