In the globally popular game "Black Myth: Wukong", compared to the destined hero, Nezha has very few scenes. There are Nezha compilation videos on Bilibili, but they are even less than one minute long.

In 2019, when the film "Nezha Reborn" was popular, Hopon Auto rebranded its HOPON U as Nezha U, probably to ride on the popularity wave.

Nowadays, if Nezha Auto were to change its name to Wukong Auto, would it succeed?

In June this year, Nezha Auto's parent company, Hopon Auto, submitted its IPO prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The data inside revealed that this 10-year-old company was on the brink of survival.

On one hand, its financial situation has deteriorated. From 2021 to 2023, Nezha Auto's losses have continued to widen, amounting to 4.84 billion yuan, 6.67 billion yuan, and 6.87 billion yuan, respectively, for a cumulative loss of 18.4 billion yuan. Meanwhile, its gross margins were -34.4%, -22.5%, and -14.9%, respectively.

Among the same batch of new energy vehicle companies, NIO, Xpeng, Li Auto, and ZERO have narrowed their losses, with some even turning a profit, and their gross margins are also much better than Nezha's.

On the other hand, its core automobile business is struggling to sell.

Although Nezha was once the sales champion among new energy vehicle startups in 2022, it only delivered 124,000 vehicles in 2023, a year-on-year decrease of 16.2%, making it the only new energy vehicle startup with negative sales growth last year. In the first half of this year, its cumulative sales reached 53,770 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 13.85%, barely reaching a quarter of its annual sales target.

At the end of 2023, Hopon Auto's cash and cash equivalents were only 2.83 billion yuan, while its borrowings reached 5.76 billion yuan.

With declining cash flow generation capabilities, Hopon Auto relies entirely on external financing. It has completed 14 rounds of financing, with a publicly disclosed financing amount of nearly 30 billion yuan.

Image source: Nezha Auto Weibo

Having missed several opportunities before, Hopon Auto started another attempt at a Hong Kong IPO in June. Many people in the market believe that this is a "bleeding IPO" given the current market environment.

To tell a compelling IPO story, Nezha has resorted to low prices, generating buzz, and expanding overseas.

Recently, Nezha launched the cheapest shooting brake globally. Can it replicate the momentum of Zeekr back then?

01

A Decade of Low Prices

Zhang Yong once described Nezha's low-price strategy as follows: "Everyone wants to go from high to low, but Nezha Auto doesn't have the conditions for that. Time and funds don't allow it, so I have to go from low to high."

On the evening of August 25, the Nezha S Shooting Brake was officially launched, with a starting price of 159,900 yuan for the pure electric version and 169,900 yuan for the extended-range version.

At the launch event, Nezha CEO Zhang Yong stated, "The Nezha S Shooting Brake might be the cheapest shooting brake globally."

Compared to competitors like the Denza Z9 GT, Zeekr 001, and NIO ET5T, the starting price of the Nezha S Shooting Brake is less than half that of some models, but it does not lag behind in specifications, offering a 4.98-meter length, a 2.98-meter wheelbase, intelligent driving capabilities, and other premium features.

Image source: Nezha Auto Weibo

Not only the Nezha S Shooting Brake, but Nezha Auto has aggressively entered the price war in 2024. After the Spring Festival, the Nezha X received a price cut of 22,000 yuan across all models, starting at 99,800 yuan, while the Nezha AYA and Nezha S received price cuts of 8,000 yuan and 5,000 yuan, respectively, across all models.

On August 3, the 2025 model year Nezha X was launched at a starting price of just 89,800 yuan, which is remarkable considering it's a 4.6-meter-long compact SUV with a pure electric range of 401 km. The smaller BYD Yuan PLUS starts at 119,800 yuan.

In fact, low prices have been Nezha's strongest weapon for the past decade.

In January 2018, the first Nezha model, the Nezha N01, was priced at just 59,800 yuan. Subsequently launched models like the Nezha U and Nezha V were also priced between 50,000 and 150,000 yuan.

In 2022, Nezha attempted to move upmarket, launching the Nezha S starting at 199,800 yuan and the Nezha GT starting at 178,800 yuan.

Unfortunately, due to factors such as product positioning, pricing, and brand strength, Nezha's upward strategy failed, and it eventually had to resort to price cuts to boost sales. Now, the starting price of the Nezha S Shooting Brake is 40,000 yuan cheaper than that of the original Nezha S.

With sales declining in the first half of 2024, Nezha Auto has recognized the reality and must resort to price wars to defend its market base in third- and fourth-tier cities.

02

Zhou Hongyi's Efforts to Attract Attention

In today's world, attention equals sales. Lei Jun, who only started building cars three years ago, frequently trends on social media due to his personal charm, contributing significantly to Xiaomi SU7 sales.

Zhou Hongyi has also criticized Zhang Yong for not following Lei Jun's example: "You don't understand anything. Can't you learn from Xiaomi?"

During a livestream event in March, Zhou Hongyi also pointed out that Nezha Auto's model names like U, V, X, L were difficult to remember and distinguish, and that the company was indulging in self-gratification from R&D to marketing.

Zhang Yong later said, "I accept Mr. Zhou's criticism and will learn from Lei Jun in marketing."

He indeed put his words into action, even hosting a livestream in June asking, "Should Nezha change its name?" Unfortunately, the name change did not happen.

One wonders if he regrets not renaming Nezha to Wukong sooner, given the popularity of "Black Myth: Wukong."

In August, to promote the upcoming Nezha S Shooting Brake, 54-year-old Zhou Hongyi and 49-year-old Zhang Yong participated in the reality show "Happy Forward Rush" to attract the attention of younger audiences.

Image source: Zhang Yong's Weibo

In fact, Zhou Hongyi has been collaborating with Zhang Yong on livestream activities since last year, and his participation in many automakers' marketing efforts has indirectly driven traffic to Nezha Auto as well.

It's easy to understand why Zhou Hongyi is so invested. He's a shareholder.

In 2021, 360 Security invested 2.9 billion yuan in Hopon Auto, becoming its second-largest shareholder. Although it has since reduced its stake, it still holds 9.12% of the shares, ranking fourth.

However, his investment ended 360 Security's 13-year streak of profitability.

In 2022, 360 Security suffered a massive loss of 2.2 billion yuan, with 890 million yuan of that loss attributed to its investment in Hopon Auto. In 2023, 360 Security recognized a loss of 680 million yuan on its investment in Hopon Auto under the equity method.

Apart from driving traffic, 360 Security has also jointly developed the NETA GPT large model with Nezha Auto, launched the red-clad Nezha L, and pre-installed 360 Security software in its vehicles, all in the hope that Nezha Auto will soon thrive.

03

Is Going Overseas a Good Story?

As early as 2021, Nezha Auto began planning its overseas expansion, starting in Thailand in 2022. Its target markets are not the popular European and American regions but rather Southeast Asia, South America, the Middle East, and Africa.

From 2022 to 2023, Nezha Auto's overseas revenue reached 241 million yuan and 1.62 billion yuan, respectively, marking significant growth.

In 2023, Nezha ranked third in new energy passenger vehicle sales in Southeast Asia, selling 12,958 units. By the end of last year, Nezha had partnered with approximately 80 overseas dealers in 23 countries and regions.

In 2023, Nezha Auto's overseas sales exceeded 20,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 567%.

Image source: Nezha Auto WeChat official account

In the first half of the year, Nezha Auto's factories in Thailand and Indonesia commenced production, and construction began on a factory in Malaysia. The company also signed deals with dealers in countries like Sri Lanka.

On July 25, the Nezha X was launched in Thailand and Malaysia. Within three days of its launch, it received over 1,200 orders in Thailand.

Moreover, Nezha has entered markets like Kenya, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Brazil, the UAE, Jordan, and Azerbaijan, expanding to 38 countries and regions in half a year, with 129 overseas dealer stores and over 70 overseas channels.

In the first half of 2024, Nezha Auto exported 17,687 new energy vehicles. While this figure falls short of its 100,000-unit overseas sales target, it currently leads new energy vehicle startups in exports.

Faced with competition from BYD, NIO, Xpeng, Li Auto, and Hongmeng Zhixing in China, Nezha has proactively challenged overseas markets and achieved impressive results. Ahead of its IPO, this seems like a compelling story.

However, Nezha Auto's continuous investment in multiple overseas factories puts even more pressure on its already strained cash flow.

Furthermore, different countries and regions have varying languages, cultures, and consumer preferences, posing significant challenges for Nezha Auto, which has a relatively weak foundation, to establish a strong presence in so many markets.

Regardless, the IPO prospectus has been submitted, and all tricks have been employed. For Zhang Yong and Nezha Auto, the road ahead is far from smooth.